Overview
- A three-judge 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel granted Attorney General Rob Bonta’s request to stay U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez’s ruling, saying the pause preserves the status quo and is not a decision on the merits.
- The stay lasts at least through next week as the court considers further briefing on whether to extend it while the state’s appeal proceeds.
- Benitez had concluded that parents have a constitutional right to be informed when a child identifies as transgender at school and that public schools cannot bar teachers from sharing that information.
- California law prohibits districts from requiring teachers to disclose a student’s gender identity, and Benitez further found an Education Department practice that he said forbids notification, a policy State Superintendent Tony Thurmond denies.
- State lawyers argued involuntary disclosure can inflict severe emotional harm on some students, while parents represented by the Thomas More Society said they will file a robust opposition to any extended stay.