Gov. Newsom signs bill to ban school district ‘forced outings’ of transgender students

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday signed Assembly Bill 1955, the bill to prohibit school districts from requiring staff to notify parents if a child requests to be addressed by a different name or pronouns or to access a bathroom or school activities for a sex other than what appears on their birth certificate.

The signature came as tensions over the subject have reached an all-time high.

Things hit a boiling point as the Assembly sent the bill to the governor late last month, when Democratic lawmaker Corey Jackson had to be restrained from physically confronting Republican Assemblyman Bill Essayli, who spoke in opposition to the measure.

That followed lengthy testimony at committee hearings for the bill, where many people turned up on both sides of the legislation.

The bill was a direct response to a number of conservative-controlled California school boards that enacted such a protocol, which critics called a “forced outing” policy of transgender students.

It comes as the California Attorney General’s Office is embroiled in a lawsuit with the first such school district to pass such a policy, Chino Valley Unified School District.

With Newsom’s signature, the bill goes into effect Jan. 1, 2025.