California is facing the first legal challenge to a new law prohibiting schools from putting policies in place that require parents be notified if their children start to use different pronouns or identify as a different gender. 

In a post on X, the City of Huntington Beach, California, said it is challenging the state’s AB 1955 law.

“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,” Huntington Beach said. 

Its post argued the new law “puts children at risk” and is “an unconstitutional invasion of the parent/child relationship by the State.”

In July, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 1955 into law. The first–in–the–nation legislation prevents schools from notifying parents if their children start using a different pronoun or gender identity than what is on their school record.  

The America First Legal Foundation, which joined the lawsuit, said in a statement that AB 1955 “prevents school districts from requiring parental notification if their child begins to exhibit gender confusion, such as by requesting to be called by a name and pronoun of the opposite sex.”

It also insisted that because the law does not limit at what age the secrecy applies, it would prevent schools from letting parents know if “preschoolers are being socially ‘transitioned.’”

Additionally, the statement claimed AB 1955 “prevents schools from disciplining employees who are initiating or facilitating social ‘transitioning,’ which courts have recognized is a type of medical intervention or treatment that medical professionals have recognized can inflict  serious short-term and long-term harm.”

Finally, the America First Legal Foundation said AB 1955 runs afoul of the 14th Amendment. The mention of the 14th Amendment appears to refer to the Troxel v. Granville decision, in which the Supreme Court found that parents have a fundamental right to oversee the care and custody of a child.

“In short, this law makes it illegal for schools to notify parents and, subsequently, help protect children from the dangers of gender ideology. Socially ‘transitioning’ increases the likelihood of the child being placed on puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. This can ultimately lead to life-altering, irreversible chemical castration, and gender mutilation,” the statement added.  

Supporters of the legislation argue it will prevent what they call “forced outing,” where schools are required to notify parents if their children start to use a different pronoun than what is on their birth certificate. 

LGBT advocacy organization Equality California said AB1955 will “strengthen protections for LGBTQ+ youth against forced outing policies, provide resources for parents and families of LGBTQ+ students to support them as they have conversations on their own terms.”

So far, a handful of states have laws requiring schools to notify parents. According to the think tank Movement Advance Project, Alabama, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, North Carolina, South Carolina, North Dakota, and Tennessee all have laws that require schools to “out transgender youth to their families.”

Meanwhile, the group reports that Arizona, Florida, Kentucky, Utah, and Montana do not require schools to notify parents but encourage them to do so.