Education

Huntington Beach sues the state over parental notification ban

Rene Lynch is a senior editor for Orange County, including food trends, politics — and whatever else the news gods have in store.

Published Sep 19, 2024 12:43 PM

A view of a low-lying city area with a beach on the right and streets largely vacant. Palm trees line street and park areas.

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Huntington Beach has filed a lawsuit against the state, challenging a new law that forbids public schools from adopting policies that would require staff to disclose information about a student’s sexual orientation or gender identity to the child’s parents or guardians.

Why now

Earlier this week, the city council passed an ordinance prohibiting educators in the city from withholding information about a child's sexual orientation, gender identity or expression from the child's parents. Then, the city announced the lawsuit against AB 1955, calling it an “egregious piece of legislation” that is "an unconstitutional invasion of the parent/child relationship by the State," and also puts children at risk. You can read the complaint here.

Last night, the City of Huntington Beach filed a lawsuit against the State of California challenging its new AB 1955 law. This is the same egregious piece of legislation that seeks to compel educators to keep secret from parents sensitive, private, and often life-saving… pic.twitter.com/pAsxg3ta4k
— City of Huntington Beach (@CityofHBPIO) September 18, 2024

Why it matters

Huntington Beach's conservative city government has taken a leading role in fighting against what it sees as overly liberal policies and overbearing mandates from the state. AB 1955 made headlines when it was passed, and this lawsuit will be closely watched throughout the state — and the country. (Even Tesla CEO Elon Musk has weighed in, calling the new law the “final straw” in his decision to move the headquarters for X, formerly known as Twitter, to Texas.)

The backstory

AB 1955 was passed after more than a dozen school boards across the state passed or proposed parental notification policies that would require school officials to inform a parent or guardian if a student asked to use a different name or pronoun than the one assigned at birth.

The arguments for and against AB 1955

Proponents of parental notification policies say parents have the right to know what is going on with their children at school. Opponents say these policies could endanger vulnerable young people who should be able to decide when they are ready to discuss such issues with their parents or guardians.