Huntington Beach is suing California over a new state law that prohibits school districts from implementing forced gender identity disclosure policies.
The city has taken a defiant stance against AB 1955, known as the SAFETY Act, which was signed into law in July by Gov. Gavin Newsom, making California the first state to prevent school districts from creating those parental notification policies.
In a lawsuit announced Wednesday morning, Sept. 18, Huntington Beach is suing Newsom, Attorney General Rob Bonta and California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond in federal court. The lawsuit asks for a judge to declare AB 1955 as unconstitutional.
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America First Legal Foundation, a conservative nonprofit led by former President Donald Trump adviser Stephen Miller, is paying for legal expenses “to prosecute this case,” according to a statement released Wednesday from Mayor Gracey Van Der Mark.
“The state’s AB 1955 law compelling secrecy not only puts children at risk, it is also an unconstitutional invasion of the parent/child relationship by the state,” Van Der Mark said.
City Attorney Michael Gates said in an email that America First Legal Foundation reached out to the city to provide support.
Councilmember Dan Kalmick, who was opposed to the council majority’s decision to sue, said the lawsuit is politics at its worst and could put the city at further exposure to pay legal fees if it loses.
“It’s disappointing that we are again wasting time on issues that are not germane to the city of Huntington Beach,” Kalmick said.
Kalmick said the city is using legal theories that failed in its federal housing lawsuit to try to get state law overturned.
Van Der Mark asks for parents with children in public schools in Huntington Beach who wish to join the case anonymously to contact the city attorney’s office.
The City Council approved filing the suit and challenging the law at its meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 17, in closed session.
AB 1955 supporters have emphasized that the law still allows teachers to talk to parents about their children’s gender identity, but prohibits school districts from forcing them to tell.
The council also gave final approval at its Tuesday meeting to an ordinance declaring Huntington Beach as a “Parents Right to Know City.” It gave Gates the power to sue the state on behalf of a parent who lives in the city “alleging violations of their rights” due to AB 1955.
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“While the city’s new ordinance allows for the possibility of the city to work directly with plaintiffs to represent them in such a legal action, in this instance the city is pursuing its own interests while working jointly in the lawsuit with the individual plaintiffs, who are presented in the lawsuit under pseudonym to protect their identities,” Van Der Mark said.
The lawsuit gives anecdotes from nine unnamed “parent plaintiffs” detailing how their children had questions about their gender identity, and began using different pronouns or a name different than their given name.
The Attorney General’s Office said in a statement Bonta “is committed to providing his unwavering support to ensure every student has the right to learn and thrive in a school environment that promotes safety, privacy and inclusivity” and referred to a previous statement he gave in support of AB 1955’s enactment.
“Our schools should be safe havens for all students, not places where some are marginalized for simply being who they are,” Bonta said. “Amidst the growing assault on LGBTQ+ rights in California and across the nation, it’s crucial that schools take the necessary steps to create an environment where every student feels valued and affirmed for who they are. The SAFETY Act reaffirms students’ constitutional and statutory rights not to be subjected to forced outing at school and it also reaffirms that forced outing policies and any form of retaliation against teachers, parents, and allies who protect students against such constitutional and statutory harms are a clear violation of state law.”
The California Department of Education declined to comment on the lawsuit.
The state and the city have both sued each other several times over the last few years. Both sued each other in 2022 over Huntington Beach’s refusal to allow more housing to be built, in separate state and federal lawsuits. The state in April sued the city over its plans to implement voter ID in city elections.