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Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy. We need your help. More Info ### I would like to contribute One Time Monthly Yearly Join Now ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on June 16, 2024 in an Instagram post: California Assembly Bill 1955 “would allow schools to secretly, socially and perhaps medically transition your child without your knowledge and consent.\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" false/33efdb6633e5e2fdc2d4e2f63383a1e0.jpg.\\") ![\\"false\\"](\\" false.jpg\\") * Education * LGBTQ * Facebook Fact-checks * California * Instagram posts ![\\"A](\\" A pride flag is waved against the downtown Los Angeles skyline during the LA Pride in the Park festival at Los Angeles State Historic Park, June 8, 2024. (AP) ![\\"Jeff](\\" By Jeff Cercone June 21, 2024 # Claim misrepresents California bill about parental notification for LGBTQ+ students #### If Your Time is short * California’s Senate passed Assembly Bill 1955, which blocks school districts from enacting policies that require staff to notify parents about students’ sexual orientation or gender identity. To become law, the bill would have to pass the state’s Assembly and be signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. * The bill says schools should be supportive and affirming of students; it doesn’t require school staff to encourage or assist in a child’s gender transition, legal experts said. See the sources for this fact-check California’s Senate passed a bill June 13 that blocks school districts from forcing staff to notify parents about students’ gender identity or sexual orientation without childrens’ permission, and social media posts followed that misrepresent what the bill mandates. One social media user said in a June 16 Instagram video the bill \"would allow schools to secretly, socially and perhaps medically transition your child without your knowledge and consent.\" This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.) Courtney Cahill, a University of California, Irvine law professor, said the bill contains nothing that would do what the post claims. \"The Senate bill has two provisions, neither of which ‘allows’ schools to ‘transition’ anyone,\" Cahill said in an email. \"In fact, the bill nowhere mentions ‘social’ or ‘medical transition.’\" The bill prohibits school districts from forcing school employees to notify parents about students\' sexual orientation or gender identity and protects staff from retaliation by school officials for not notifying parents. The bill doesn’t prevent a teacher from notifying a parent. The legislation also requires schools to provide resources for LGBTQ+ students and their families, such as counseling and antibias training for school staff, and says all students deserve to feel \"safe, supported and affirmed for who they are at school.\" Assembly Bill 1955 passed the Senate along party lines, with Democrats in favor and Republicans opposed, and moved to the state’s Assembly, where it was referred to the Education Committee. To become law, it would have to pass that committee, the full Assembly and be signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. Parental notification is a hot-button issue in California and across the U.S. More than a dozen California school districts have enacted or proposed policies that require teachers and school staff to notify parents when students use different names or pronouns while at school, according to Democratic Assemblymember Chris Ward, who coauthored A.B. 1955. California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who sued one school district over the notification policies, issued a legal alert in January to state school districts and said policies forcing schools to notify parents violate both \"the California Constitution and state laws safeguarding students’ civil rights.\" In April 2023, a separate bill, Assembly Bill 1314, introduced by Republican Assemblyman Bill Essayli, would have required schools to notify parents about transgender students. It failed to move forward when the Education Committee declined to hear it, The Sacramento Bee reported then. Activists’ effort to include a November ballot measure that would force schools to notify parents failed in May because of a lack of signatures. The California debate mirrors a nationwide one over the rights of LGBTQ+ students and their parents. The ACLU is tracking 59 state bills — none in California — about schools’ parental notification. A.B. 1955’s backers say students should be able to come out to their parents as LGBTQ+ on their own terms and schools should be a safe place for them to be themselves. The bill’s critics argue that preventing school districts from requiring notification violates parents’ rights by keeping information about their children secret. #### Featured Fact-check ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on August 23, 2024 in a Facebook post “Colin Kaepernick \'screams\' as Coach Kyle Shanahan denies his return request: \'The kneeling symbol has no chance of coming back.’” ![\\"true\\"](\\" false/33efdb6633e5e2fdc2d4e2f63383a1e0.jpg.\\") ![\\"false\\"](\\" false.jpg\\") By Ciara O\'Rourke • August 28, 2024 What the proposed law would change in California’s education code The proposed law would change the state’s education code as follows: * Require the state Education Department to develop resources for parents and LGBTQ+ students, including support groups and antibullying policies. * Says school district employees and contractors can’t be compelled to disclose information about students’ \"sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression\" to anyone without students’ consent. * Bars school districts, charter schools and county education offices from enacting or enforcing policies requiring the disclosure of such information. Any such policies that have already passed would be considered invalid. * Prohibits school officials from retaliating against employees for refusing to disclose students’ private information. Cahill said the law’s first provision about developing resources for parents and students is \"purely informational.\" Matt Coles, a University of California Law, San Francisco law professor, said the Instagram post’s claim that the bill would allow schools to socially transition students is inaccurate. He noted, though, that the bill’s provisions could help make social transitions easier. \"If you adopt supporting policies, it will have the impact of making it easier for kids to socially transition. That’s different than saying that schools have the authority to socially transition the kids,\" Coles said. \"The post says that the law sets it up so the schools can shepherd this in, take an active role, and I don’t think it says that.\" Ari Waldman, a University of California, Irvine, law professor, said the bill’s introductory language about providing a supportive environment is \"meant to state that forced outing without the individual\'s consent would not be creating a supportive environment.\" Ward, a Democrat representing San Diego, said, \"The information presented in this video is categorically false. There is no evidence to support any of the claims being made.\" Our ruling An Instagram video says a proposed California law would let schools \"secretly, socially and perhaps medically transition your child without your knowledge and consent.\" The claim misstates what Assembly Bill 1955 would do. The law would ban any school district or governing body from enacting or enforcing policies that would require teachers and other school staff to share information about students’ sexual orientation or gender identity with others, including parents, without students’ consent. The law does not say transgender students’ transitions should be socially or medically assisted by schools. We rate the claim False. #### Read About Our Process The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter ### Our Sources Instagram post, June 16, 2024 (archived) Phone interview, Matt Coles, a UC Law San Francisco law professor, June 18, 2024 Email interview, Ari Waldman, a University of California, Irvine, law professor, June 18, 2024 Email interview, Courtney Cahill, a University of California Irvine law professor, June 19, 2024 Emailed statement, California Assemblymember Chris Ward, June 18, 2024 Assembly member Christopher Ward press release, Assemblymember Ward and LGBTQ Caucus Introduce Bill to Address Forced Outing Policies in Schools, May 22, 2024 California Legislature, AB-1955 Support Academic Futures and Educators for Today’s Youth Act, May 22, 2024 California Legislature, AB-1314 Gender identity: parental notification, Aug. 23, 2023 ACLU, The ACLU is tracking 59 bills Forcing Outing in Schools in the U.S., last updated June 14, 2024 CBS News, California attorney general issues warning to school districts with forced outing policy, Jan. 16, 2024 California Department of Justice Office of the Attorney General, Legal alert, Jan. 11, 2024 California Attorney General Rob Bonta press release, Attorney General Bonta Issues Legal Alert Warning School Districts Against Forced Outing Policies, Jan. 10, 2024 California Attorney General Rob Bonta press release, Attorney General Bonta Files Motion Seeking Permanent Injunction and Declaratory Relief Against Chino Valley Unified’s Forced Outing Policy, April 24, 2024 The Associated Press, California Senate approves ban on schools notifying parents of their child’s pronoun change, June 13, 2024 The Sacramento Bee, Bill that bans schools from outing students passes California Senate. Will Newsom sign it?, June 17, 2024 The Sacramento Bee, California bill requiring school staff to out transgender students to parents effectively dead , April 10, 2023 The Sacramento Bee, Trans youth ballot measure fails to get enough signatures for California’s November election , May 29, 2024 Politico, California is suing to stop schools from outing trans kids to their parents, Aug. 28, 2023 ## Browse the Truth-O-Meter ### More by Jeff Cercone ![](\\" black/4590875651af69b2c789ceab409664dd.jpg\\") ![](\\" black/72988380e8c8bd188dc360d11552e4a0.jpg\\") X posts stated on August 25, 2024 in una publicación en X: Un video muestra un helicóptero distribuyendo “mosquitos genéticos en Massachusetts, Estados Unidos”. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Marta Campabadal Graus • August 29, 2024 ![](\\" logo-black-01/b6cedac93f6e57c68ecc025e5ec29d57.jpg\\") ![](\\" logo-black-01/438dbf066033f99de07598cbcc77ddcb.jpg\\") Threads posts stated on August 27, 2024 in a Threads post: Charlie Kirk 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California Assembly Bill 1955 would allow schools to secretly socially and perhaps medically transition your child without your knowledge and consent