A bill that would require California school officials to warn parents if their child identified as gender nonconforming or transgender does not receive a committee hearing, effectively overturning the controversial legislation.

Assembly Bill 1314, introduced by Assembly members Bill Essayli (R-Riverside) and James Gallagher (R-Yuba City), would have required school districts to notify parents in writing within three days if a student “identifies at school as a sex that does not match the sex of the child on their birth certificate.”

The bill drew opposition from LGBTQ activists and organizations, who warned that the legislation could put students in potentially dangerous situations by evicting potentially at-risk students into violent or violent homes.

AB 1314 was assigned to the Assembly’s education committee, but the committee’s chairman, Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance), announced Monday that he would not set a hearing date for the bill, meaning it was effectively dead before it could be considered. came for a vote.

“This bill would require teachers to ‘out’ a student to their parents even if the student doesn’t feel comfortable coming out, potentially forcing them into an unwelcome or abusive home,” Muratsuchi said. in a statement. “All students deserve to be respected and supported for who they are, including at their school.”

Essayli rejected the decision and urged parents to file lawsuits against school districts.

“While the Democrats have the votes to overturn my bill in Sacramento, they don’t have the votes to suppress parental voices at the local level,” he said in a statement. “I encourage parents to continue to file lawsuits against their school districts and challenge existing policies that allow children to transition socially in school without parental consent.”

Essayli promoted the bill in March alongside a jurupa Valley High School teacher, Jessica Tapia, who said she was fired after refusing to follow the current law, which prohibits school officials from disclosing a student’s gender identity to parents without permission from the student.

Gallagher said the decision highlighted divisions between Republican and Democratic lawmakers.

“The Democrats’ refusal to even listen to our bill confirms that they are only interested in dictating a unified policy from Sacramento and shutting down anyone with a different point of view,” Gallagher said in a statement posted to Facebook. “This decision confirms that there are two fundamentally different views on education: Republicans want to empower parents to be involved in the upbringing and education of their children, while Democrats see parents as a threat that should be isolated and ignored.”

In his statement, Muratsuchi called the bill “bad policy”, arguing that a hearing would also provide a “forum for increasingly hateful rhetoric targeting LGBTQ youth.”

The California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus applauded the decision.

“The California legislature should not provide a platform for anti-LGBTQ+ legislation that threatens the health and well-being of LGBTQ+ youth and empowers those who seek to harm,” the caucus said in a statement.

The caucus added that while it supported Gallagher and Essayli’s vision “of a California where all parents embrace and understand all LGBTQ+ youth on their journey to find their authentic selves,” the bill ignored the dangerous environment some LGBTQ+ students face when they come out.

“Not all trans or non-binary youth have such loving and supportive families,” the caucus said. “The reality is that LGBTQ+ youth often face harassment, isolation, harassment and even physical abuse from their own families.”