It’s amazing to me that this is even slightly controversial but in California it is. Last night the Orange Unified School District voted to approve a policy which requires staff to notify parents if a child begins identifying as a different gender at school. Note the age of the children specified:

The policy requires a certificated staff member or principal to inform parents if their child — who is under 12 years of age — is requesting to use different names or pronouns or requests to change sex-segregated programs such as athletic teams or changing facilities that differ from the student’s “assigned biological sex at birth.”

If the student is over 12, it is up to a school counselor or psychologist to decide if it is appropriate to inform the family.

So we’re talking about elementary school age kids, not high school or even junior high. A previous version of the policy did not include an age cutoff but the one voted on last night did. And yet, opponents of the policy showed up and briefly succeeded in shutting it down before the vote was taken. Three of the trustees opposing the rule left the room and didn’t return:

At one point, a demonstrator stood and shouted through a megaphone, causing a ruckus and a bit of a skirmish, and the meeting was briefly paused.

When the meeting resumed, Trustees Kris Erickson, Ana Page and Andrea Yamasaki were absent and did not return for the vote. Board President Rick Ledesma and Trustees John Ortega, Angie Rumsey and Madison Miner were left to vote on the policy, and all were in agreement.

Here’s what that sounded like.

HAPPENING NOW:

An attendee of the OUSD board meeting interrupted, shouting through a megaphone about the policy. Chaos then ensued.

Trustees Kris Erikson, Andrea Yamasaki, Ana Page, and Superintendent have now left yet the meeting continues.#ousd #ParentalRights pic.twitter.com/YLFZgDEW6O

— Annika Bahnsen (@annika_bahnsen) September 8, 2023

Backing up a few hours here’s the scene outside before the meeting started:

It is HEATED at Orange Unified!

About five different protest groups are clashing outside of the meeting room.

Tonight, the OUSD board will make a decision regarding the adoption of the controversial Parent Notification Policy.

Check back for updates! #ParentalRights #ousd pic.twitter.com/EbT8b6frF5

— Annika Bahnsen (@annika_bahnsen) September 8, 2023

A supporter of the policy who filmed the proceedings said some of the people who would later cause the disruption spoke in opposition. They were apparently members of RevCom. Here’s a lady explaining how she was trying to organize a communist revolution to take down the entire system and replace the US constitution. The second clip below is much the same.

This self proclaimed revolutionary communist brags about being arrested and calls for violence in response to the parental notification policy being proposed. pic.twitter.com/LUOjtcA4hF

— Jonathan Zachreson (@JZachreson) September 8, 2023

On the other hand, the people speaking in favor of the rule seemed pretty reasonable.

Nicole Pearson of @FLTJllp makes great points saying the TRO for Chino Valley is basically meaningless to other districts at this point. pic.twitter.com/VsTrxIHrTO

— Jonathan Zachreson (@JZachreson) September 8, 2023

A constitutional attorney from the National Center for Law & Policy who has been encouraging school district to pass similar rules.

This parent makes an interesting point.

Why is the opposition assuming all parents should not be trusted because a few rare ones are bad, but at the same time, all teachers should be trusted even though a few rare ones are sexual predators? pic.twitter.com/JWX5B8GXJ8

— Jonathan Zachreson (@JZachreson) September 8, 2023

Two more speeches in favor:

“By sacrificing truth on an alter of ideology, you are putting the schools, and by extension our children, at risk.”

Amazing points made by Trustee Miner who also brought the policy forward. pic.twitter.com/e0BuJlPBrC

— Jonathan Zachreson (@JZachreson) September 8, 2023

You may have noticed that California AG Rob Bonta was being mentioned a lot last night. The backstory is that Orange Unified is actually the 6th district to pass a parental notification rule. The first was Chino Valley which passed a similar rule last month:

Hundreds attended a heated Chino Valley school board meeting as a controversial policy requiring parental notification of transgender children passed with a 4-1 vote.

The policy requires staff to notify all parents in writing within three days after a student requests to identify with a gender different than what is on their birth certificate, according to Chino Valley Unified School District.

AG Bonta responded by suing the Chino Valley school district at the end of August calling it a “forced outing policy.” A judge issued a TRO on the Chino Valley rule while the lawsuit was pending. Another big supporter of the lawsuit is state senator Scott Weiner. Here he is saying a child’s gender identity is no one else’s “damn business” by which he means not the business of the child’s parents even if the child is already “out” at school.

Forcing a teacher to out a trans kid to their parents — even if the kid isn’t ready & even if it puts them at risk of harm — is dangerous & frankly, despicable.

Each of us decides when we come out. It’s no one else’s damn business.

Thx @AGRobBonta for having these kids’ backs. https://t.co/eeAZL78yga

— Senator Scott Wiener (@Scott_Wiener) August 28, 2023

As mentioned, the lawsuit hasn’t stopped several other districts from passing similar policies including Orange Unified last night.

BREAKING: @OrangeUnifiedCA becomes the sixth school district in California to pass a parental notification policy on a vote of 4-0-3.

The three other school board members left in protest when the president refused to shut down the meeting after opponents to the policy… pic.twitter.com/jZCR32M6mB

— Jonathan Zachreson (@JZachreson) September 8, 2023

Hopefully AG Bonta’s lawsuit will fail and other school districts will adopt similar rules to ensure parents are the ones in charge of life-changing decisions for their young children.