By Darian Douraghy – The Postmillennial
Every single public school in the state of California will soon be forced to provide gender-neutral bathrooms as part of a new law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
This new legislation works off of a 10-year-old law that mandates K-12 schools to permit students to use restrooms based on personal preference rather than their sex.
“These measures will help protect vulnerable youth, promote acceptance and create more supportive environments in our schools and communities,” stated Newsom, who added that California is “proud” to have among the “most robust” LGBTQ+ rights laws in the nation.
Los Angeles Times reported that the new bill came about after the Chino Valley Unified School District attempted to “restrict transgender students’ access to certain bathrooms and sports facilities.”
The district rule simply was requiring schools to inform parents if their child starts to identify as a different gender from their own, including in attempted cases of entering bathrooms or sports teams meant for the opposite sex.
Other new laws signed by Newsom on Saturday are a new mandate for schools to host a “cultural competency” training about so-called “LGBTQ+ student issues” as well as the formation of an “Advisory task force” that will “identify the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, and plus (LGBTQ+) pupils.”
The task force will then be made to “make recommendations to assist in implementing supportive policies” for the aforementioned groups of students.
This comes after Newsom surprised some after he had vetoed a bill passed by the California legislature that directed judges in custody hearings to consider which parent would allow a child to undergo sex changes, and consequently award custody to that parent.
Critics have said Newsom’s veto serves as proof that the leftist Newsom is attempting to appear more moderate in his political policies so he is more likely to succeed in a future presidential run, according to the LA Times.
Newsom has repeatedly denied such assertions.