LGBTQ+ community rallies in solidarity, opposing the Social Studies Alive! ban in Temecula Valley Unified in June 2023.
Credit: Mallika Seshadri / EdSource
Jennifer Vietz’s transgender daughter came out to a teacher and friends at her school’s Gay Straight Alliance group.
“If my daughter didn’t get the kind of support that she did,” Vietz said, “she wouldn’t be here now.”
She’s grateful for the support from her daughter’s teachers and school — and is aware that not every student has the same support from their family.
“They should be able to come out in a way that’s safe — or not come out — and still have a trusted adult that they can talk to,” Vietz said. “If they don’t trust their families, they need to have another trusted adult that they can talk to and [have] that speech protected.”
Vietz is one of many parents and advocates who have expressed concern for the welfare of LGBTQ+ students since the Trump administration announced an investigation into the California Department of Education over a state law, California Assembly Bill 1955, which bans schools from implementing parental notification policies.
The investigation, announced Thursday, includes claims by the U.S. Department of Education’s Student Privacy Policy Office that schools which implement AB 1955 violate the Family Educational Rights Privacy Act and that the California Department of Education has enabled practices which “may be violating FERPA to socially transition children at school while hiding minors’ ‘gender identity’ from parents.”
“LGBTQ+ youth and their families deserve to have sensitive conversations on their own terms and in a way that ensures students feel safe and supported at school,” said Tony Hoang, the executive director of Equality California, a non-profit organization focused on the rights of the LGBTQ+ community, in a media release.
But several school board members support and have applauded the Trump administration’s efforts.
“I will not waver in opposing initiatives that undermine the parents’ God-given rights and prioritize social-political agendas over the well-being of our children,” said Joseph Komrosky, who previously served as the president of Temecula Valley Unified’s school board. “To that end, it is great to see our president fight from the top down to vindicate our efforts at the local level.”
In 2023, parental notification policies that require school officials to notify parents if their children show signs of being transgender started to gain traction in various parts of the state. Chino Valley Unified, Temecula Valley Unified, Murrieta Valley Unified and Orange Unified were among the school boards to adopt such measures in California.
“I remain steadfast in my commitment to empowering parents and protecting the innocence of children as a [Temecula Valley Unified School District] School Board Trustee,” said Komrosky. “The fight against woke policies continues, as we have seen our parental notification policies challenged by special interest groups and state officials, such as Governor Newsom’s support of AB 1955.”
When Temecula Valley Unified parental notification policy first went into effect, many students were left concerned — and many teachers were left confused, according to Edgar Diaz, the president of the Temecula Valley Educators Association, the district’s teachers’ union.
“It’s just been confusing over time, as we had a board approve something like this, without bringing employee voice into it, and then the state bringing a new law, and now….this investigation from the federal side,” Diaz said. “It just brings a lot of unknowns when you have different layers of government trying to add their own flavor to it.”
He added that the school board is currently in talks with both the educator’s association and Temecula Classified Employees Chapter 538, which represents classified employees, about bringing a parental notification policy back — under another name.
Jennifer Wiersma, a member of Temecula Valley Unified’s school board who supported the district’s parental notification policy, said, however, that the district has been working with unions on policies that are “nebulous” and that “don’t include parents as the focal point but instead mention sensitive topics and neutral classrooms.”
Those who oppose parental notification policies, including allies of LGBTQ+ students, have argued that revealing a students’ gender identity can be detrimental to their well-being.
“We respect our justice system and follow laws in California. We wish we could say the same for the Trump/Musk administration,” said David Goldberg, the president of the California Teachers Association, in a statement to EdSource. “In California, we also provide safe and supportive learning environments for all students and educators were proud to support the SAFETY Act [AB 1955] to protect all students’ rights to a safe and supportive learning environment.”
Equality California, which partnered with the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus to pass AB 1955, also doubled down on their commitment to transgender students.
“California’s laws don’t keep parents in the dark—they simply prevent extremist school boards from passing policies that target transgender youth and intrude into the parent-child relationship,” Hoang said.
Theo Burns, a professor of Clinical Education at the University of Southern California, says it’s critical for students to open up to their parents on their own terms.
He said that sometimes, reactions from parents are negative. But other times, parents might just be exhibiting a more immediate reaction, which can include misunderstanding, shock and denial.
“A child might think, ‘Oh gosh, you know what, my parents are really against me coming out as transgender,’” Burns said, “when in reality, the parent might just be not against it, but having to kind of sit with initial reaction before they come to a place of advocacy.”
Burns also said revealing transgender students can be associated with heightened mental health symptoms, like anxiety and depression, and can negatively impact their attendance at school.
“When we as…..a culture that values young people’s experiences, when we allow individuals to disclose who they are and what they want us to know in ways that feel safe and supportive,” Burns said, “it….not only benefits the individual, but also benefits community norms and values that those individuals are embedded into.”