The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has issued an administrative stay blocking a U.S. district court’s decision requiring California teachers to notify parents if their kids claim to be transgender. The ruling will remain in effect while the Ninth Circuit considers the state’s administrative stay request.
Judge Roger Benitez, a federal judge in San Diego, had ruled that parents had a constitutional right to know if their kids were claiming to be transgender at school. Notably, Benitez used the phrase “gender incongruence” to describe students who did not feel at ease with their gender, rather than the “gender affirming” terminology universally used by liberals.
Benitez’s ruling had struck down a 2024 California law banning school staff from informing parents if their kid claimed to be a different gender, unless the kid gave them permission. The law is not the first time California has viewed parents with suspicion when it comes to a sacred liberal cause. As far back as 2008, California voters defeated a proposition that would have required parental notification prior to a minor obtaining an abortion.
With the appeals process underway, the case may ultimately end up at the Supreme Court. It is unclear how they would rule, given their previous 2020 decision that read the 1964 Civil Rights Act as applying to transgender employees. Being that the case involves minors rather than adults, though, it may be viewed less favorably.
Despite California Governor Gavin Newsom’s skeptical comments on trans athletes in early 2025, he has not pushed back substantively against state Democrats continuing to advance wide-ranging gender ideology legislation. Following the 2024 election, many pundits remarked that Democrats would need to moderate their views on the issue in order to be competitive in national elections. Much like their response to similar comments surrounding same-sex marriage following the 2004 election, Democrats appear to be either betting that this is not needed, or that empty rhetorical gestures will placate voters.
Newsom has recently sought to shore up his liberal bona fides on the issue, stating, “I want to see trans kids. I have a trans godson. There’s no governor who has signed more pro-trans legislation than I have.” The fate of this case will either continue to lock in this kind of legislation in the Golden State, or begin to gently knock it back to reality.
