California School District Votes to Expose Trans Kids
California is one of the most democratic, liberal places in the entire United States, however, a school district in southwestern California has just voted to expose gender non-conforming and trans kids to their parents.
The proposal was submitted by the Murrieta Valley school board’s president, Paul F. Diffy III, and the clerk, Nicolas Pardue. The motion will require all school officials – teachers and other staff alike – to notify parents if a student at the school is using a name, pronoun, or bathroom that does not match up with the sex and gender assigned to them at birth.
Despite legal advice from the school district’s attorney, the vote went ahead and was approved for implementation by a three-to-two vote. The vote against trans kids has been met with mixed emotions from parents and families of the school district. Opponents of the policy showed up to the meeting wearing rainbow clothing in support of LGBTQ pride, whereas supporters showed up donning banners preaching to “protect family bonds”.
School board president Diffy said, “As a parent, I would want to know about everything that concerns my child’s mental and physical health while they’re at school… I don’t think there should be anything hidden because I have a fundamental right as a parent to bring up my child… If I can’t get all the information [that] I need to have a reasonable discussion with my child, then the school is not doing its job.”
Before the meeting commenced, Tony Thurmond, the California State Superintendent of Public Instruction, wrote to the Murietta Valley school board and urged them to withdraw the policy from the meeting agenda, citing a “safety risk to LGBTQ+ students.”
“Many LGBTQ+ students are in situations where they could encounter harm or abuse in their own homes if their sexual orientation or gender identity is disclosed before they are ready,” said Thurmond.
The Murrieta Valley school district is not the first in the democratic state to adopt such a policy intending to out trans kids. This particular policy is based on a similar one adopted by Chino Valley Unified School District last month.
