The California Senate has approved a bill that would prohibit school districts from requiring school officials to share information about a student’s sexual orientation and gender identity with the child’s parent, drawing concerns from Christian and parental rights groups. The Democrat-controlled California Senate passed Assembly Bill 1955 in a 29-8 vote. Support for the legislation fell along party lines, with all votes in favor of it coming from Democrats and all opposition coming from Republicans.

The legislation includes a provision declaring that “[a]n employee or a contractor of a school district, county office of education, charter school, or state special school for the blind or the deaf shall not be required to disclose any information related to a pupil’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to any other person without the pupil’s consent unless otherwise required by state or federal law.” The bill states that “policies that forcibly ‘out’ pupils without their consent remove opportunities for LGBTQ+ young people and their families to build trust and have these conversations when they are ready.”

The measure comes in response to local school districts adopting policies requiring parental notification when it comes to such issues. Sonja Shaw, a member of the school board for the Chino Valley Unified School District that passed a parental notification policy, said that “if a child is asking for the school district to now call them by another sex’s name or go into the other sex’s restroom, we will notify the parents. No one’s outing anybody,” she said, adding, “The kid is coming out, and the parents have a right to know.”

Students First California, an advocacy group that seeks to ensure that “parents have a seat at the table” when it comes to their children’s education, published a letter expressing opposition to the measure. “There is a reason courts have consistently affirmed parents as having a fundamental right to direct the care and upbringing of their children,” wrote Students First California President Jonathan Zachreson. “Parents know and care for their children more than anyone else and are ultimately responsible for them in every setting — school, home, and elsewhere,” he added. “Notifying and involving parents in something as paramount as when a school takes an active role in socially transitioning a child is critical for the well-being of children and for maintaining trust between schools and parents.”

Citing state law, Zachreson noted that “parents of students under 18 years old in public schools have an absolute right to access all records related to their children and the editing or withholding of any of those records is prohibited.” “These records include the gender and name in which the child goes by at school regardless of if the gender or name matches a student’s official government documents,” lamenting that “AB 1955 would enable and strengthen policies that violate this right.”

California Family Council has also expressed its opposition to the bill. “This bill assumes parents with biblical beliefs about gender and sexuality are a threat to their own children,” the organization stated in an online campaign against the bill. “AB 1955 marginalizes parents, preventing them from receiving critical information about their kids. Parents need to be informed partners in addressing issues of gender identity, ensuring their children receive the support and guidance they need within the family unit.” The bill must return to the Assembly before it can be sent to California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk.

Biblical Connections: The Bible clearly places the care of children in the hands of their parents and family. For a government to intervene and attempt to lesson that bond for nefarious reasons shows just how far parts of the nation have moved away from the Bible.

PRAY: Pray this continued push to hide children’s actions and thoughts from their own parents would be stopped and that a Biblical foundation will again reign throughout the nation.