Coalition linked to Moms for Liberty pushing change in school districts

Jul. 31—According to an email obtained by the Appeal and sent to area school leaders, Assemblyman James Gallagher, R-Yuba City, is asking California school officials to join a virtual meeting on behalf of the Coalition for Parental Rights to discuss the implementation of parental notification policies that, among other issues, are tied to the idea of gender identity and "outing" students to their parents.

The idea of requiring or not requiring parental notification as it relates to the social construct of gender identity has been a hot-button issue recently in California. Around mid-July, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit challenging Chico Unified School District's policy of protecting gender identities of students from their parents.

That lawsuit was filed in January on behalf of Aurora Regino, a mother of a child who was in elementary school last year. She was represented by the Center for American Liberty, which is led by Harmeet Dhillon. Dhillon is the former vice chairwoman of the California Republican Party and this year lost a bid to lead the Republican National Committee.

On July 20, State Superintendent Tony Thurmond was escorted out of a Chino Valley Unified School District board meeting by security guards as the board debated the adoption of a policy that would notify parents if their child asks to be identified or treated as a gender different from the one they were assigned at birth, or if their child wishes to play on sports teams or use facilities that don't align with the gender on their birth certificate, according to reporting by SF Gate. The policy also requires the district to notify parents if their child appears suicidal.

That policy was adopted by the Chino Valley Unified board with a 4-1 vote.

Critics of policies that essentially out children to their parents contend that those policies pose a danger to kids who wish to keep their gender expression hidden from their parents.

"Studies have long shown that familial rejection increases the odds that transgender and nonbinary people will attempt suicide, misuse drugs or suffer abuse at the hands of their parents, including being kicked out of their homes," the SF Gate reported.

Thurmond highlighted those risks at the July 20 Chino Valley Unified meeting.

"We can debate all of the laws, and all of the policies and practices, (but) I ask you to consider this: that nearly half of students who identify as being LGBTQ+ are considering suicide," he said. "I ask you to consider this: that the policy that you consider tonight not only may fall outside of the laws that respect privacy and safety for our students but may put our students at risk because they may not be in homes where they can be safe."

According to the Trevor Project, more than 1.8 million LGBTQ youth between the ages of 13 and 24 seriously consider suicide each year in the U.S. with at least one attempted suicide every 45 seconds, The Sacramento Bee Editorial Board recently noted.

State Attorney General Rob Bonta, in a letter to the Chino Valley Unified board and superintendent, said the district's new policy violates state law and the U.S. Constitution.

"My office has a substantial interest in protecting the legal rights of children in California schools and protecting such children from trauma and exposure to violence," Bonta wrote. "I will not hesitate to take action as appropriate to vigorously protect students' civil rights."

In the email to California school officials, Gallagher says he is reaching out on behalf of the Coalition for Parental Rights — of which the group Moms for Liberty, which was designated as an "extremist" group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, is listed as a "coalition member" — for a Zoom conference on Wednesday night. The main purpose of the conference is to "discuss the Coalition's model Parent Notification Policy that was implemented in the Chino Valley Unified School District last week."

The Chino Valley Unified policy is then described as requiring schools to notify parents if the following occurs: — Their children have had any significant physical injury while at school. — A school employee suspects or has knowledge of a student's suicidal intentions. — There is any indication or complaint of a verbal or physical altercation involving their child, including incidents of bullying by or against a student. — A student requests to be identified or treated as a gender other than the student's biological sex.

According to the email sent to at least two Yuba-Sutter area school officials, the Zoom meeting is for "California School Board members and School Superintendents interested in learning more about the Parent Notification Policy and potentially introducing something similar in their school district."

Speakers expected to take part include Chino Valley Unified Board President Sonja Shaw, attorney Erin Friday with the group Our Duty, and Dean Broyles, president of the National Center for Law and Policy.

In the email, Gallagher encourages leaders to attend in order to help a statewide movement.

"There is strength in numbers," the email says. "The more school districts that implement this policy, the harder it will be for Gavin Newsom, Tony Thurmond, and Rob Bonta, and the CTA (California Teachers Association) to stop it."

Moms for Liberty

According to its website, the Coalition for Parental Rights stresses that school district policies "should reflect the importance of the parents' role in raising their child." By allowing school officials to notify parents "if their child has encountered any significant physical injury, expressed suicidal intent, or is requesting to be identified or treated as a gender that does not align with the sex on the student's birth certificate," that district is bringing parents "into the conversation regarding some of the most important aspects of the student's life."

The Coalition for Parental Rights claims that the trust between teachers, schools and parents has been "eroded" because federal and state laws are being misinterpreted by school personnel.

"Requiring teachers and schools to lie to parents creates a schism between parents and teachers, and between teachers, who find it reprehensible to lie, and their employers. It also creates a wedge among teacher, parent, and student, leaving students to grapple with whom they should trust," the Coalition says. "Parents, not schools, possess the fundamental right to raise their children. (Toxel v.Granville (2000) 530 U.S. 57) (parents have a fundamental right under the Fourteenth Amendment to oversee the care, custody, and control of a child.) Parents have the right to direct activities and make decisions regarding the child's care and control, education, health, and religion. This constellation of parental interests is 'essential.' (Meyer v. Nebraska (1923) 262 U.S. 390, 399). Parental rights are among the 'basic civil rights of man.' (Skinner v. Oklahoma (1942) 316 U.S. 535, 541). They are 'far more precious ... than property rights.' (May v. Anderson (1953) 345 U.S. 528, 533)."

Among the entities listed on the Coalition's website as "coalition members" is a plethora of religious and far-right groups, including Moms for Liberty.

In its annual "Year in Hate & Extremism" report, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) concluded that a dozen "parental rights" groups behind the conservative movement against some teachings of Black history, literature and gender identity in public schools should be considered extremist — including Moms for Liberty.

"The SPLC has put it (Moms for Liberty) and similar organizations on its list of anti-government extremist entities, drawing comparisons between them and parent groups that attempted to re-segregate public schools during the civil rights movement," NPR reported in early June.

Rachel Carroll Rivas, deputy director for research, reporting and analysis at the SPLC, said groups such as Moms for Liberty seek to "undermine public education holistically and to divide communities," NPR reported.

Founded in 2021 in Florida, Moms for Liberty has been leading efforts to fight COVID-19 safety measures in schools, ban books, limit discussion about race and LGBTQ identities and populate local school boards with conservatives, NPR reported.

"Two-thirds of Americans think the public education system is on the wrong track today. That is why our organization is devoted to empowering parents to be a part of their child's public school education," a statement from two of its co-founders, Tina Descovich and Tiffany Justice, said.

According to a recent NPR/Ipsos poll, however, most Americans, including nearly half of Republicans, oppose banning certain books in schools, NPR reported.

In its report, the SPLC compares Moms for Liberty to pro-segregationist parent groups that existed after the Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954.

"That was hateful then, and it's hateful now," Shannon Hiller, executive director of the Bridging Divides Initiative (BDI) at Princeton University, told NPR in June.

Hiller said her group, BDI, tracks political violence.

"What we've been watching really closely around this particular group ... (are) times when they show up with other groups that have explicitly advocated or committed intimidations and violence," Hiller told NPR. "There are cases at school boards in North Carolina, for example, where Moms for Liberty showed up together with Proud Boys and were part of intimidating the school board."

In an emailed statement to the Appeal late Monday, Gallagher said he was proud to be standing up for parents.

"It's not extreme for parents to exercise their right to be involved in their kids' education," Gallagher said. "I'm proud to join parents from around the state to fight the radicals in Sacramento who are strong-arming schools into keeping secrets from parents. Using made-up 'guidance' disguised as law to exclude parents from their children's education is inexcusable, and I'm glad to see local officials standing up against it."

If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, call 988 to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, text TALK to 741741 or visit the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline website at www.988lifeline.org.