Two Christian teachers in California are now suing both California Governor Gavin Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta. In the lawsuit, the teachers allege that they were forced by state policy to lie to parents of students who claimed to be transgender or otherwise questioning their gender. The Christian teachers allege that California’s policy violated their First Amendment rights.
Filed on January 29, the lawsuit was brought by attorneys for two teachers from the same school, Rincon Middle School teachers Elizabeth Mirabelli and Lori Ann West. The lawsuit revolves around the First Amendment and the policy relating to how teachers should approach situations regarding K-8 students who claim to be transgender or otherwise gender diverse.
The lawsuit was filed against the Escondido Union School District, and claims that the school’s policy was to require that teachers aid such students in their “social transition.” To do so, the teachers were to, during school hours, use the pronouns and gender-specific names students requested. Further, the lawsuit alleges teachers were told to use the students; biological pronouns and legal names when dealing with parents “in order to actively hide information about their child’s gender identity.”
In fact, the lawsuit alleges, according to Fox News Digital, “According to EUSD’s policies, all elementary and middle school teachers must unhesitatingly accept a child’s assertion of a transgender or gender diverse identity and must ‘begin to treat the student immediately’ according to their asserted gender identity. There’s no requirement for parent or caretaker agreement or even for knowledge.”
Continuing, the lawsuit claims that teachers were told to not answer parents who are concerned that their child has socially transitioned. Teachers were allegedly told to say that “the inquiry is outside of the scope of the intent of their interaction” and that they can only discuss “information regarding the student’s behavior as it relates to school, class rules assignments, etc.”
Further, the lawsuit claims that those policies and others promulgated by the school came from the California Department of Education, or CDE. It claims, “According to the CDE, these policies are required by state and federal anti-discrimination law—and compliance with the CDE’s interpretation of anti-discrimination law is a condition for receiving state education funds.” It adds, “Further, according to the Attorney General, the State of California will sue any school district who fails to adopt these policies.”
Then, after explaining why the state AG is a party to the suit, the teachers’ legal team argued that Governor Newsom should be a party as well because the school district and CDE were “operating under the supervision and control of the governor, who has ultimate responsibility for overseeing the state’s education system.”
Further, that lawyer, Paul Jonna, added, “The Escondido Union School District has asserted that it is compelled by the state to adopt and enforce parental exclusion policies in which California dictates the deception requiring teachers to lie to parents about their students. That leads to the conclusion that the state, and therefore, the Governor is the driving force behind the violation of Elizabeth Mirabelli and Lori Ann West’s constitutional rights.”
Featured image credit: By Government of California – https://twitter.com/CAgovernor/status/1243565229809655809, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=94058535