Trans 'Outing' Policy At Inland Empire Schools Gets Early Legal Blow

CALIFORNIA — California school districts in Murrieta, Temecula, Chino Valley and Anderson adopted policies this summer to "out" transgender and nonbinary students in defiance of state warnings, and this week those districts were delivered an early legal blow.

The San Bernardino Superior Court issued a temporary restraining order Wednesday against Chino Valley Unified School District Board of Education’s policy, which immediately halts the action's enforcement.

Initially adopted in July, the policy requires CVUSD schools to inform parents, with minimal exceptions, whenever students request to use names or pronouns different from those on their birth certificates or official records.

The CVUSD was the first California district to implement the action. Copycat policies quickly followed in Riverside County's Murrieta Valley Unified School District and Temecula Valley Unified School District, as well as in Shasta County's Anderson Union High School District.

Wednesday's court ruling comes one week after California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced a lawsuit challenging enforcement of the CVUSD policy. Requests for comment about the lawsuit went unanswered last week by the MVUSD, TVUSD and AUHSD. A CVUSD spokesperson said the district was working with its legal counsel to review the suit.

Bonta applauded Wednesday's court finding.

“San Bernardino Superior Court’s decision to issue a temporary restraining order rightfully upholds the state rights of our LGBTQ+ student community and protects kids from harm by immediately halting the board’s forced outing policy,” the attorney general said. “While this fight is far from over, today’s ruling takes a significant step towards ensuring the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of transgender and gender-nonconforming students. As we continue challenging the policy in court, my office will continue providing our unwavering support to ensure every student has the right to learn and thrive in a school environment that promotes safety, privacy, and inclusivity.”

In the lawsuit filed Aug. 28 in San Bernardino County, Bonta argues the CVUSD policy infringes on several state protections safeguarding students’ civil and constitutional rights. The lawsuit also alleges the policy puts transgender and gender-nonconforming students in danger of "imminent, irreparable harm from the consequences of forced disclosures."

"These students are currently under threat of being outed to their parents against their will, and many fear that the district’s policy will force them to make a choice: either 'walk back' their constitutionally and statutorily protected rights to gender identity and gender expression, or face the risk of emotional, physical, and psychological harm," according to a news release from Bonta's office announcing the lawsuit. "The board’s policy thus unlawfully singles out and discriminates against transgender and gender nonbinary students, subjecting them to disparate treatment and harassment, including mental, emotional, and even physical abuse."

A hearing on Bonta's motion for a preliminary injunction against the CVUSD policy is scheduled for Oct. 13. If granted, the injunction will allow more time than Wednesday's TRO so courts can decide the merits of the case.

A copy of the TRO brief and reply is available here.

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