{"id":204354,"date":"2026-03-04T20:10:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T20:10:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/204354\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T20:10:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T20:10:07","slug":"what-supreme-court-ruling-on-transgender-policy-means-for-california-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/204354\/","title":{"rendered":"What Supreme Court ruling on transgender policy means for California students"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Two<\/a>Activists flying the transgender flag at San Diego\u2019s Drag March every year to speak up for trans people. (File photo by Madeline Nguyen\/Times of San Diego)<\/p>\n

This story<\/a>\u00a0was originally published by CalMatters.\u00a0Sign up<\/a>\u00a0for their newsletters.<\/p>\n

Advocates for transgender youth<\/a> vowed to keep fighting Wednesday after the U.S. Supreme Court blocked \u2014 at least temporarily \u2014 a California policy protecting the privacy of trans students in K-12 schools.<\/p>\n

The court ruled in favor of a group of parents near San Diego who argued that the state\u2019s policy violates their right to religious freedom and due process. The policy barred school districts from requiring teachers to \u201cout\u201d transgender students to their parents, unless the students gave permission.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe court\u2019s ruling is shocking and alarming,\u201d said Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for LGBTQ Rights, which is based in Sacramento. \u201cIt\u2019s part of a larger effort by this court and the administration to eliminate any protection for transgender people.\u201d<\/p>\n

The case was originally filed in 2023 by the Thomas More Society<\/a>, a public interest law firm that focuses on religious issues. It stems from a state policy related to students\u2019 privacy rights.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A federal district court judge initially ruled in favor of the parents with children in the Escondido Union School District in north San Diego County, and then the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals paused the ruling while the state prepared an appeal. The parents asked the Supreme Court to lift the pause, which it did on Tuesday. The appeal is still pending before the Ninth Circuit.<\/p>\n

\u2018A watershed moment\u2019<\/p>\n

Attorneys for the Thomas More Society called it the greatest victory for parental rights in a generation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a watershed moment for parental rights in America,\u201d said Paul Jonna, special counsel at the Thomas More Society. \u201cThe Supreme Court has told California and every state in the nation in no uncertain terms: you cannot secretly transition a child behind a parent\u2019s back.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ruling undermines California\u2019s\u00a0Safety Act<\/a>, which bars school districts from adopting \u201cforced outing\u201d policies and was hailed as a major victory for transgender rights when Newsom signed it in 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sonja Shaw, president of the Chino Valley Unified school board, described the Supreme Court\u2019s ruling as \u201ca massive victory.\u201d Chino Valley was among a handful of districts in 2023 that enacted policies requiring teachers to divulge to parents if a student changes their gender identity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Supreme Court has affirmed what we\u2019ve always known to be true: policies deceiving parents are wrong, and they can not be allowed to stand,\u201d said Shaw, a candidate for state superintendent of public instruction. \u201cThis win came from brave teachers and parents who refused to stay silent.\u201d<\/p>\n

California Attorney General Rob Bonta acknowledged the ruling was a setback.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are disappointed with the Supreme Court\u2019s decision,\u201d Jordan Blue, a spokesperson for Bonta, said. \u201cWe remain committed to ensuring a safe, welcoming school environment for all students while respecting the crucial role parents play in students\u2019 lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

California has been on the\u00a0forefront of transgender rights<\/a>, especially for young people. The state has existing laws requiring teachers to use students\u2019 preferred pronouns; schools are required to offer gender-neutral bathrooms; and sports teams and clubs must be open to all students. Those policies remain in place.<\/p>\n

Still, this week\u2019s ruling was significant, said Jorge Reyes Salinas, spokesperson for Equality California, the state\u2019s largest LGBTQ advocacy organization.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone is heartbroken,\u201d Reyes Salinas said. \u201cAlthough it\u2019s not surprising. It\u2019s just a continuation of the vile attacks we\u2019ve seen on transgender youth. It\u2019s even more important now that California strengthens its laws protecting trans people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Minter, at the National Center for LGBTQ Rights, said that the ruling may have a narrow focus, but it sends a chilling message to transgender young people, who already face higher rates of anxiety and depression than their peers.<\/p>\n

Minter said the transgender community will continue fighting for their rights.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost people in this country do not support what\u2019s happening to transgender people,\u201d Minter said. \u201cWe will fight every inch of the way until all people are treated with the basic decency they deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n

CalMatters<\/a>\u00a0is a nonpartisan and nonprofit news organization bringing Californians stories that probe, explain and explore solutions to quality of life issues while holding our leaders accountable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Activists flying the transgender flag at San Diego\u2019s Drag March every year to speak up for trans people.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":204355,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,63930,93637,40284,1695,12552],"class_list":["post-204354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-student-privacy","tag-trans-students","tag-transgender","tag-trump-administration","tag-u-s-supreme-court"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204354"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204354\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}