The following statement was released by Huntington Beach Mayor Mayor Gracey Van Der Mark over the states “forced outing” bill.
The City Council passed an ordinance declaring the city as a “Parents Right to Know” city while Van Der Mark says AB 1955 effectively pits children against parents and places educators as barriers between them, undermining a parent’s ability to communicate with their children on critical, long-term, life-altering issues.
Here is the statement:
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 information related to their child’s gender issues and/or expression.
The State’s AB 1955 law compelling secrecy not only puts children at risk, it is also an unconstitutional invasion of the parent/child relationship by the State.
To that end, the City of Huntington Beach is challenging the State on federal claims in federal court with the filing of this lawsuit. We want to recognize and thank America First Legal Foundation who has offered to join the lawsuit and support legal expenses necessary to prosecute this case and we want to thank the individual parents and children from Orange County, Los Angeles County, and other counties in California, who have agreed to join the lawsuit. While the City’s new Ordinance allows for the possibility of the City to work directly with plaintiffs to represent them in such a legal action, in this instance the City is pursuing its own interests while working jointly in the lawsuit with the individual plaintiffs, who are presented in the lawsuit under pseudonym to protect their identities.
We want to thank again the America First Legal Foundation for aiding the City in this endeavor, and the attorneys at Schaerr Jaffe who have stepped up to provide the best legal representation in this case possible. If there are any parents with children in public schools in Huntington Beach who would like to join the case anonymously, please contact the Office of the City Attorney.
The filed complaint can be viewed online.
Previous Stories:
- August 5 – Huntington Beach Could Become “Parents Right to Know” City
- July 16 – Newsom Signs Bill Aimed to Address Forced Outing Policies in Schools
