Republican lawmakers across the country have introduced more than 400 bills restricting the rights of LGBTQ people in the current legislative cycle, according to Human Rights Watch. One is Assembly Bill 1314, a strange proposal by California Assembly members Bill Essayli (R-Corona) and James Gallagher (R-Yuba City) to force teachers, counselors and other school personnel to notify parents if their child being transgender.

Apparently, the state’s Republicans aren’t as concerned about privacy as they claim.

Under the bill, a report would be triggered if a school employee learns that a student identifies as a different gender than what is on official school records or if a student participates in a gender-segregated school program or athletic team or uses facilities that do not. match the official gender of the student. Converting school staff into the gender police will do nothing to improve education and add another burden to the already overworked teachers and other staff.

The bill also goes against California’s anti-discrimination laws designed to protect LGBTQ students, which prohibit schools from disclosing a student’s transgender identity without permission, even to parents. Rightly so. Disclosing a student’s transgender identity increases the likelihood of harassment and bullying and may violate the student’s right to privacy.

Fortunately, such a hateful bill is unlikely to make it through the Democratic-controlled legislature and was probably only introduced to incite liberals in California who still believe that all people have the same rights to privacy and bodily autonomy, regardless of gender or age. sexual orientation. .

But what’s chilling is that bills targeting transgender youth stand a chance of becoming law in other states. This week, Georgia’s Republican-controlled legislature sent a message to the governor

anti-transgender

bill banning certain gender affirmations

healthcare

for minors. Despite opposition from medical groups such as the American Medical Assn. and the American Academy of Pediatricians, who say this

healthcare

Procedures are medically necessary to keep trans people healthy, similar laws have been passed in Mississippi, South Dakota and Tennessee.

It’s no wonder the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus and Equality California are among the groups that have denounced the bill for its potential to cause serious harm to transgender students. These students are at a higher risk of contemplating suicide, especially when they feel unsupported at home and school. And that is unfortunately common; only 1 in 3 transgender and non-binary youth feel their home is supportive, according to a national survey of youth mental health by the Trevor Project. Students should have the freedom to decide

when

to reveal their gender identity when they feel they are in a supportive environment and not one that will have negative consequences.

Shame on these California legislators for introducing a narrow-minded bill to score political points from their conservative constituency. Laws designed to punish students who engage in gender-nonconforming behavior have no place in California or elsewhere.