California push to ban ‘forced outing’ of trans students leads to lawmaker confrontation

The debate over parental notification policies in California schools reached a boiling point Thursday morning as two lawmakers nearly had a physical confrontation on the Assembly floor.

Two Riverside-area assemblymen, Republican Bill Essayli and Democrat Corey Jackson exchanged angry words as the Assembly was preparing to vote on Assembly Bill 1955, which would prevent California school boards from implementing rules forcing school staff to inform a student’s parents if they request to use a name or pronoun that does not align with their biological sex.

At one point, Assemblyman Marc Berman, D-Menlo Park, physically prevented Jackson from moving toward Essayli. The two never actually came close to attacking each another, but the scene demonstrated the extreme tension around the the issue, as LGBTQ lawmakers push back against Republican talking points they feel dehumanize transgender Californians.

Capitol confrontation

Essayli had spent the previous 15 minutes clashing with Assembly Speaker Pro Tempore Jim Wood, D-Healdsburg, who leads floor session proceedings. At one point, Essayli referred to Democrats in the chamber as “the Chinese Communist Party.” His comments against AB 1955 came immediately after Assemblywoman Lori Wilson, D-Suisun City, shared her personal experience parenting and supporting her transgender son.

Jackson, a member of the Legislative LGBTQ Caucus, had been confirming a motion Republicans made when he and Essayli began trading words.

“I lost it,” Jackson said after floor session ended. “I didn’t know what I was going to do. But my colleagues just helped to reset.”

Essayli has exhibited a consistent pattern of publicly disparaging advocacy groups and fellow lawmakers in an attempt to garner attention for conservative causes. On Thursday, he interrupted colleagues’ testimony and expressed frustration over Wood cutting his microphone and shutting down his comments when they veered away from AB 1955 and toward the issue of forced outing, in general.

Jackson said he found Essayli “very disrespectful” in a way that “goes beyond just having an objection of the bill.”

“My Republican friends fail to understand that some of these issues, it’s not about policy, it’s about somebody’s humanity,” Jackson said. “And issues of humanity, for me, is off limits.”

AB 1955, authored by Assemblyman Chris Ward, D-San Diego, a gay member of the LGBTQ Caucus, is a gut-and-amend version of a bill written by Essayli. Essayli’s original 2023 bill would have required all school districts to adopt parental notification policies — which Democrats call “forced outing” policies — but it did not get a hearing in the Democratic-controlled Capitol.

Ward’s new version of the bill, which bans the policies, passed the Assembly Committee on Education on Wednesday after hours of public testimony.

When asked about the altercation on the Assembly floor, Speaker Robert Rivas, D-Hollister, said “the stakes are always high here in the state Capitol.”

“We all feel very emotional and passionate about the work that we do,” he said.

When asked whether there will be any consequences as a result of the confrontation, Rivas said he had a “brief conversation” with Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher of Yuba City. The speaker declined to say what the two discussed.

Democrats rally around bill and its author

After the almost-altercation with Jackson, Democrats called for a break to caucus before returning to the floor and allowing Essayli to finish his comments. His fellow Republicans, including Gallagher and Assemblyman Joe Patterson, R-Rocklin, testified against the bill.

“To my friends who are lesbian, gay, queer, I want what’s best for you,” Patterson said. “The debate on this bill is clearly emotional for many of us.”

Patterson’s children attend school in the Rocklin Unified School District, which passed a parental notification policy last September. His chief of staff, Tiffany Saathoff, is the current RUSD school board president, and supported the policy.

Patterson said he takes issue with Democrats inferring that those who support the policies, like he and Saathoff, are “hateful” and that the policies “are made to appease extremists or individuals who are hateful to other people.”

“I take a great deal of offense to that,” he said. “I am not hateful.”

He also implied that The Bee’s coverage of the Rocklin policy contributed to the demonizing of Saathoff and those who back the policies.

“She’s constantly framed in a local paper here, and constantly attacked as some kind of hateful person ... Do you believe that I’m the type of person who comes from a place of hate or harm? I don’t believe you think that.”

Several Democrats, many of whom are members of the LGBTQ Caucus, shared emotional testimony in support of the bill.

“When I was seven-years-old, my mom told me she’d disown me if I were gay,” said Assemblyman Evan Low, D-Cupertino, through tears at the podium.

“If I was outed, where would I go? What would I have done?”

Assemblywoman Sabrina Cervantes, D-Riverside, also shared that she did not get to choose when she came out — that someone outed her.

As Ward delivered closing comments, the Democrats present stood behind him, many wiping tears from their eyes, as he explained that the bill is not meant to “keep secrets” from parents — a concern echoed by Republican assembly members.

He closed in an emotional show of support for trans young people.

“Part of what is happening here is stemming from a national issue thrust upon our community to be targeting transgender individuals, a subset of (the LGBTQ) community.”

“Our caucus thought deeply as this was thrust into California communities since last summer about how to wrestle with some of the issues … and at that time we told trans youth that felt under attack that we had their back. And we meant it. And we are here today to send this bill to the governor.”

The Assembly then voted 60-15 to pass the bill, which will now head to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk.