Huntington Beach is once again battling with California, filing a lawsuit Tuesday that seeks to block a new state law that prohibits school officials from requiring teachers to notify families about students’ gender identity.
The lawsuit, which names Gov. Gavin Newsom, Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, asks that a judge declare Assembly Bill 1955 unconstitutional and prohibit the state from enforcing it.
The law, which was signed by Newsom in July, shields teachers from being forced to tell parents about a student’s gender identity or sexual orientation without the child’s consent. The law followed a lengthy fight between conservative school boards advocating for parental rights and LGBTQ+ activists.
Mayor Gracey Van Der Mark said in a statement that the law “puts children at risk” and “is an unconstitutional invasion of the parent/child relationship by the state.” America First Legal Foundation, a conservative nonprofit founded by former President Trump adviser Stephen Miller, is covering at least some legal expenses in the case.
“This is the same egregious piece of legislation that seeks to compel educators to keep secret from parents sensitive, private, and often life-saving information related to their child’s gender issues and/or expression,” Van Der Mark said.
The law does not bar educators from communicating information about a child’s gender identity or sexual orientation to their parents when they believe it is necessary, as when the disclosure would protect the child’s health or safety. The measure also says that it merely clarifies student’s existing privacy rights under law, rather than enacting new ones.
Bonta’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
The city’s lawsuit argues that a child transitioning or announcing their sexuality is a “personal and private issue, not an educational issue.” However, supporters of the law say that it protects children who may not feel safe coming out to their parents.
In July, Chino Valley Unified School District sued the state over the law, saying that it infringes on the rights of parents.
The City Council’s conservative majority on Tuesday also voted to declare Huntington Beach a “parent’s right to know” city in connection to a child’s gender identity or expression.
Huntington Beach’s ordinance states that no educators in the city — including instructors, counselors or those who work in the city’s libraries, parks and recreational facilities or other city staffers who may work with children — will withhold any information related to a child’s gender identity, expression or sexual orientation from their parents with or without the child’s consent.
Councilmember Rhonda Bolton, who voted against the ordinance, said the lawsuit is a “breach of the city’s fiduciary duty as stewards of the public’s money.”
“I’ll give a gold star to whoever drafted the ordinance for creativity. This is some of the most tortured legal reasoning I have ever read,” she said during a council meeting early this month. “The reason is the city doesn’t have any jurisdiction over this matter of education policy and practice.”
Huntington Beach has garnered a reputation for going toe to toe with the state over various policy issues.
The state and the city sued each other in 2022 over requirements that the city zone to create more housing over the next decade. In April, California filed suit against the city again, alleging that its new voter ID law was a violation of state law.
