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"content": "\u003cp>A Southern California school district sued by the state has updated its policy requiring staff to notify parents that a student is using a different pronoun or bathroom designated for another gender and now will only mention that a child has requested a change to their student records.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Chino Valley Unified School District board approved the updated policy on Thursday as the district fights a lawsuit filed by Democratic state Attorney General Rob Bonta, who called the original policy discriminatory. Bonta on Friday did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the board’s decision.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Kristi Hirst, co-founder, Our Schools USA\"]‘They’re just broadening the scope so that they don’t obviously single that population out. But the intent behind it, in my opinion, is no different.’[/pullquote]The policy maintains part of the original rule requiring staff to notify parents within three days of their child requesting any changes to their “official or unofficial records,” although it does not specify what that would include. All references to gender identification changes have been removed from the policy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LGBTQ+ advocates said the new mandate is simply a legal loophole to repackage the same policy that continues to violate the rights of students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re just broadening the scope so that they don’t obviously single that population out,” said Kristi Hirst, who co-founded the public education advocacy group Our Schools USA. “But the intent behind it, in my opinion, is no different.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both Chino’s original and updated policies include other scenarios in which school staff would have to notify parents, such as when their child is significantly injured at school. However, schools were already required to report when a child’s safety was threatened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The battle at the district in Chino, a city about 32 miles east of Los Angeles, is part of a nationwide debate over local school districts and the rights of parents and LGBTQ+ students. States across the country have sought to impose bans on gender-affirming care, bar trans athletes from girls’ and women’s sports, and require schools to “out” trans and nonbinary students to their parents. Some lawmakers in other states have introduced bills in their legislatures with broad language requiring that parents be notified of any changes to their child’s emotional health or well-being.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, proponents of the notification policies are trying to get a measure on the November ballot to require schools to notify parents if a child asks to change their gender identification at school, bar transgender girls in grades seven and up from participating in girls’ sports, and ban gender-affirming care for minors.[aside label='More on Education' tag='education']Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom garnered attention last year when he threatened to fine another Southern California district, Temecula Valley Unified, for rejecting an elementary school social studies curriculum that included supplementary material mentioning politician and gay rights advocate Harvey Milk. The district later reversed course.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Chino Valley Unified board introduced its policy last summer after a Republican lawmaker was unable to advance legislation in the state Legislature, which is dominated by Democrats, requiring school staff to notify parents about their child’s request for a gender identification change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chino Valley Unified school board President Sonja Shaw, who helped craft the original policy, said before the vote on Thursday that the board is committed to upholding the rights of parents and prioritizing the well-being of students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This new policy strikes a balance between these two important principles, ensuring that parents are kept informed every step of the way,” Shaw said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Teachers, parents and advocates who oppose the school board policy say it could put students’ safety at risk if they live in abusive households. Andrea McFarland, a high school English teacher for Chino Valley Unified, said the policy the board approved last year was unfair to teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t want to be put in that place to have to choose between potentially putting a child in an unsafe position when they walk in the door at home,” McFarland said. “I don’t know what they’re walking into.”[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Chino Valley Unified school board President Sonja Shaw\"]‘This new policy strikes a balance between these two important principles, ensuring that parents are kept informed every step of the way.’[/pullquote]She said the updated policy is unclear about what would be considered “unofficial records,” a term she hasn’t heard used in her 13 years as an educator.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A judge halted part of the policy last year that required schools to tell parents if their child asked to change their gender identification. He did not grant the state’s attempt in October to block another part of the policy requiring schools to notify parents about a child’s request to change information in their student records.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Emily Rae, a lawyer representing the district, said the board decided to consider the updated policy in response to the judge’s rulings so far in the case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The district still believes the existing policy is legally defensible and constitutional,” she said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She cited a recent ruling over a similar notification policy at Temecula Valley Unified, where a judge allowed the district to require school staff to notify parents if their child asks to change their gender identification at school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"title": "'It's Kind of Game On': The Crowded Field of Contenders Vying to Be California's Next Governor",
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"content": "\u003cp>Voters won’t weigh in for more than two years — the primary election is not until June 2026 — but the race to be California’s next governor is already growing crowded with major contenders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Outgoing state Senate leader \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/legislator-tracker/toni-atkins-1962/\">Toni Atkins\u003c/a> today became the latest high-ranking Democrat to declare their candidacy, holding a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpTxcK6gSjo\">kickoff rally\u003c/a> packed with union members in her hometown of San Diego.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Three other prominent hopefuls — all current or former statewide elected officials looking for a promotion — have announced their intentions to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom, who terms out in 2027, and there are likely to be even more who jump in. It’s a reflection of the scramble to gain the upper hand in what is expected to be a fierce contest, as well as the tremendous resources required to mount a serious campaign in California’s first open race for governor in eight years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re letting their intentions be known so they can wave the flag,” said Andrew Acosta, a Democratic political consultant not affiliated with any of the campaigns. “You need to consolidate, you need to get in the game, you need to go talk to donors.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Atkins follows Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, who was the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/newsletters/whatmatters/2023/04/california-public-transit-budget/#wm-story-2\">first out of the gate\u003c/a> last April, touting the opportunities that California gave her immigrant father. Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/newsletters/whatmatters/2023/09/california-crime-protest-oakland/#wm-story-3\">joined the race in September\u003c/a> with a video tracking his rise from poverty. And former Controller Betty Yee \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/betty-yee-california-governor-2026-17916212.php\">said she will run for governor\u003c/a>, though she has yet to formally launch her campaign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Andrew Acosta, Democratic political consultant\"]‘They’re letting their intentions be known so they can wave the flag. You need to consolidate, you need to get in the game, you need to go talk to donors.’[/pullquote]Attorney General Rob Bonta, who\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/article/rob-bonta-governor-housing-newsom-california-18109079.php\"> acknowledged last year\u003c/a> that he is “seriously considering” seeking the governorship, is still expected to make a bid. Then there’s the question of who might carry the banner for the Republican Party, which has lost the last three gubernatorial elections by nearly 20 percentage points or more and has not won a statewide office in California since 2006.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nevertheless, the race is already far more formed than it was at the same point in the 2018 election. Newsom, at that time the lieutenant governor, probably set a speed record when he \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-pol-gavin-newsom-20150212-story.html\">announced his candidacy\u003c/a> in February 2015, just three months after then-Gov. Jerry Brown won a second term — but then his rivals hesitated. Some waited almost another two years before launching their campaigns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Look what happened to them,” Acosta said. “By the time people got in the race, Newsom’s team had done a good job of framing that the race was already over. And it kind of was.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Racking up endorsements and fundraising is key in a state like California where, because of the sheer size, advertising trumps retail politics and millions of dollars are needed to get on the air in multiple expensive media markets. Though most voters are not yet paying attention to an election that is years away, jumping in early allows candidates to start pulling those important levers behind the scenes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s especially critical for someone like Atkins, who has never run for statewide office and will need to work even harder to build familiarity with voters. She \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/newsletters/whatmatters/2023/08/parental-rights-california-2/#wm-story-2\">hands over the office\u003c/a> of Senate president pro tem on Feb. 5 and terms out of the Legislature at the end of the year, losing a powerful post from which to solicit donations and support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"news_11973095,news_11962489\"]“You’d rather be in a position where you are dictating it on your own terms,” Acosta said. “So it’s kind of game on.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Atkins’ rally ended, Thurmond rolled out a new union endorsement, while earlier this week, Kounalakis announced that she had received the backing of another 16 of Atkins’ legislative colleagues. The daughter of a wealthy real estate developer, Kounalakis, has a substantial financial advantage in the race and reported raising more than $3.7 million by the end of last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Atkins seemed to nod to that in her remarks today, which laid out her journey from a poor upbringing in rural West Virginia to become the first woman who has led both houses of the California Legislature, where she has carried bills making it easier to build housing and protecting abortion rights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You shouldn’t have to be a millionaire to make it in California,” she said. “You should only have to have a dream and people who care enough to help you reach it. Let’s achieve that dream together.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Expect to hear a lot more about the history that this slate could make of candidates. Atkins, Kounalakis or Yee would be the first woman governor in California’s history. Atkins would also be the first openly LGBTQ+ person to lead the state, Thurmond would be the first Black person and Bonta or Yee would be the first Asian American.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "More than two years until the first votes are cast, a fierce race is expected for the California gubernatorial elections as Gov. Gavin Newsom terms out in 2027.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Voters won’t weigh in for more than two years — the primary election is not until June 2026 — but the race to be California’s next governor is already growing crowded with major contenders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Outgoing state Senate leader \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/legislator-tracker/toni-atkins-1962/\">Toni Atkins\u003c/a> today became the latest high-ranking Democrat to declare their candidacy, holding a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpTxcK6gSjo\">kickoff rally\u003c/a> packed with union members in her hometown of San Diego.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Three other prominent hopefuls — all current or former statewide elected officials looking for a promotion — have announced their intentions to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom, who terms out in 2027, and there are likely to be even more who jump in. It’s a reflection of the scramble to gain the upper hand in what is expected to be a fierce contest, as well as the tremendous resources required to mount a serious campaign in California’s first open race for governor in eight years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re letting their intentions be known so they can wave the flag,” said Andrew Acosta, a Democratic political consultant not affiliated with any of the campaigns. “You need to consolidate, you need to get in the game, you need to go talk to donors.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Atkins follows Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, who was the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/newsletters/whatmatters/2023/04/california-public-transit-budget/#wm-story-2\">first out of the gate\u003c/a> last April, touting the opportunities that California gave her immigrant father. Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/newsletters/whatmatters/2023/09/california-crime-protest-oakland/#wm-story-3\">joined the race in September\u003c/a> with a video tracking his rise from poverty. And former Controller Betty Yee \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/betty-yee-california-governor-2026-17916212.php\">said she will run for governor\u003c/a>, though she has yet to formally launch her campaign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Attorney General Rob Bonta, who\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/article/rob-bonta-governor-housing-newsom-california-18109079.php\"> acknowledged last year\u003c/a> that he is “seriously considering” seeking the governorship, is still expected to make a bid. Then there’s the question of who might carry the banner for the Republican Party, which has lost the last three gubernatorial elections by nearly 20 percentage points or more and has not won a statewide office in California since 2006.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nevertheless, the race is already far more formed than it was at the same point in the 2018 election. Newsom, at that time the lieutenant governor, probably set a speed record when he \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-pol-gavin-newsom-20150212-story.html\">announced his candidacy\u003c/a> in February 2015, just three months after then-Gov. Jerry Brown won a second term — but then his rivals hesitated. Some waited almost another two years before launching their campaigns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Look what happened to them,” Acosta said. “By the time people got in the race, Newsom’s team had done a good job of framing that the race was already over. And it kind of was.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Racking up endorsements and fundraising is key in a state like California where, because of the sheer size, advertising trumps retail politics and millions of dollars are needed to get on the air in multiple expensive media markets. Though most voters are not yet paying attention to an election that is years away, jumping in early allows candidates to start pulling those important levers behind the scenes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s especially critical for someone like Atkins, who has never run for statewide office and will need to work even harder to build familiarity with voters. She \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/newsletters/whatmatters/2023/08/parental-rights-california-2/#wm-story-2\">hands over the office\u003c/a> of Senate president pro tem on Feb. 5 and terms out of the Legislature at the end of the year, losing a powerful post from which to solicit donations and support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“You’d rather be in a position where you are dictating it on your own terms,” Acosta said. “So it’s kind of game on.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Atkins’ rally ended, Thurmond rolled out a new union endorsement, while earlier this week, Kounalakis announced that she had received the backing of another 16 of Atkins’ legislative colleagues. The daughter of a wealthy real estate developer, Kounalakis, has a substantial financial advantage in the race and reported raising more than $3.7 million by the end of last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Atkins seemed to nod to that in her remarks today, which laid out her journey from a poor upbringing in rural West Virginia to become the first woman who has led both houses of the California Legislature, where she has carried bills making it easier to build housing and protecting abortion rights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You shouldn’t have to be a millionaire to make it in California,” she said. “You should only have to have a dream and people who care enough to help you reach it. Let’s achieve that dream together.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Expect to hear a lot more about the history that this slate could make of candidates. Atkins, Kounalakis or Yee would be the first woman governor in California’s history. Atkins would also be the first openly LGBTQ+ person to lead the state, Thurmond would be the first Black person and Bonta or Yee would be the first Asian American.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "‘This Is Resistance’: Queer Palestinian Artists and Activists in the Bay Area Are Speaking Out",
"headTitle": "‘This Is Resistance’: Queer Palestinian Artists and Activists in the Bay Area Are Speaking Out | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Under the flashing lights of Oakland’s Continental Club on Oct. 29, San Francisco drag artist Mama Ganuush wears a flowing white gown and sweeps their hands passionately to the music — while clutching the Palestinian flag.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mama Ganuush, who is African Palestinian, told KQED that members of their extended family have been killed during \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/gaza/\">the months-long siege of Gaza by Israeli forces\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is resistance,” Ganuush said of their performance. “As Palestinians, our existence in this world is a form of resistance.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ganuush was lip-syncing to “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21T5u9qtBlk\">Al Haq Silahi\u003c/a>” — “The Truth is My Weapon” — by Lebanese artist Julia Boutros. Boutros wrote the song for \u003ca href=\"https://www.arabnews.com/news/offbeat/608401\">Palestinians during the 2014 war\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I feel like the Palestinian issue is a queer issue,” Ganuush said. “We always stand up facing oppression from authoritarian systems.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Felt like I was coming out’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The shockingly high death toll and wide-scale destruction of Gaza has prompted \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11967074/as-apec-kicks-off-protestors-are-descending-on-san-francisco-heres-what-you-need-to-know\">crowds of Bay Area residents to flood the streets\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11967536/protesters-calling-for-gaza-ceasefire-block-bay-bridges-westbound-lanes\">block bridges\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11969094/sf-supervisor-preston-calls-for-city-to-adopt-resolution-demanding-gaza-cease-fire\">in support of a cease-fire\u003c/a> in recent weeks. One of these protests, on Dec. 2 in San Francisco’s Castro District, was \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/free-palestine-rally-sf-18528116.php\">organized by the group Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism\u003c/a> — or QUIT! — along with other members of the city’s queer community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11969733\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11969733 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/231213-Pinkwashing-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person with a beard and wearing a dress and a long necklace holds the Palestinian flag on a stage.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/231213-Pinkwashing-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/231213-Pinkwashing-01-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/231213-Pinkwashing-01-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/231213-Pinkwashing-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/231213-Pinkwashing-01-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/231213-Pinkwashing-01-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mama Ganuush, an African-Palestinian drag artist, waves a Palestinian flag as they perform at Oakland’s Continental Club on Oct. 29. \u003ccite>(Photo courtesy of Saman Qadir)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One demonstrator wrote the group a letter after participating in the rally, detailing what the experience had meant to him. Zak, a first-generation Palestinian who gave only his first name in his letter, told QUIT! that “Marching down Castro St with my flag and wearing a Keffiyeh felt like I was coming out, not as gay, but as Palestinian to the Queer Community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>QUIT!’s current incarnation was founded in 2000. But as longtime group member Mindy Spatt explained, the pro-Palestine group has taken several forms over the years in support of other causes, or inspired by other groups: from Lesbians and Gays Against Intervention, organized around Central America, to DAGGER, (Dykes and Gay Guys Emergency Response), formed during the U.S. invasion of Iraq.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group quickly evolved into an organization focused on supporting Palestinians, Spatt said, a cause that members like her have been politically invested in for a long time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During a visit to the West Bank in 1990, an altercation broke out in the small town Spatt was staying in, she recalled. In response, the Israeli military enforced a curfew, prompting Palestinian children to march in the streets in protest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11969735\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 1500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/231213-Pinkwashing-03-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11969735 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/231213-Pinkwashing-03-KQED.jpg\" alt='A group of people sit in the middle of a city street while several people hold a sign reading \"Queers of the Plaza: Free Palestine.\"' width=\"1500\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/231213-Pinkwashing-03-KQED.jpg 1500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/231213-Pinkwashing-03-KQED-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/231213-Pinkwashing-03-KQED-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/231213-Pinkwashing-03-KQED-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/231213-Pinkwashing-03-KQED-1152x1536.jpg 1152w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">LGBTQ+ activists, including local pro-Palestine group Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism (QUIT!), demonstrate in San Francisco on Dec. 2 in support of a cease-fire in Gaza. \u003ccite>(Photo courtesy of Mindy Spatt)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I saw them shooting at a 12-year-old girl. No one could ever tell me they haven’t been killing children because I’ve seen it,” Spatt said. “As a Jew, it was actually really painful to me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although it was not the only violence Spatt said she witnessed — it was the incident that resonated most strongly, leading to her \u003ca href=\"https://quitpalestine.org/frameline/\">activism with QUIT!\u003c/a> back in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There was all this stuff with the Israeli government promoting itself as this bastion of freedom for gay people,” Spatt said. “And we were like, ‘Well, really? Is it safe for Palestinian gay people in Israel?’ ”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Protesting ‘pinkwashing’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Last month, \u003ca href=\"https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-war-soldier-rainbow-flag-gaza-condemned-pinkwashing-textbook\">images of an Israeli soldier holding up a Pride flag amid ruins in Gaza began circulating on social media\u003c/a>. The photos were heavily criticized by many queer advocates, who called them a form of “pinkwashing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sa’ed Atshan, \u003ca href=\"https://www.swarthmore.edu/profile/saed-atshan\">an associate professor of peace and conflict studies at Swarthmore College\u003c/a> and the author of \u003ci>Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique\u003c/i> said pinkwashing refers to “when supporters of the right-wing Israeli state draw attention to a purported advanced LGBTQ rights record in Israel in order to detract attention away from Israel’s gross violations of Palestinian human rights.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It becomes a civilizational discourse that’s used to dehumanize Palestinians by pathologizing Palestinians as being homophobic,” Atshan said, “and therefore to attempt to justify the oppression that Palestinians face from Israel.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pinkwashing also ignores the struggle of queer Palestinians and the specific surveillance they face at the hands of Israeli authorities, Atshan said. Since the 1980s, “the Israeli security and intelligence services have been \u003ca href=\"https://www.vice.com/en/article/av8b5j/gay-palestinians-are-being-blackmailed-into-working-as-informants\">targeting LGBTQ Palestinians\u003c/a> to serve as informants and collaborators,” he said. “They target vulnerable Palestinians. So, for example, a young woman who maybe had an extramarital relationship or premarital sex, and that is discovered, that could then be used against her to try to entrap or blackmail.”[aside postID=\"news_11969370\" hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/231207-BISAN-SHEHADEH-MD-04-KQED-1020x680.jpg']This kind of targeting, Atshan added, “becomes a kind of tool that’s used by the colonial apparatus to further subjugate and dominate Palestinians.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘I will not let them steal my joy’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>San Francisco artist Zaheer Suboh characterizes some of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.them.us/story/lgbtq-solidarity-palestine-saed-atshan\">criticism of Palestinian activism\u003c/a> that he often \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CzPXvI2PM3d/?hl=en&img_index=1\">faces online\u003c/a> or in person as: “These Hamas agents would want to kill you. So, why are you fighting for the rights of Palestinians?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Suboh calls such statements a “logically fallacious argument against liberating people in general” — and argues that it’s hypocritical coming from people in the United States, considering \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/anti-trans-laws\">this country’s own recent wave of anti-trans and anti-gay legislation.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Suboh, a queer Palestinian DJ who performs as Subeaux, grew up in the West Bank. For him, pinkwashing is “essentially legitimizing the apartheid mission of Israel by saying that it is the only safe place for gay people in the Middle East.” He said he personally wouldn’t feel safe in Israel — because of the persecution he’d face for just being Palestinian.\u003cbr>\n[ad fullwidth]\u003cbr>\nSuboh said he vividly remembers the daily checkpoints he had to go through as a child to get to school, seeing soldiers with guns asking for Palestinians’ papers and searching their belongings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But he also remembers his family’s land and the bustling markets on the streets of Ramallah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I miss waking up early mornings with my siblings and my dad and going to our big fig tree,” Suboh said. “It was so big. Its stalks were so stretched out wide that you could climb all the way up on the sides of it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Suboh, who now lives in the Castro District, said he uses his performances as a way to create spaces for connection. “One of my life goals is to bring queer people together … through joy, through music, through community building,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11969736\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/231213-Pinkwashing-04-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11969736 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/231213-Pinkwashing-04-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A DJ behind a turntable in front of a doorway.\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1061\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/231213-Pinkwashing-04-KQED.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/231213-Pinkwashing-04-KQED-800x531.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/231213-Pinkwashing-04-KQED-1020x676.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/231213-Pinkwashing-04-KQED-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/231213-Pinkwashing-04-KQED-1536x1019.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San Francisco DJ Zaheer Suboh, who performs as Subeaux, says it has been difficult balancing his art and his activism amid Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza. \u003ccite>(Photo courtesy of Zaheer Suboh)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Suboh said he’s currently trying to find a balance in his life between DJing and activism, something he finds challenging because of the deep anger he feels watching Israeli forces continue their siege on Gaza.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I will not let this injustice steal another thing from me. Because my people’s land has already been stolen, my people’s lives have already been stolen,” Suboh said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I will not let them steal my joy on top of everything that they’ve already stolen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Local LGBTQ+ Palestinians talk about 'pinkwashing,' community and navigating the complexities of identity amid the ongoing death toll in Gaza.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Under the flashing lights of Oakland’s Continental Club on Oct. 29, San Francisco drag artist Mama Ganuush wears a flowing white gown and sweeps their hands passionately to the music — while clutching the Palestinian flag.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mama Ganuush, who is African Palestinian, told KQED that members of their extended family have been killed during \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/gaza/\">the months-long siege of Gaza by Israeli forces\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is resistance,” Ganuush said of their performance. “As Palestinians, our existence in this world is a form of resistance.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ganuush was lip-syncing to “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21T5u9qtBlk\">Al Haq Silahi\u003c/a>” — “The Truth is My Weapon” — by Lebanese artist Julia Boutros. Boutros wrote the song for \u003ca href=\"https://www.arabnews.com/news/offbeat/608401\">Palestinians during the 2014 war\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I feel like the Palestinian issue is a queer issue,” Ganuush said. “We always stand up facing oppression from authoritarian systems.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Felt like I was coming out’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The shockingly high death toll and wide-scale destruction of Gaza has prompted \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11967074/as-apec-kicks-off-protestors-are-descending-on-san-francisco-heres-what-you-need-to-know\">crowds of Bay Area residents to flood the streets\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11967536/protesters-calling-for-gaza-ceasefire-block-bay-bridges-westbound-lanes\">block bridges\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11969094/sf-supervisor-preston-calls-for-city-to-adopt-resolution-demanding-gaza-cease-fire\">in support of a cease-fire\u003c/a> in recent weeks. One of these protests, on Dec. 2 in San Francisco’s Castro District, was \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/free-palestine-rally-sf-18528116.php\">organized by the group Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism\u003c/a> — or QUIT! — along with other members of the city’s queer community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11969733\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11969733 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/231213-Pinkwashing-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person with a beard and wearing a dress and a long necklace holds the Palestinian flag on a stage.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/231213-Pinkwashing-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/231213-Pinkwashing-01-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/231213-Pinkwashing-01-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/231213-Pinkwashing-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/231213-Pinkwashing-01-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/231213-Pinkwashing-01-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mama Ganuush, an African-Palestinian drag artist, waves a Palestinian flag as they perform at Oakland’s Continental Club on Oct. 29. \u003ccite>(Photo courtesy of Saman Qadir)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One demonstrator wrote the group a letter after participating in the rally, detailing what the experience had meant to him. Zak, a first-generation Palestinian who gave only his first name in his letter, told QUIT! that “Marching down Castro St with my flag and wearing a Keffiyeh felt like I was coming out, not as gay, but as Palestinian to the Queer Community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>QUIT!’s current incarnation was founded in 2000. But as longtime group member Mindy Spatt explained, the pro-Palestine group has taken several forms over the years in support of other causes, or inspired by other groups: from Lesbians and Gays Against Intervention, organized around Central America, to DAGGER, (Dykes and Gay Guys Emergency Response), formed during the U.S. invasion of Iraq.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group quickly evolved into an organization focused on supporting Palestinians, Spatt said, a cause that members like her have been politically invested in for a long time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During a visit to the West Bank in 1990, an altercation broke out in the small town Spatt was staying in, she recalled. In response, the Israeli military enforced a curfew, prompting Palestinian children to march in the streets in protest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11969735\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 1500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/231213-Pinkwashing-03-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11969735 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/231213-Pinkwashing-03-KQED.jpg\" alt='A group of people sit in the middle of a city street while several people hold a sign reading \"Queers of the Plaza: Free Palestine.\"' width=\"1500\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/231213-Pinkwashing-03-KQED.jpg 1500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/231213-Pinkwashing-03-KQED-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/231213-Pinkwashing-03-KQED-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/231213-Pinkwashing-03-KQED-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/231213-Pinkwashing-03-KQED-1152x1536.jpg 1152w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">LGBTQ+ activists, including local pro-Palestine group Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism (QUIT!), demonstrate in San Francisco on Dec. 2 in support of a cease-fire in Gaza. \u003ccite>(Photo courtesy of Mindy Spatt)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I saw them shooting at a 12-year-old girl. No one could ever tell me they haven’t been killing children because I’ve seen it,” Spatt said. “As a Jew, it was actually really painful to me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although it was not the only violence Spatt said she witnessed — it was the incident that resonated most strongly, leading to her \u003ca href=\"https://quitpalestine.org/frameline/\">activism with QUIT!\u003c/a> back in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There was all this stuff with the Israeli government promoting itself as this bastion of freedom for gay people,” Spatt said. “And we were like, ‘Well, really? Is it safe for Palestinian gay people in Israel?’ ”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Protesting ‘pinkwashing’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Last month, \u003ca href=\"https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-war-soldier-rainbow-flag-gaza-condemned-pinkwashing-textbook\">images of an Israeli soldier holding up a Pride flag amid ruins in Gaza began circulating on social media\u003c/a>. The photos were heavily criticized by many queer advocates, who called them a form of “pinkwashing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sa’ed Atshan, \u003ca href=\"https://www.swarthmore.edu/profile/saed-atshan\">an associate professor of peace and conflict studies at Swarthmore College\u003c/a> and the author of \u003ci>Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique\u003c/i> said pinkwashing refers to “when supporters of the right-wing Israeli state draw attention to a purported advanced LGBTQ rights record in Israel in order to detract attention away from Israel’s gross violations of Palestinian human rights.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It becomes a civilizational discourse that’s used to dehumanize Palestinians by pathologizing Palestinians as being homophobic,” Atshan said, “and therefore to attempt to justify the oppression that Palestinians face from Israel.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pinkwashing also ignores the struggle of queer Palestinians and the specific surveillance they face at the hands of Israeli authorities, Atshan said. Since the 1980s, “the Israeli security and intelligence services have been \u003ca href=\"https://www.vice.com/en/article/av8b5j/gay-palestinians-are-being-blackmailed-into-working-as-informants\">targeting LGBTQ Palestinians\u003c/a> to serve as informants and collaborators,” he said. “They target vulnerable Palestinians. So, for example, a young woman who maybe had an extramarital relationship or premarital sex, and that is discovered, that could then be used against her to try to entrap or blackmail.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>This kind of targeting, Atshan added, “becomes a kind of tool that’s used by the colonial apparatus to further subjugate and dominate Palestinians.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘I will not let them steal my joy’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>San Francisco artist Zaheer Suboh characterizes some of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.them.us/story/lgbtq-solidarity-palestine-saed-atshan\">criticism of Palestinian activism\u003c/a> that he often \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CzPXvI2PM3d/?hl=en&img_index=1\">faces online\u003c/a> or in person as: “These Hamas agents would want to kill you. So, why are you fighting for the rights of Palestinians?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Suboh calls such statements a “logically fallacious argument against liberating people in general” — and argues that it’s hypocritical coming from people in the United States, considering \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/anti-trans-laws\">this country’s own recent wave of anti-trans and anti-gay legislation.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Suboh, a queer Palestinian DJ who performs as Subeaux, grew up in the West Bank. For him, pinkwashing is “essentially legitimizing the apartheid mission of Israel by saying that it is the only safe place for gay people in the Middle East.” He said he personally wouldn’t feel safe in Israel — because of the persecution he’d face for just being Palestinian.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cbr>\nSuboh said he vividly remembers the daily checkpoints he had to go through as a child to get to school, seeing soldiers with guns asking for Palestinians’ papers and searching their belongings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But he also remembers his family’s land and the bustling markets on the streets of Ramallah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I miss waking up early mornings with my siblings and my dad and going to our big fig tree,” Suboh said. “It was so big. Its stalks were so stretched out wide that you could climb all the way up on the sides of it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Suboh, who now lives in the Castro District, said he uses his performances as a way to create spaces for connection. “One of my life goals is to bring queer people together … through joy, through music, through community building,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11969736\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/231213-Pinkwashing-04-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11969736 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/231213-Pinkwashing-04-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A DJ behind a turntable in front of a doorway.\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1061\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/231213-Pinkwashing-04-KQED.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/231213-Pinkwashing-04-KQED-800x531.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/231213-Pinkwashing-04-KQED-1020x676.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/231213-Pinkwashing-04-KQED-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/231213-Pinkwashing-04-KQED-1536x1019.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San Francisco DJ Zaheer Suboh, who performs as Subeaux, says it has been difficult balancing his art and his activism amid Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza. \u003ccite>(Photo courtesy of Zaheer Suboh)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Suboh said he’s currently trying to find a balance in his life between DJing and activism, something he finds challenging because of the deep anger he feels watching Israeli forces continue their siege on Gaza.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I will not let this injustice steal another thing from me. Because my people’s land has already been stolen, my people’s lives have already been stolen,” Suboh said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I will not let them steal my joy on top of everything that they’ve already stolen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "inside-the-trial-that-overturned-californias-same-sex-marriage-ban-proposition-8-mike-johnson-lgbtq-rights",
"title": "Inside the Trial That Overturned California's Same-Sex Marriage Ban",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC7526943476\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These are some of the ideas promoted by Louisiana Rep. Mike Johnson, the man \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/house-speaker-republicans-emmer-mccarthy-54352a64be041cd445bda8df28b24f03\">Republicans unanimously elected speaker of the House of Representatives on Oct. 25\u003c/a>, a position second-in-line for the presidency after the vice president:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>Marriage between two men or two women \u003ca href=\"https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-kfile/134019997/\">is not what God intended, and only traditional heterosexual marriage can lead to real happiness\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Homosexuality \u003ca href=\"https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-mike-johnson-2005/134051395/\">is a lifestyle choice, not an immutable characteristic\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Children are harmed \u003ca href=\"https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-kfile/134019997/\">by not having one mother and one father\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>States \u003ca href=\"https://www.splcenter.org/sites/default/files/adf_-amicusbrief_lawrence_v_texas.pdf\">should be allowed to criminalize consensual sex between two men\u003c/a> as a way to slow the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>“Experts project that homosexual marriage is the dark harbinger of chaos and sexual anarchy,” Johnson \u003ca href=\"https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-kfile/134020593/\">wrote in 2004 in an opinion article\u003c/a> in The Times of Shreveport, Louisiana.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Asked recently by Fox News for his views on homosexuality, Johnson said simply, “Go pick up a Bible. That’s what I believe and so I make no apologies for it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s why we call him MAGA Mike,” said openly gay Congressman Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach). “He is literally one of the most extreme voices in his party as it relates to LGBTQ rights. And so his record is really troubling.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of the ideas espoused by Johnson also served as the ideological basis of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/proposition-8\">Proposition 8\u003c/a>, the 2008 ballot measure that banned same-sex marriage in California until it was struck down in 2010.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Such constitutional amendments, Johnson said, “are the people’s only way to prevent same-sex marriage as demanded by activist courts.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The rise of Johnson to the speakership coincides with renewed ultraconservative activism under the guise of keeping public policy from getting in between parents and their children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At school board meetings, city councils and state legislatures around the country — \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11965684/amidst-backlash-conservative-groups-target-south-bay-school-board-seats\">including in the Bay Area\u003c/a> — conservative activists led by organizations such as \u003ca href=\"https://www.momsforliberty.org/\">Moms for Liberty\u003c/a> are using “parental rights” as a cry to stir up anger against policies supporting transgender youth and their families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The notion that children need protection from predatory queer people or their allies is nothing new. In the 1970s, former beauty pageant winner \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/1970s-christian-crusader-anita-bryant-helped-spawn-floridas-lgbtq-cult-rcna24215\">Anita Bryant used it to roll back gay rights ordinances in Florida\u003c/a>. Here in California in 1978, \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-08-04/gearhart-briggs-initiative-ban-gay-teachers-proposition-6\">it was the misguided rationale behind the so-called Briggs Initiative\u003c/a>, which sought to prevent openly gay and lesbian people from teaching in K-12 schools. Voters soundly defeated it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that was not the case 15 years ago, on Nov. 4, 2008 — when Proposition 8 passed. It was a night when Californians overwhelmingly voted to elect Barack Obama president while simultaneously taking away the right of same-sex couples to marry. For LGBTQ+ voters, it was political whiplash — euphoria and despair in one night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Proposition 8 passed with 52% of the vote, eliminating a right that had been granted to gay and lesbian couples by the California Supreme Court less than six months earlier.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Anti-gay tropes on trial\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As it happens, the ideas embraced by Speaker Johnson and supporters of Proposition 8 were all put on trial in 2010 after two same-sex couples sued in federal court to overturn the measure when they were denied marriage licenses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That Proposition 8 trial — which included expert witnesses testifying under oath about anti-gay tropes, theories and political arguments — resulted in Proposition 8 being struck down in 2010 when the federal trial judge deemed the evidence against same-sex marriage to be uncompelling and ruled that the law violated the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the ruling, and the legal battle ended when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up a final appeal in 2013.[aside postID=\"news_11911275\" hero=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/RS5337_KQEDprop8castro_01.jpg\"]For more than a decade after it ended, videotapes of the trial were under seal until KQED fought a long legal battle to make them available to the public. The U.S. Supreme Court \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11911275/supreme-court-ruling-clears-way-for-release-of-footage-from-landmark-trial-that-legalized-same-sex-marriage-in-california\">allowed them to be unsealed in October 2022\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the videotapes were released, KQED invited the four Proposition 8 plaintiffs — Kris Perry and Sandy Stier along with Paul Katami and Jeffrey Zarrillo — to view them for the first time and talk about the trial, its aftermath and its significance today.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘The lie won people over, and the lie was based on fear’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One thing that stood out is that the ‘Yes on 8’ messages still echo today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Leaders in the Catholic and Mormon Churches promoted the campaign to ban same-sex marriages in California. Among the ‘Yes on 8’ slogans: “Protect the Children.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The sad part of it is, that campaign worked because the convenience of the lie won people over, and the lie was based on fear,” recalls Paul Katami. “And that fear included children. So I would never say it was a brilliant tactic, but it was an evil tactic.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Watch a video featuring Paul Katami and Jeffrey Zarrillo reflecting on their experiences, produced by KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/ccabreralomeli\">Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGFgrXJx950\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Attorney Thomas R. Burke led KQED’s successful legal battle to unseal the tapes. He said the trial tested the homophobic, hateful arguments promoted by Proposition 8 supporters. The witnesses, the withering cross-examinations and the poignant testimony are all caught on \u003ca href=\"https://cand.uscourts.gov/notices/video-recordings-of-perry-v-schwarzenegger-now-available/\">video that is now available to anyone who wants to watch\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The evidence didn’t support you,” Burke said, referring to ‘Yes on 8’ defenders. “You had great lawyers arguing your cause, and you didn’t win. And if people thought you should have won, they can see and judge for themselves. If you didn’t have that recorded, that couldn’t happen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The historic trial resulted in a landmark decision when Judge Vaughn Walker struck down the ballot measure, ruling it violated the U.S. Constitution — but it was hardly a foregone conclusion at the start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Jeffrey Zarrillo, Proposition 8 plaintiff\"]‘I said to Paul at one point, ‘Even if we lose, we can go to our graves knowing that we didn’t stand for being treated as second-class citizens. We tried to do something about it.”[/pullquote]“I remember feeling very anxious and scared, honestly, not knowing how any of it would turn out,” lead plaintiff Kris Perry said after viewing trial clips at KQED. “People were really, you know, counting on us to deliver. And there was a lot of pressure.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Perry’s wife, Sandy Stier, recalls what seemed like days and days of preparation before going on the stand. She remembers worrying about how the trial might affect their lives, “not only for me, what it might be like for my kids, for my parents, my siblings and my community. And so it was very, very anxious going into court that day, not knowing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Zarrillo and Katami were the first witnesses called to testify.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had so many fears going into the trial,” Katami said. “I was not confident because this was uncharted territory for both of us as human beings.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I said to Paul at one point, ‘Even if we lose, we can go to our graves knowing that we didn’t stand for being treated as second-class citizens,’” Zarrillo said. “We tried to do something about it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trial was originally going to be televised on closed circuit TV via YouTube until Proposition 8 attorneys objected, and the U.S. Supreme Court intervened to prevent it. But Judge Walker recorded the trial anyway, he said, for his personal use in writing the decision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the stand, Katami was asked by one of their attorneys, David Boies, what the big deal was about not being able to marry when they had the option of a domestic partnership.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The big deal is it’s creating a separate category for us. And that’s a major deal because it makes you into a second-, third- … and fourth-class citizen,” Katami said that day in January 2010.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11966192\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11966192\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/03032023_prop9lawsuit-469-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Two people sit next to each other in chairs in front of a white backdrop.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/03032023_prop9lawsuit-469-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/03032023_prop9lawsuit-469-KQED-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/03032023_prop9lawsuit-469-KQED-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/03032023_prop9lawsuit-469-KQED-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/03032023_prop9lawsuit-469-KQED-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/03032023_prop9lawsuit-469-KQED-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jeffrey Zarrillo, left, and Paul Katami, plaintiffs in the landmark lawsuit that overturned California’s ban on same-sex marriage, sit during an interview at the KQED offices in San Francisco on March 3, 2023. Katami and Zarrillo had come to the studio to watch clips of their testimony in federal court, which KQED had fought to get unsealed. \u003ccite>(Kori Suzuki/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Concerns over renewed efforts to make LGBTQ+ people second-class citizens were shared by none other than U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor this summer, following the high court’s ruling siding with a Christian graphic artist who refused to work with same-sex couples. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11955680/explaining-303-creative-decision\">Sotomayor wrote in her dissent that the decision’s effect was to “mark gays and lesbians for second-class status”\u003c/a> and that the ruling opened the door to further discrimination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reflecting on his testimony, Katami said until the Proposition 8 trial, many heterosexuals didn’t know the hundreds of rights automatically afforded straight couples — but denied to LGBTQ people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And if you don’t have that protection because marriage allows that protection, there’s a bright spotlight that shines down on those rights when you don’t have them,” Katami says.[aside postID=\"news_11955680\" hero=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/GettyImages-180517172-1020x680.jpg\"]Viewing the trial tapes, Zarrillo noted that “when you’re on the stand like that, you have to really figure out, how do I answer this question [in a way] that is not going to hurt our cause?” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Perry was asked in court to describe her relationship with Stier, whom she met while both were students at UC Santa Cruz, Perry testified, “I met Sandy thinking she was maybe the sparkliest person I ever met. And I wanted to be her friend.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the stand, Stier testified that after meeting Perry, she “ really felt like the thunderbolt of change for me.” Unlike Perry, Stier wasn’t an out lesbian at the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had moved to California, got married to a man, had two kids, and knew that something wasn’t working for me,” Stier told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Watch a video featuring Kris Perry and Sandy Stier reflecting on their experiences, produced by KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/ccabreralomeli\">Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMlRY1EIifk\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trial tapes reveal the humanity of the issue, ably presented by the four plaintiffs, Judge Walker said recently.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Both of the couples were very able witnesses — very attractive witnesses… So, we’re talking about matters that are intensely personal and important to them. That’s pretty compelling testimony under any circumstances,” Walker told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the audible and visible emotion of their testimony was out of view until the trial tapes were unsealed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, unlike TV shows, where every courtroom scene is riveting and entertaining, real-life trials are mostly “hours and hours of tedium broken episodically by sometimes emotions (or) events of great interest. But they are few and far between,” Walker said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, the retired judge said the tapes will be helpful in law schools to show students how courts deal with “a social issue or a constitutional issue of widespread importance.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Honey Mahogany, transgender rights activist and chair of the San Francisco Democratic Central Committee \"]‘Seeing what happened during the trial behind the scenes is really important because it helps expose the truth. It helps expose the fact that this is just about two people loving each other.’[/pullquote]After Proposition 8 was struck down, both couples soon married and remain so today. But LGBTQ people are still under attack by people hoping to use them as political fodder on behalf of conservative causes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think that is incredibly dangerous,” transgender rights activist Honey Mahogany said. “These are tropes that have always been a part of emotionally manipulating people to advantage a certain political group or cause, right? They’re not based in fact.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mahogany, who also chairs the San Francisco Democratic Central Committee, said the release of the trial tapes helps to humanize issues and the plaintiffs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Seeing what happened during the trial behind the scenes is really important because it helps expose the truth,” Mahogany said. “It helps expose the fact that this is just about two people loving each other, wanting to cement their relationship, wanting to protect each other … and their children.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mahogany said that given the risks of failure, what the Proposition 8 plaintiffs did was “incredibly important and brave.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She hopes their example will encourage others to come forward today to humanize LGBTQ issues. “We can learn from history. We can, you know, find our champions and also our storytellers to help us tell our stories,” Mahogany said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the videotapes now accessible online, their stories told under oath can be seen by anyone who wishes to watch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They fought for a decade that this would not be seen,” Burke said. “And I think there’s a reason for that,” Burke said, implying their arguments simply didn’t hold up under legal scrutiny.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although Walker’s ruling striking down Proposition 8 was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, the measure’s wording remains in the California Constitution. But voters will have the chance to change that next November. The State Legislature\u003ca href=\"https://ballotpedia.org/California_Right_to_Marry_and_Repeal_Proposition_8_Amendment_(2024)\"> placed a measure on the fall 2024 ballot that removes that invalidated language\u003c/a> and replaces it with an affirmation of the right of all couples to marry in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>A version of this story was originally published on Nov. 2.\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC7526943476\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These are some of the ideas promoted by Louisiana Rep. Mike Johnson, the man \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/house-speaker-republicans-emmer-mccarthy-54352a64be041cd445bda8df28b24f03\">Republicans unanimously elected speaker of the House of Representatives on Oct. 25\u003c/a>, a position second-in-line for the presidency after the vice president:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>Marriage between two men or two women \u003ca href=\"https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-kfile/134019997/\">is not what God intended, and only traditional heterosexual marriage can lead to real happiness\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Homosexuality \u003ca href=\"https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-mike-johnson-2005/134051395/\">is a lifestyle choice, not an immutable characteristic\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Children are harmed \u003ca href=\"https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-kfile/134019997/\">by not having one mother and one father\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>States \u003ca href=\"https://www.splcenter.org/sites/default/files/adf_-amicusbrief_lawrence_v_texas.pdf\">should be allowed to criminalize consensual sex between two men\u003c/a> as a way to slow the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>“Experts project that homosexual marriage is the dark harbinger of chaos and sexual anarchy,” Johnson \u003ca href=\"https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-kfile/134020593/\">wrote in 2004 in an opinion article\u003c/a> in The Times of Shreveport, Louisiana.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Asked recently by Fox News for his views on homosexuality, Johnson said simply, “Go pick up a Bible. That’s what I believe and so I make no apologies for it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s why we call him MAGA Mike,” said openly gay Congressman Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach). “He is literally one of the most extreme voices in his party as it relates to LGBTQ rights. And so his record is really troubling.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of the ideas espoused by Johnson also served as the ideological basis of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/proposition-8\">Proposition 8\u003c/a>, the 2008 ballot measure that banned same-sex marriage in California until it was struck down in 2010.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Such constitutional amendments, Johnson said, “are the people’s only way to prevent same-sex marriage as demanded by activist courts.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The rise of Johnson to the speakership coincides with renewed ultraconservative activism under the guise of keeping public policy from getting in between parents and their children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At school board meetings, city councils and state legislatures around the country — \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11965684/amidst-backlash-conservative-groups-target-south-bay-school-board-seats\">including in the Bay Area\u003c/a> — conservative activists led by organizations such as \u003ca href=\"https://www.momsforliberty.org/\">Moms for Liberty\u003c/a> are using “parental rights” as a cry to stir up anger against policies supporting transgender youth and their families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The notion that children need protection from predatory queer people or their allies is nothing new. In the 1970s, former beauty pageant winner \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/1970s-christian-crusader-anita-bryant-helped-spawn-floridas-lgbtq-cult-rcna24215\">Anita Bryant used it to roll back gay rights ordinances in Florida\u003c/a>. Here in California in 1978, \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-08-04/gearhart-briggs-initiative-ban-gay-teachers-proposition-6\">it was the misguided rationale behind the so-called Briggs Initiative\u003c/a>, which sought to prevent openly gay and lesbian people from teaching in K-12 schools. Voters soundly defeated it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that was not the case 15 years ago, on Nov. 4, 2008 — when Proposition 8 passed. It was a night when Californians overwhelmingly voted to elect Barack Obama president while simultaneously taking away the right of same-sex couples to marry. For LGBTQ+ voters, it was political whiplash — euphoria and despair in one night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Proposition 8 passed with 52% of the vote, eliminating a right that had been granted to gay and lesbian couples by the California Supreme Court less than six months earlier.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Anti-gay tropes on trial\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As it happens, the ideas embraced by Speaker Johnson and supporters of Proposition 8 were all put on trial in 2010 after two same-sex couples sued in federal court to overturn the measure when they were denied marriage licenses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That Proposition 8 trial — which included expert witnesses testifying under oath about anti-gay tropes, theories and political arguments — resulted in Proposition 8 being struck down in 2010 when the federal trial judge deemed the evidence against same-sex marriage to be uncompelling and ruled that the law violated the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the ruling, and the legal battle ended when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up a final appeal in 2013.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>For more than a decade after it ended, videotapes of the trial were under seal until KQED fought a long legal battle to make them available to the public. The U.S. Supreme Court \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11911275/supreme-court-ruling-clears-way-for-release-of-footage-from-landmark-trial-that-legalized-same-sex-marriage-in-california\">allowed them to be unsealed in October 2022\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the videotapes were released, KQED invited the four Proposition 8 plaintiffs — Kris Perry and Sandy Stier along with Paul Katami and Jeffrey Zarrillo — to view them for the first time and talk about the trial, its aftermath and its significance today.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘The lie won people over, and the lie was based on fear’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One thing that stood out is that the ‘Yes on 8’ messages still echo today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Leaders in the Catholic and Mormon Churches promoted the campaign to ban same-sex marriages in California. Among the ‘Yes on 8’ slogans: “Protect the Children.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The sad part of it is, that campaign worked because the convenience of the lie won people over, and the lie was based on fear,” recalls Paul Katami. “And that fear included children. So I would never say it was a brilliant tactic, but it was an evil tactic.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Watch a video featuring Paul Katami and Jeffrey Zarrillo reflecting on their experiences, produced by KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/ccabreralomeli\">Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/CGFgrXJx950'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/CGFgrXJx950'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Attorney Thomas R. Burke led KQED’s successful legal battle to unseal the tapes. He said the trial tested the homophobic, hateful arguments promoted by Proposition 8 supporters. The witnesses, the withering cross-examinations and the poignant testimony are all caught on \u003ca href=\"https://cand.uscourts.gov/notices/video-recordings-of-perry-v-schwarzenegger-now-available/\">video that is now available to anyone who wants to watch\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The evidence didn’t support you,” Burke said, referring to ‘Yes on 8’ defenders. “You had great lawyers arguing your cause, and you didn’t win. And if people thought you should have won, they can see and judge for themselves. If you didn’t have that recorded, that couldn’t happen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The historic trial resulted in a landmark decision when Judge Vaughn Walker struck down the ballot measure, ruling it violated the U.S. Constitution — but it was hardly a foregone conclusion at the start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“I remember feeling very anxious and scared, honestly, not knowing how any of it would turn out,” lead plaintiff Kris Perry said after viewing trial clips at KQED. “People were really, you know, counting on us to deliver. And there was a lot of pressure.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Perry’s wife, Sandy Stier, recalls what seemed like days and days of preparation before going on the stand. She remembers worrying about how the trial might affect their lives, “not only for me, what it might be like for my kids, for my parents, my siblings and my community. And so it was very, very anxious going into court that day, not knowing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Zarrillo and Katami were the first witnesses called to testify.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had so many fears going into the trial,” Katami said. “I was not confident because this was uncharted territory for both of us as human beings.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I said to Paul at one point, ‘Even if we lose, we can go to our graves knowing that we didn’t stand for being treated as second-class citizens,’” Zarrillo said. “We tried to do something about it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trial was originally going to be televised on closed circuit TV via YouTube until Proposition 8 attorneys objected, and the U.S. Supreme Court intervened to prevent it. But Judge Walker recorded the trial anyway, he said, for his personal use in writing the decision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the stand, Katami was asked by one of their attorneys, David Boies, what the big deal was about not being able to marry when they had the option of a domestic partnership.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The big deal is it’s creating a separate category for us. And that’s a major deal because it makes you into a second-, third- … and fourth-class citizen,” Katami said that day in January 2010.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11966192\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11966192\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/03032023_prop9lawsuit-469-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Two people sit next to each other in chairs in front of a white backdrop.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/03032023_prop9lawsuit-469-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/03032023_prop9lawsuit-469-KQED-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/03032023_prop9lawsuit-469-KQED-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/03032023_prop9lawsuit-469-KQED-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/03032023_prop9lawsuit-469-KQED-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/03032023_prop9lawsuit-469-KQED-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jeffrey Zarrillo, left, and Paul Katami, plaintiffs in the landmark lawsuit that overturned California’s ban on same-sex marriage, sit during an interview at the KQED offices in San Francisco on March 3, 2023. Katami and Zarrillo had come to the studio to watch clips of their testimony in federal court, which KQED had fought to get unsealed. \u003ccite>(Kori Suzuki/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Concerns over renewed efforts to make LGBTQ+ people second-class citizens were shared by none other than U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor this summer, following the high court’s ruling siding with a Christian graphic artist who refused to work with same-sex couples. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11955680/explaining-303-creative-decision\">Sotomayor wrote in her dissent that the decision’s effect was to “mark gays and lesbians for second-class status”\u003c/a> and that the ruling opened the door to further discrimination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reflecting on his testimony, Katami said until the Proposition 8 trial, many heterosexuals didn’t know the hundreds of rights automatically afforded straight couples — but denied to LGBTQ people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And if you don’t have that protection because marriage allows that protection, there’s a bright spotlight that shines down on those rights when you don’t have them,” Katami says.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Viewing the trial tapes, Zarrillo noted that “when you’re on the stand like that, you have to really figure out, how do I answer this question [in a way] that is not going to hurt our cause?” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Perry was asked in court to describe her relationship with Stier, whom she met while both were students at UC Santa Cruz, Perry testified, “I met Sandy thinking she was maybe the sparkliest person I ever met. And I wanted to be her friend.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the stand, Stier testified that after meeting Perry, she “ really felt like the thunderbolt of change for me.” Unlike Perry, Stier wasn’t an out lesbian at the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had moved to California, got married to a man, had two kids, and knew that something wasn’t working for me,” Stier told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Watch a video featuring Kris Perry and Sandy Stier reflecting on their experiences, produced by KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/ccabreralomeli\">Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/gMlRY1EIifk'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/gMlRY1EIifk'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>The trial tapes reveal the humanity of the issue, ably presented by the four plaintiffs, Judge Walker said recently.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Both of the couples were very able witnesses — very attractive witnesses… So, we’re talking about matters that are intensely personal and important to them. That’s pretty compelling testimony under any circumstances,” Walker told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the audible and visible emotion of their testimony was out of view until the trial tapes were unsealed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, unlike TV shows, where every courtroom scene is riveting and entertaining, real-life trials are mostly “hours and hours of tedium broken episodically by sometimes emotions (or) events of great interest. But they are few and far between,” Walker said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, the retired judge said the tapes will be helpful in law schools to show students how courts deal with “a social issue or a constitutional issue of widespread importance.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘Seeing what happened during the trial behind the scenes is really important because it helps expose the truth. It helps expose the fact that this is just about two people loving each other.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>After Proposition 8 was struck down, both couples soon married and remain so today. But LGBTQ people are still under attack by people hoping to use them as political fodder on behalf of conservative causes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think that is incredibly dangerous,” transgender rights activist Honey Mahogany said. “These are tropes that have always been a part of emotionally manipulating people to advantage a certain political group or cause, right? They’re not based in fact.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mahogany, who also chairs the San Francisco Democratic Central Committee, said the release of the trial tapes helps to humanize issues and the plaintiffs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Seeing what happened during the trial behind the scenes is really important because it helps expose the truth,” Mahogany said. “It helps expose the fact that this is just about two people loving each other, wanting to cement their relationship, wanting to protect each other … and their children.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mahogany said that given the risks of failure, what the Proposition 8 plaintiffs did was “incredibly important and brave.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She hopes their example will encourage others to come forward today to humanize LGBTQ issues. “We can learn from history. We can, you know, find our champions and also our storytellers to help us tell our stories,” Mahogany said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the videotapes now accessible online, their stories told under oath can be seen by anyone who wishes to watch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They fought for a decade that this would not be seen,” Burke said. “And I think there’s a reason for that,” Burke said, implying their arguments simply didn’t hold up under legal scrutiny.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although Walker’s ruling striking down Proposition 8 was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, the measure’s wording remains in the California Constitution. But voters will have the chance to change that next November. The State Legislature\u003ca href=\"https://ballotpedia.org/California_Right_to_Marry_and_Repeal_Proposition_8_Amendment_(2024)\"> placed a measure on the fall 2024 ballot that removes that invalidated language\u003c/a> and replaces it with an affirmation of the right of all couples to marry in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>A version of this story was originally published on Nov. 2.\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>On a Saturday morning in late August, the Silicon Valley Association of Republican Women hosted a meeting to recruit candidates for local school board races.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The gathering at Calvary Chapel on Hillsdale Avenue in San José began with a prayer from the group’s vice president, Mingi Bodine. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Mingi Bodine, vice president, Silicon Valley Association of Republican Women\"]‘Father, we are asking not only for your forgiveness of our sins, but rescuing the children, who have been under the most evil public school system America has ever seen.’[/pullquote]“Father, we are asking not only for your forgiveness of our sins but rescuing the children, who have been under the most evil public school system America has ever seen,” Bodine said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the next two hours, advocates implored potential candidates to pursue school board seats under the banner of “parents’ rights” — with the goal of policing textbooks and transgender expression and countering the influence of teacher unions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The leader of one local parents’ rights group, Informed Parents of Silicon Valley, shared his plans to encourage parents to opt their children out of sex ed classes. And conservatives who had won seats on South Bay school boards offered unvarnished explanations for their leap into politics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I decided I’m going to run. Why? Because they were hurting the children,” said Linda Chavez, who was elected to the board of the Alum Rock Union Elementary School District, in East San José, in 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They had just finished passing all of this gay stuff,” Chavez said. “And this is one of the first districts who did it, and I looked around and said, this is all going to go this way — not on my watch.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2022, Chavez and three other candidates backed by the Silicon Valley Association of Republican Women won school board seats in the South Bay. A year later — as clashes over transgender rights, Pride flags, and LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculum have spread across California and the nation — conservative organizations in liberal Santa Clara County are redoubling their efforts to gain a foothold on local school boards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But they are facing growing pushback from opponents who are raising alarms about the groups’ collective aims. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"San José City Councilmember Omar Torres\"]‘Right-wing individuals and organizations have made it clear to me, to our transgender community, to our LGBTQ community that we should be retreating back into the closet to hide our true selves and to conform to a version of society that denies me to be my true authentic self.’[/pullquote]On Tuesday, members of San José’s City Council denounced Informed Parents of Silicon Valley for using anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric in their campaign to remove kids from sex-ed. In response, the council unanimously passed a resolution “affirming support of the transgender and broader LGBTQ+ communities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Councilmember Omar Torres, the city’s first openly gay Latino councilmember, co-authored the resolution. He was overcome with emotion as he attempted to speak from the dais — twice asking for more time to collect his thoughts, as other council members walked over to embrace him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I stand here crying not only as a councilmember but as a human who has been the target of hate solely because of my sexual orientation,” Torres said. “Right-wing individuals and organizations have made it clear to me, to our transgender community, to our LGBTQ community that we should be retreating back into the closet to hide our true selves and to conform to a version of society that denies me to be my true authentic self.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Members of the council and their allies vowed to counter the influence of the conservative organizations — drawing battle lines ahead of what could be a more significant confrontation on school board ballots in 2024.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What you don’t want to have happen is that everybody stays quiet,” said Ken Yeager, a professor of political science at San José State and the first openly gay elected official in Santa Clara County. “Then, these evangelicals think, ‘Oh, OK, the political climate has changed, we can be much more bold in our actions because there isn’t going to be any type of reaction to it.” [aside postID=news_11962571 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230927-CHINO-TRANSGENDER-SCHOOL-BOARD-Getty-DM-KQED-1020x680.jpg']Informed Parents caught the attention of the council last month when their volunteers distributed literature outside of schools in the Cambrian, Franklin-McKinney and San José Unified school districts, which declared “Your children are at risk!” and accused local schools of teaching “Gender confusion and gender transitioning.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Councilmember Pam Foley called the literature “inappropriate and totally unnecessary.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These fliers contain misinformation and hateful dog whistles that target our LGBTQ community,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Larry Pegram, the founder of Informed Parents of Silicon Valley, defended his group’s outreach to parents and said their agenda is not anti-LGBTQ+.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We welcome anyone and everyone who’s interested in asserting parental rights over their children’s education,” said Pegram, a former San José councilmember, told KQED. “Whether those parents are gay, trans, cisgendered, or anything else really doesn’t matter to us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A core goal of the group’s opt-out campaign, Pegram said, is to teach parents about their ability to remove their children from classes they consider inappropriate, such as comprehensive sex education (which includes LGBTQ+ inclusive language) and HIV/AIDS prevention education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A 2015 California law requires students to receive sex ed once in middle school and once in high school, although it can be taught earlier. School districts are required to notify parents about the instruction and inform them about their ability to excuse their child.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All that we are doing is helping parents know what their rights are and make a decision as to whether or not they want to opt their children out of these various activities,” Pegram said. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Larry Pegram, founder, Informed Parents of Silicon Valley\"]‘If we can create parent organizations at the various school districts, we’ve got the army. So that when someone stands up and says, ‘Yes, I want to run,’ we’ve got an army. … and we can begin to use that army for all of the labor needs that occur in a political campaign’[/pullquote]Pegram told KQED his group is not involved in politics. But at the August church meeting for prospective school board candidates, Pegram offered extensive guidance to candidates about campaigning, fundraising and messaging, saying, “If you want to see a change in curriculum in the schools, you have to make a change in the face of the people that are running the district.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our organization, Informed Parents of Silicon Valley, is dedicated to helping you candidates get elected,” Pegram said before adding, “Now, we’re a 501(c)(3) organization. We don’t — I’m doing this for the tape — we do not endorse any candidates.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pegram said his group’s distribution of the “opt-out bookmarks” will encourage like-minded parents to form organizations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we can create parent organizations at the various school districts, we’ve got the army. So that when someone stands up and says, ‘Yes, I want to run,’ we’ve got an army … and we can begin to use that army for all of the labor needs that occur in a political campaign,” he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Critics of Informed Parents see the group as Pegram’s latest effort to target LGBTQ+ rights in the South Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yeager, who detailed the history of local LGBTQ+ politics in his book \u003cem>Run!, \u003c/em>recounted Pegram’s opposition to ordinances protecting the city’s gay residents from discrimination in 1980. Later, Pegram was a local advocate for Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage statewide in 2008.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The focus is always on children,” Yeager said. “But obviously, their main aim is really to sort of take over politics and to sort of deprive LGBTQ people of the same rights as everybody else.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pegram maintained that his own political history is “irrelevant” to the current work of Informed Parents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dr. Melissa Michelson, a political science professor at Menlo College, said she sees a similar playbook at work in the current debates playing out over LGBTQ+ issues in schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The culture wars are all about finding that new thing that divides and tries to, you know, to pull away from the opposition’s coalition. And so maybe 10, 15 years ago, it was marriage equality,” said Michelson, who studies LGBTQ+ politics and transgender rights. “And now the focus has turned to what’s going on in schools, what’s going on in school libraries, what’s going on in school curriculums.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Michelson said school board elections present a unique opportunity for small groups of well-organized activists. The races are often low-information contests, and candidates don’t run as a member of a political party, leaving voters without a partisan cue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s also a strategic move in a blue state like California, where anti-LGBTQ+ legislation is unlikely to succeed at the state level. Instead, California’s Republican Party has made a concerted effort to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11922860/california-republicans-are-betting-big-on-local-school-board-races\">invest in school board candidates as a way of building political power\u003c/a> at the local level.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, the Silicon Valley Association of Republican Women supported more than a dozen candidates for school board across Santa Clara County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Four of those candidates won: Marc Cooper in the Franklin-McKinley School District; Pamela Gardiner in the Morgan Hill Unified School District; Jim Zito in the Evergreen School District; and Linda Chavez, in her bid for reelection in the Alum Rock Union Elementary School District.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But their ties to conservative parents’ rights groups have created divisions at the local level. Cooper was censured last month by his board colleagues for appearing on a flier promoting his presence at an event organized by Informed Parents. The group was \u003ca href=\"https://omny.fm/shows/kqed-segmented-audio/kqed-newscast-f7e7b8f6-de8e-4fa1-b10d-7c41d2c291df\">forced to apologize to San José councilmember Bien Doan\u003c/a> for featuring his image on the same flier without his knowledge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tensions were already high leading into Tuesday’s council meeting. The resolution had initially called for the explicit condemnation of Informed Parents and accused the group of harassing families in their attempts to distribute opt-out literature. But after legal threats from the group, Informed Parents’ name was removed from the legislation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the meeting, about two dozen residents showed up to testify — many sharing personal experiences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sandra Rivera, a teacher and president of the teachers union in Alum Rock, told the council about raising a transgender son in local schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As my son navigated who he was, it was through educators here in San José and in safe spaces created by them that helped him feel safe exploring his gender,” Rivera said. “Groups such as Informed Parents of Silicon Valley are wolves in sheep’s clothing trying to justify hate.” [aside label='More Stories on LGBTQ+ Discrimination' tag='lgbtq-discrimination']Other parents showed up to support Informed Parents and blasted the school board for condemning the group. Ha Tran, a San José parent of two, said the resolution was full of “false claims and should be discarded.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These groups are there because schools are not doing their jobs,” Tran added. “These schools are biased and promote LGBQT+ and cause kids to be confused.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Michelson said that on its face, Informed Parents’ campaign to opt children out of sex ed classes is a far cry from efforts to out transgender students and ban books.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think for most people, that’s where it crosses the line — versus telling people, ‘Hey, just a reminder, you can opt your kid out of this curriculum,’” Michelson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Informed Parents’ fear-mongering rhetoric and political activity, Michelson added, could undermine their stated goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you’re going to give it up that easy and people are going to know that that’s what you’re really doing, then you’re going to have to expect some backlash,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>On a Saturday morning in late August, the Silicon Valley Association of Republican Women hosted a meeting to recruit candidates for local school board races.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The gathering at Calvary Chapel on Hillsdale Avenue in San José began with a prayer from the group’s vice president, Mingi Bodine. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘Father, we are asking not only for your forgiveness of our sins, but rescuing the children, who have been under the most evil public school system America has ever seen.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Father, we are asking not only for your forgiveness of our sins but rescuing the children, who have been under the most evil public school system America has ever seen,” Bodine said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the next two hours, advocates implored potential candidates to pursue school board seats under the banner of “parents’ rights” — with the goal of policing textbooks and transgender expression and countering the influence of teacher unions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The leader of one local parents’ rights group, Informed Parents of Silicon Valley, shared his plans to encourage parents to opt their children out of sex ed classes. And conservatives who had won seats on South Bay school boards offered unvarnished explanations for their leap into politics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I decided I’m going to run. Why? Because they were hurting the children,” said Linda Chavez, who was elected to the board of the Alum Rock Union Elementary School District, in East San José, in 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They had just finished passing all of this gay stuff,” Chavez said. “And this is one of the first districts who did it, and I looked around and said, this is all going to go this way — not on my watch.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2022, Chavez and three other candidates backed by the Silicon Valley Association of Republican Women won school board seats in the South Bay. A year later — as clashes over transgender rights, Pride flags, and LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculum have spread across California and the nation — conservative organizations in liberal Santa Clara County are redoubling their efforts to gain a foothold on local school boards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But they are facing growing pushback from opponents who are raising alarms about the groups’ collective aims. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘Right-wing individuals and organizations have made it clear to me, to our transgender community, to our LGBTQ community that we should be retreating back into the closet to hide our true selves and to conform to a version of society that denies me to be my true authentic self.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>On Tuesday, members of San José’s City Council denounced Informed Parents of Silicon Valley for using anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric in their campaign to remove kids from sex-ed. In response, the council unanimously passed a resolution “affirming support of the transgender and broader LGBTQ+ communities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Councilmember Omar Torres, the city’s first openly gay Latino councilmember, co-authored the resolution. He was overcome with emotion as he attempted to speak from the dais — twice asking for more time to collect his thoughts, as other council members walked over to embrace him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I stand here crying not only as a councilmember but as a human who has been the target of hate solely because of my sexual orientation,” Torres said. “Right-wing individuals and organizations have made it clear to me, to our transgender community, to our LGBTQ community that we should be retreating back into the closet to hide our true selves and to conform to a version of society that denies me to be my true authentic self.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Members of the council and their allies vowed to counter the influence of the conservative organizations — drawing battle lines ahead of what could be a more significant confrontation on school board ballots in 2024.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What you don’t want to have happen is that everybody stays quiet,” said Ken Yeager, a professor of political science at San José State and the first openly gay elected official in Santa Clara County. “Then, these evangelicals think, ‘Oh, OK, the political climate has changed, we can be much more bold in our actions because there isn’t going to be any type of reaction to it.” \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Informed Parents caught the attention of the council last month when their volunteers distributed literature outside of schools in the Cambrian, Franklin-McKinney and San José Unified school districts, which declared “Your children are at risk!” and accused local schools of teaching “Gender confusion and gender transitioning.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Councilmember Pam Foley called the literature “inappropriate and totally unnecessary.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These fliers contain misinformation and hateful dog whistles that target our LGBTQ community,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Larry Pegram, the founder of Informed Parents of Silicon Valley, defended his group’s outreach to parents and said their agenda is not anti-LGBTQ+.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We welcome anyone and everyone who’s interested in asserting parental rights over their children’s education,” said Pegram, a former San José councilmember, told KQED. “Whether those parents are gay, trans, cisgendered, or anything else really doesn’t matter to us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A core goal of the group’s opt-out campaign, Pegram said, is to teach parents about their ability to remove their children from classes they consider inappropriate, such as comprehensive sex education (which includes LGBTQ+ inclusive language) and HIV/AIDS prevention education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A 2015 California law requires students to receive sex ed once in middle school and once in high school, although it can be taught earlier. School districts are required to notify parents about the instruction and inform them about their ability to excuse their child.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All that we are doing is helping parents know what their rights are and make a decision as to whether or not they want to opt their children out of these various activities,” Pegram said. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘If we can create parent organizations at the various school districts, we’ve got the army. So that when someone stands up and says, ‘Yes, I want to run,’ we’ve got an army. … and we can begin to use that army for all of the labor needs that occur in a political campaign’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Pegram told KQED his group is not involved in politics. But at the August church meeting for prospective school board candidates, Pegram offered extensive guidance to candidates about campaigning, fundraising and messaging, saying, “If you want to see a change in curriculum in the schools, you have to make a change in the face of the people that are running the district.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our organization, Informed Parents of Silicon Valley, is dedicated to helping you candidates get elected,” Pegram said before adding, “Now, we’re a 501(c)(3) organization. We don’t — I’m doing this for the tape — we do not endorse any candidates.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pegram said his group’s distribution of the “opt-out bookmarks” will encourage like-minded parents to form organizations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we can create parent organizations at the various school districts, we’ve got the army. So that when someone stands up and says, ‘Yes, I want to run,’ we’ve got an army … and we can begin to use that army for all of the labor needs that occur in a political campaign,” he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Critics of Informed Parents see the group as Pegram’s latest effort to target LGBTQ+ rights in the South Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yeager, who detailed the history of local LGBTQ+ politics in his book \u003cem>Run!, \u003c/em>recounted Pegram’s opposition to ordinances protecting the city’s gay residents from discrimination in 1980. Later, Pegram was a local advocate for Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage statewide in 2008.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The focus is always on children,” Yeager said. “But obviously, their main aim is really to sort of take over politics and to sort of deprive LGBTQ people of the same rights as everybody else.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pegram maintained that his own political history is “irrelevant” to the current work of Informed Parents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dr. Melissa Michelson, a political science professor at Menlo College, said she sees a similar playbook at work in the current debates playing out over LGBTQ+ issues in schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The culture wars are all about finding that new thing that divides and tries to, you know, to pull away from the opposition’s coalition. And so maybe 10, 15 years ago, it was marriage equality,” said Michelson, who studies LGBTQ+ politics and transgender rights. “And now the focus has turned to what’s going on in schools, what’s going on in school libraries, what’s going on in school curriculums.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Michelson said school board elections present a unique opportunity for small groups of well-organized activists. The races are often low-information contests, and candidates don’t run as a member of a political party, leaving voters without a partisan cue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s also a strategic move in a blue state like California, where anti-LGBTQ+ legislation is unlikely to succeed at the state level. Instead, California’s Republican Party has made a concerted effort to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11922860/california-republicans-are-betting-big-on-local-school-board-races\">invest in school board candidates as a way of building political power\u003c/a> at the local level.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, the Silicon Valley Association of Republican Women supported more than a dozen candidates for school board across Santa Clara County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Four of those candidates won: Marc Cooper in the Franklin-McKinley School District; Pamela Gardiner in the Morgan Hill Unified School District; Jim Zito in the Evergreen School District; and Linda Chavez, in her bid for reelection in the Alum Rock Union Elementary School District.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But their ties to conservative parents’ rights groups have created divisions at the local level. Cooper was censured last month by his board colleagues for appearing on a flier promoting his presence at an event organized by Informed Parents. The group was \u003ca href=\"https://omny.fm/shows/kqed-segmented-audio/kqed-newscast-f7e7b8f6-de8e-4fa1-b10d-7c41d2c291df\">forced to apologize to San José councilmember Bien Doan\u003c/a> for featuring his image on the same flier without his knowledge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tensions were already high leading into Tuesday’s council meeting. The resolution had initially called for the explicit condemnation of Informed Parents and accused the group of harassing families in their attempts to distribute opt-out literature. But after legal threats from the group, Informed Parents’ name was removed from the legislation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the meeting, about two dozen residents showed up to testify — many sharing personal experiences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sandra Rivera, a teacher and president of the teachers union in Alum Rock, told the council about raising a transgender son in local schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As my son navigated who he was, it was through educators here in San José and in safe spaces created by them that helped him feel safe exploring his gender,” Rivera said. “Groups such as Informed Parents of Silicon Valley are wolves in sheep’s clothing trying to justify hate.” \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Other parents showed up to support Informed Parents and blasted the school board for condemning the group. Ha Tran, a San José parent of two, said the resolution was full of “false claims and should be discarded.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These groups are there because schools are not doing their jobs,” Tran added. “These schools are biased and promote LGBQT+ and cause kids to be confused.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Michelson said that on its face, Informed Parents’ campaign to opt children out of sex ed classes is a far cry from efforts to out transgender students and ban books.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think for most people, that’s where it crosses the line — versus telling people, ‘Hey, just a reminder, you can opt your kid out of this curriculum,’” Michelson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Informed Parents’ fear-mongering rhetoric and political activity, Michelson added, could undermine their stated goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you’re going to give it up that easy and people are going to know that that’s what you’re really doing, then you’re going to have to expect some backlash,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "california-prisons-fail-to-uphold-transgender-rights-despite-state-law",
"title": "California Prisons Fail to Uphold Transgender Rights Despite State Law",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Warning: There are descriptions of physical and sexual violence in this piece. Also, where legal names and chosen names differ, we’re using chosen names.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]S[/dropcap]yiaah Skylit had been stuck in solitary confinement at a maximum-security men’s prison for months when, in the fall of 2020, she got the news that gave her hope: Gov. Gavin Newsom had signed the \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB132\">Transgender Respect, Agency and Dignity Act\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Authored by state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), the law requires California prison staff to use the chosen pronouns of incarcerated people who are intersex or identify as nonbinary or transgender, as Skylit does.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It allows those incarcerated people to \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/prea/sb-132-faqs/\">select a gender preference for the guards who search them\u003c/a>. Most significantly, it mandates that prison officials, under most circumstances, honor requests to be housed at the type of facility — male or female — that aligns with the incarcerated person’s gender identity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For six years, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation bounced Skylit from one men’s prison to another. At each, safety proved elusive. By 2020, she was isolated in a cell for her own protection after brutal attacks by people she was incarcerated with and, \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23991903-syiaahkvsp2ndamendedcomplaint2022-03-03\">a lawsuit alleges (PDF)\u003c/a>, by guards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The prospect of serving out her remaining sentence in a women’s facility seemed nothing short of a miracle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For me, what it felt like was a sanctuary,” she said in one of several dozen interviews with KQED over the course of a year. “A place to be who you were meant to be without any retaliation, without any violence, without any judgment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Decades have passed since simply \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11917624/how-a-young-gay-man-survived-one-of-the-darkest-eras-in-california-queer-history\">being LGBTQ+ was considered a crime and a mental illness\u003c/a>. But bias and marginalization still lead to high rates of criminalization, especially for \u003ca href=\"https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/resources/NTDS_Report.pdf\">Black trans women (PDF)\u003c/a> like Skylit. Once incarcerated, harsh prison conditions take a serious toll on mental health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://cpb-us-e2.wpmucdn.com/sites.uci.edu/dist/0/1149/files/2013/06/BulletinVol2Issue2.pdf\">Studies (PDF)\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/usts/USTS%20Full%20Report%20-%20FINAL%201.6.17.pdf\">surveys (PDF)\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/pdca15.pdf\">federal data (PDF)\u003c/a> show that trans women held in men’s prisons are sexually and physically assaulted at rates as much as 13 times higher than cisgender men. When they report assaults or fears for their safety, they’re often met with \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23991938-tni-coalition-letter-to-governor-newsom-71723pdf-2\">staff retaliation (PDF)\u003c/a>. It’s not uncommon for trans women to harm themselves — just to get to the safety of a prison mental health bed. Skylit had lived that, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Syiaah Skylit, transgender woman in California prison\"]‘For me, what it felt like was a sanctuary. A place to be who you were meant to be without any retaliation, without any violence, without any judgment.’[/pullquote]The Transgender Respect, Agency and Dignity Act promised an end to those nightmares.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“No more having to hide in fear,” Skylit said. “No more having to be quiet about who I really am. I was excited. I couldn’t wait.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This story is a result of a year-long investigation into the effectiveness of the legislation that aimed to reduce the trauma of transgender women in California’s prisons. KQED’s reporters interviewed a dozen incarcerated people and reviewed data along with several hundred pages of prison grievances, disciplinary records and legal filings. The reporting revealed that trans women like Skylit and many others transferred to a women’s prison under the new law have not found the sanctuary they were seeking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Skylit, the nightmares have only gotten worse.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Living with secrets\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Skylit grew up in Compton. When she was 5, she and her siblings entered the foster care system after their mother suffered a mental health break. When Skylit was 14, her mother died by apparent suicide, and the following year, she said, “I tried to kill myself by running in front of a moving train.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She was physically uninjured but sent to a psychiatric hospital. It wouldn’t be the last time she’d tried to take her own life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11964099\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11964099\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Free-Syiaah-social-KQED-800x949.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"949\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Free-Syiaah-social-KQED-800x949.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Free-Syiaah-social-KQED-1020x1210.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Free-Syiaah-social-KQED-160x190.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Free-Syiaah-social-KQED-1295x1536.jpg 1295w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Free-Syiaah-social-KQED.jpg 1686w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In August 2020, as Syiaah Skylit sat in solitary confinement at Kern Valley State Prison for her own protection, transgender advocates launched a Change.org campaign urging clemency for her. She helped with the design of the artwork. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Syiaah Skylit, Micah Bazant and Freddie Francis)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Skylit is a slight 5 feet, 5 inches tall with a big, dimpled smile. As a teen and living as a boy, she was bullied for being a flashy dresser, for the way she carried herself. She experimented with a gay relationship, but it left her feeling “confused.” The adults in her life were religious and viewed LGBTQ+ people as sinners. Her brothers were gang members. She did what they asked of her, she said, because “I didn’t want to look weak.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I couldn’t come out and be myself around people like my family and my friends that I grew up with,” Skylit said. “I grew up in a hard-ass neighborhood. That ain’t about to fly.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, she harbored a secret she never shared with her brothers, one even she didn’t fully comprehend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would dress up. I would put makeup on. All I understood as a person was, ‘Hey, I like this,’” she said. “So if I like this, why is it so bad? Am I a bad person?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A stint in juvenile detention didn’t stop Skylit from setting her sights on a bright future. She finished high school on time, enrolled in community college, worked multiple jobs and, for a while, paid her rent. But anxiety, depression and drug use interrupted her stability. She’d already been homeless once when, facing eviction in 2012, she and a friend robbed a convenience store in San Bernardino County. It yielded little, so they robbed a Los Angeles County jewelry store — and got caught.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At 22, Skylit was facing criminal trials in both counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Syiaah Skylit, transgender woman in California prison\"]‘I couldn’t come out and be myself around people like my family and my friends that I grew up with. I grew up in a hard-ass neighborhood. That ain’t about to fly.’[/pullquote]Her first stop was a San Bernardino County jail, where she came out as gay to get to the relative safety of what was then called the “alternative lifestyles tank.” According to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23999484-syiaah2015sanbernardinocolawsuit\">class-action lawsuit (DOC)\u003c/a>, the conditions were distressing: discrimination by staff and denial of basic services. Skylit, under her legal name, was among the named plaintiffs. A settlement led to \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24002812-sanbernardinoinjunctiverelief\">significant reforms (DOC)\u003c/a>. It was in that jail, she said, where she first learned to advocate for her rights, even in the face of retaliation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s also where she first encountered openly transgender women and was blown away by their courage and joyful confidence. In their midst, Skylit said, she at last felt free of judgment, open to self-acceptance. Her next stop — a stint in the segregated LGBTQ+ tank at the Los Angeles County jail — only reinforced those feelings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s when I got a taste of all the ‘T’ and I was just living it,” she said of the ‘T’ for Transgender in the alphabet soup of LGBTQ+. “It was like discovering myself.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She was sentenced to 16 years in prison. It may seem paradoxical, but incarceration gave Skylit breathing room to explore her gender identity. In court, she apologized to her robbery victims. Then, she made a promise to herself to use “every second, every minute” of her time inside “to really find out who I am. I mean, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I felt I had.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Skylit entered California’s prison system for men in December 2015. Soon, she chose her new name. “Syiaah” is an acronym — sexy, young, intelligent, ambitious, authentic and heroic. She picked “Sky” as “an inspiration to reach higher limits.” And “lit” is a nod to her hip-hop Compton roots “to be vibrant, live.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Put it together, it’s ‘I keep the sky lit’,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In keeping with the up-to-date \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24002874-ama-medical-spectrum-of-gender-d-295312\">medical (DOC)\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/diversity/education/transgender-and-gender-nonconforming-patients\">psychiatric\u003c/a> understanding of gender identity, the Transgender Respect, Agency and Dignity Act doesn’t require incarcerated people to be on hormone replacement therapy or to be interested in gender-affirming surgeries to be transferred to housing that aligns with their sense of safety. During Skylit’s early years in prison, that wasn’t the case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11957664 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/110822-KernValleyPrison-LV_CM_04-1020x680.jpg']The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation \u003cem>did\u003c/em> consider such transfer requests. The federal Prison Rape Elimination Act had since 2012 \u003ca href=\"https://www.prearesourcecenter.org/frequently-asked-questions/does-policy-houses-transgender-or-intersex-inmates-based-exclusively\">forbidden\u003c/a> the department from housing prisoners based solely on external genital anatomy. But the CDCR did it on a case-by-case basis, and the tiny number granted all happened to be for trans women who’d had gender-affirming genital surgery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not everybody wants that. Gender identity and gender transition are deeply personal. Skylit’s records show she declared her transgender identity on a special CDCR form about a year after arrival — and soon after started \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24018578-skylit-2019-housing-complaint\">asking to be transferred to a women’s prison (DOC)\u003c/a>. That went nowhere. So Skylit worked to stay true to her transition, even as she was funneled through a series of men’s prisons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I tapped into it, despite the long time I was facing, I was happy,” she said. “But that happiness turned into survival real fast.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Met by violence\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Almost immediately, Skylit’s gender identity and small stature made her a target. On several occasions, she said, correctional officers placed her in cells with large men who specifically requested her and then pressured her for sex. When she filed grievances in an attempt to switch cells or responded to physical assaults by fighting, she said, staff responded with Rule Violation Reports, known as RVRs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The more I would push back,” she said, “the more they would attack me with RVRs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, Skylit pressed on. She requested hormone replacement therapy, and by the time those treatments started, in 2018, she’d been moved to Mule Creek State Prison near the small Sierra foothills town of Ione. It’s one of a dozen or so facilities in the state designated as “transgender hubs.” That means, medical and mental services for trans prisoners are concentrated there, as are prison commissary items unavailable elsewhere, such as sports bras and makeup for trans women, and boxer shorts for trans men.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Skylit could finally stop MacGyvering her fashion looks. She could style her hair, wear makeup and earrings. On the prison yard, she said she found a sense of belonging with her trans sisters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were out there,” she said. “Having fun, protecting each other.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even at men’s prisons designated as transgender hubs, trans women were mixed with cisgender men in common areas and their assigned cells. The truer Skylit felt to herself, she said, the greater the danger she experienced.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Yeah, it’s OK to come out and you got a nice little outfit on, but guess what you just did?” she said. “You just called attention to yourself and now you have certain people who are making sexual advances towards you, and some of them don’t stop.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of her trans sisters exchanged sex for safety. But even that was no guarantee of safety. Skylit wept while recounting how a close friend staggered out of her cell “with a huge gash in her skull, busted lip, trying to get out of the room that she placed herself in because she wanted to be \u003cem>herself\u003c/em>. And she couldn’t complain to the officers, because they’re not gonna do anything.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Syiaah Skylit, transgender woman in California prison\"]‘Either I’m gonna be who I wanna be or I’m gonna end up dead. Girl, I can’t be dead and be myself at the same time.’[/pullquote]So Skylit found herself facing a soul-crushing choice between her safety and her identity. Skylit drew a line against assault. That meant more fights and more disciplinary write-ups. The hormone treatments caused muscle weakness, so she made another compromise. She began stopping and starting the medications depending on the danger she was facing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Either I’m gonna be who I wanna be or I’m gonna end up dead,” she said. “Girl, I can’t be dead and be myself at the same time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a survival strategy it made sense, but abruptly going on and off hormones brings on acute mood swings. It also heightens \u003ca href=\"https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/diversity/education/transgender-and-gender-nonconforming-patients/gender-dysphoria-diagnosis\">gender dysphoria\u003c/a>, a mental health diagnosis associated with distress a person can feel at being a gender other than the one assigned at birth. Skylit had experienced that for most of her life, as she hid her true gender identity, and it caused depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Skylit juggled these stressors, prison officials transferred her again — this time to Kern Valley State Prison, a maximum-security facility in the Central Valley town of Delano that houses some of the state’s most violent offenders. Among them, transgender advocates \u003ca href=\"https://prisonhealth.news/2021/10/29/lgbtq-prison-testimonies-dakota-rose-in-california/\">note\u003c/a>, are gang members known to target LGBTQ+ people in prisons. That’s where she \u003ca href=\"https://sfbayview.com/2021/05/trans-woman-seeks-release-from-cdcr-custody-after-attacks/\">hit a new low\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Skylit and a \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23991903-syiaahkvsp2ndamendedcomplaint2022-03-03\">lawsuit filed on her behalf (DOC),\u003c/a> she was assaulted twice by incarcerated men and witnessed gruesome attacks on two other trans women. Terrified, she says she asked to speak to a sergeant about her safety concerns. Instead, she alleges, two officers followed her into her cell. One pulled down her pants, ran a baton along her bottom and threatened to rape her with it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And I’m just sitting there like this can’t be real,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11954055 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230626-CALIFORNIA-PRISONERS-AP-RP-KQED-1020x735.jpg']That night, she drank from a bottle of laundry detergent in a desperate attempt to get sent to a mental health crisis unit. An officer stripped her of her clothes and left her lying naked in her cell next to the empty bottle. The next day, an officer pepper sprayed her at close range. Others beat her with batons. CDCR does not comment on active litigation. In legal filings, the named officers have denied wrongdoing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Finally, Skylit said, a sergeant agreed to isolate her for her protection. That’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.vera.org/news/violence-torture-and-isolation-what-its-like-to-be-trans-in-prison\">a common fate for trans women\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s sad to be thankful for complete solitary confinement, isolation,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She would stay there for seven months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Skylit had sought help from various attorneys. One responded. Jen Orthwein is a forensic psychologist who once treated transgender clients behind prison walls. They later co-founded a queer-owned law firm to challenge the harsh conditions they’d witnessed. Orthwein worked with other transgender advocates to launch a \u003ca href=\"https://www.change.org/p/gavin-newsom-call-for-the-immediate-release-of-syiaah-skylit-from-cdcr-custody-blacktranslivesmatter?utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=custom_url&recruited_by_id=cc830240-3ea3-11e9-a4df-e5579d49cec9\">petition\u003c/a> for clemency on Skylit’s behalf.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, with colored pencils and paper, Skylit got to work crafting a series of illustrated \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24018571-its-a-colorful-world-by-syiaah-skylit\">children’s books (DOC)\u003c/a> featuring gender-non-conforming characters. Among them is a rainbow-colored kid named Unique, who is fully embraced by loving parents but bullied on the playground for delighting in toys conventionally meant for both boys and girls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The project helped Skylit reimagine her traumatic past. She also hoped her books might make their way into the world and change the mindset of young readers “to where they’re not growing into hatred, but actually out of it.” She finished two, got started on a third. And that’s where she was when Orthewin gave her the good news. The Transgender Respect, Agency and Dignity Act was state law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11964104\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11964104\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231011-ITS-A-COLORFUL-WORLD-2-KQED-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Scans of two pages of drawing and text from a hand written book.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231011-ITS-A-COLORFUL-WORLD-2-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231011-ITS-A-COLORFUL-WORLD-2-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231011-ITS-A-COLORFUL-WORLD-2-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231011-ITS-A-COLORFUL-WORLD-2-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231011-ITS-A-COLORFUL-WORLD-2-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231011-ITS-A-COLORFUL-WORLD-2-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Excerpts from ‘It’s a Colorful World.’ \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Syiaah Skylit)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It was like a prayer had been answered,” Skylit said. “Like, ‘This is it!’ This is going to be the beginning of Syiaah Skylit at her best, at completely being herself.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>New perils\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Wiener’s bill was years in the making, and he’s quick to note that top CDCR officials were on board. They welcomed advocates to join a working group to brainstorm solutions to unsafe conditions and sought input directly from incarcerated transgender people. The Office of Inspector General detailed in \u003ca href=\"https://www.oig.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Special-Review-Incarcerated-Transgender-Nonbinary-Intersex-Individuals.pdf\">a 2020 report (PDF)\u003c/a> the painful responses to those surveys.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Laws in \u003ca href=\"https://www.acluct.org/en/know-your-rights/know-your-rights-trans-people-who-are-incarcerated-connecticut\">Connecticut\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23991974-952-management-of-gender-diverse-and-intersex-inmates-final-version\">Rhode Island (DOC)\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://lgbtqbar.org/bar-news/tiproject/ma/\">Massachusetts\u003c/a> call for similar reforms, while \u003ca href=\"https://www.aclu-nj.org/en/press-releases/settlement-nj-civil-rights-suit-promises-necessary-reform-affirming-transgender\">New Jersey\u003c/a> has made comparable policy changes in response to litigation. But advocates who helped craft California’s law say it is the most expansive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wiener said in an interview that he knew at the start that the magnitude of changes mandated by the law required patience and that it would take time to implement. More recently, though, he’s grown deeply concerned about the way his legislation has played out on the ground. Because, he said, even with senior CDCR management on board, “the culture in the individual prisons is just so challenging that it doesn’t translate.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11964100\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11964100\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/SenWienerAtSanQuentinTransRemembranceDay-2019-KQED-800x539.jpg\" alt='A group of people, most wearing the same uniform of blue shirts and pants, stand together holding signs and joined by a person wearing a suit helping to hold a banner reading \"trans lives matter.\"' width=\"800\" height=\"539\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/SenWienerAtSanQuentinTransRemembranceDay-2019-KQED-800x539.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/SenWienerAtSanQuentinTransRemembranceDay-2019-KQED-1020x687.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/SenWienerAtSanQuentinTransRemembranceDay-2019-KQED-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/SenWienerAtSanQuentinTransRemembranceDay-2019-KQED-1536x1035.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/SenWienerAtSanQuentinTransRemembranceDay-2019-KQED-1920x1294.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/SenWienerAtSanQuentinTransRemembranceDay-2019-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) attends CDCR’s first Transgender Remembrance Day in 2019, organized jointly by trans and cisgender incarcerated people. Wiener had already authored the bill that would become the Transgender Respect, Agency and Dignity Act, with buy-in from top CDCR officials. \u003ccite>(California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Officials chose the Central California Women’s Facility, or CCWF, in Chowchilla as the prison where all the trans women would go first. It’s a facility with a \u003ca href=\"https://prisonlaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/16.08.18-Prison-Law-Office-report-on-CCWF.pdf\">troubled history (PDF)\u003c/a> when it comes to staff accountability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of a dozen CCWF prisoners interviewed by KQED, all said they heard correctional staff express hostility to the new law even before the transfers began, warning the cisgender population that fakers and sexual predators were heading their way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tasha Brown, a cisgender woman, said she heard guards say, “The doors were going to be open for people to come in to violate us, to rape us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tomas Green, a transgender man, said he heard guards “telling women here that the trans women were men and that they were gonna get raped.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11936438 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/1920px-CentralCaliforniaWomensFacility-1020x816.jpeg']Alexanne Danis, a cisgender woman, said she heard a lieutenant openly state that the transfers “don’t belong here, that they have to leave.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Officers and fellow cisgender incarcerated people, Danis said, also spoke about driving the new transfers out, “saying that they were gonna stage stuff and that they were gonna make it sound worse than it was if anything did happen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Michelle Calvin was one of the first transgender women to arrive at CCWF. She helped work on Wiener’s legislation and has since transferred to the lower-security California Institution for Women. She heard the characterizations by staff that trans women were “gonna come over here and rape y’all and beat y’all up and take y’all stuff.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The power to reverse the law, she heard officers tell incarcerated people, rested in their hands: “Take your house back. Take your prison back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Advocates who helped craft the law were well aware of this toxic environment. They say they pressed officials to allow them to hold a town hall at the women’s prison to defuse these narratives before the transfers began. It never happened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, the trans women who began arriving in the first half of 2021 had no idea what they were stepping into.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Orthwein, Skylit’s attorney, was part of the working group that informed the new law and said key CDCR decisions around implementation proved harmful. The new arrivals were held in segregation for their first month. There, they were issued new prison identification numbers beginning with a distinctive two-letter combination. Instead of “some semblance of privacy about their transgender status,” which advocates had pressed for, this immediately outed them, feeding hostility and rejection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CCWF houses people in dorms, as many as eight to a room. Without exception, the trans women interviewed by KQED said they have been refused entry to dorms by prisoners who viewed them as “men.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Skylit’s first day in the general population, in mid-July 2021, guards started writing her up for minor violations. Within a month, she was in solitary confinement, accused of having a consensual relationship with her cisgender female bunkmate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sex is against prison rules systemwide, but every CCWF prisoner interviewed for this piece said it’s extremely common, especially in women’s prisons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Tomas Green, transgender man in California prison\"]‘At the end of the day, we’re humans. I’m not saying every relationship in here is just peachy perfect, no. You have a lot of relationships in here that are toxic — fight, argue. But that’s life in the free world.’[/pullquote]“Yes, you’re not supposed to have sex but it happens. It’s natural and there’s nothing that’s gonna stop it from happening,” said Giovanni Gonzales, a transgender man who runs a group to educate peers about gender identity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Relationships form quickly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At the end of the day, we’re humans,” Green said. “I’m not saying every relationship in here is just peachy perfect, no. You have a lot of relationships in here that are toxic — fight, argue. But that’s life in the free world.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, while sex and intimacy may be universal, punishment is not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gonzales and Green said staff often turn a blind eye to cisgender women who couple up, especially if they express their gender in stereotypically feminine ways. If a transgender man is caught being amorous, they said, a rule violation is more likely. As for the trans women who were just arriving at CCWF, a harsher set of unwritten rules seemed to apply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One cisgender couple in Skylit’s dorm had been having regular sex without consequence, she said. As Skylit was handcuffed and written up for her relationship, she asked an officer why she was going to isolation and the bunkmate wasn’t. He replied, “Because you’re a man and she’s a woman.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a hearing to discuss her situation, records show that Acting Warden Michael Pallares told her he would push to send her back to men’s prison. She claimed he was hostile, “calling me a predator, saying that I’m preying on women.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In men’s prison, Skylit had lived in constant fear of sexual assault. Now \u003cem>she \u003c/em>was cast as a sexual predator. Her disciplinary paperwork relied on “confidential sources” to suggest she was faking her status because she “displays very masculine behavior when with the inmate population.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In isolation, according to grievances and a government claim filed by Orthwein, Skylit’s gender identity was undermined. She had trouble accessing her hormones and was denied a razor for 40 days straight. She grew a full beard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People screaming at me, yelling at me, calling me a man, and I need to go back to the men’s prison,” she said. “‘Look at the hair on yo’ face.’ [I was] pleading, pleading, pleading, ‘Please give me a razor, please give me a razor,’ and denied every time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A psychologist misgendered Skylit in a report, yet \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24018435-psychologist-note-razors-clothing\">noted (DOC)\u003c/a> that an extended stay in isolation would likely increase her mental health symptoms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the months that followed, Skylit was sent multiple times to a mental health unit for being suicidal. She was bumped up to a more intensive level of mental health care. Yet she remained in solitary confinement for eight months. Then, without explanation, Pallares released her to the general population.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her freedom wouldn’t last.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘What did you all do to our homegirl?’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Skylit’s time in isolation had taken a toll. On the yard, she said she made enemies when she responded to threats and harassment with aggressive posturing and language. She said she tried not to engage, hanging out and playing cards every day with a couple of other trans women and one cisgender woman who was sweet on her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We would hold hands,” she said. “We would hug, we would kiss.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prison officials aren’t supposed to penalize trans women more harshly for breaking rules that cisgender prisoners also break, like the one forbidding any behavior that could lead to sex. But the atmosphere around these relationships, interviews and records reveal, was tense and complex.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While some cisgender women feared or lashed out at the new arrivals, others were eager to partner with them. Of a half-dozen transgender women at CCWF who were interviewed by KQED, the five who have not had gender-affirming genital surgery, said they’ve been subject to sexual advances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11955680 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/GettyImages-180517172-1020x680.jpg']Meanwhile, \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24016207-mossgroup-sb132-cdcr-assessment-report\">a report (DOC)\u003c/a> on the implementation of the new law commissioned by CDCR found that a “sexualized environment, including being sexually pressured or pursued,” was among the reasons given by transgender women who voluntarily returned to men’s prison. Other reasons included “hostile reception from staff or incarcerated individuals,” “false allegations to be removed from room” and “issues with getting hygiene items, such as razors.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In men’s prison, Skylit said, consensual sex generally went unpunished. That made it hard for her to imagine just how much the bond with her new “bestie” would cost her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On May 19, 2022, Skylit and her friends were on the yard drinking prison-made wine, disciplinary records show. Skylit and her girlfriend were kissing. A few minutes after Skylit went to use the porta-potty, she said, the girlfriend followed her in and started throwing up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Skylit said she was holding her hair back when Calvin, one of the trans friends she played cards with, let her know a guard was approaching. Skylit stepped out and asked a couple of other people to check on the girlfriend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They “opened the door and they say, ‘What did you all do to our homegirl? We don’t know what you two doing, we don’t know what’s going on over here,’” Skylit recounted. “And I said, ‘We just been drinking and she was in the thing throwing up.’ But now, it’s a commotion. It’s a crowd coming up.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Skylit and two other witnesses, the girlfriend came out, and the guard scolded them. “She was like, ‘I’m OK bestie, I love you so much,’ and I hugged her and I walked away.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rumors about a rape started circulating. Skylit said she heard it “from like one or two people. It wasn’t \u003cem>big\u003c/em> until the next day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Syiaah Skylit, transgender woman in California prison\"]‘They were surrounding me and pushing me and spitting on me and swinging at me.’[/pullquote]By then, a fictional narrative had taken shape: In those few moments inside the porta-potty, Skylit had committed rape, while Calvin stood guard. To be clear, prison officials never accused her of rape or sexual assault. The girlfriend told them — and KQED — that it never happened. Still, the rumors proved to be Skylit’s undoing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That next day, according to Skylit and five witnesses, as she was returning from a mental health appointment, she was roughed up on the yard by 12 to 15 incarcerated people who called her “nothing but a rapist.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They were surrounding me and pushing me and spitting on me and swinging at me,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED obtained video of the incident through a public records request. There’s no audio, but the grainy image shows Skylit, who had a pass to be on the yard, doing an about-face as a group of incarcerated people in civilian clothes approached her. One appears to throw liquid at her. A few shove and punch her. She gets agitated. At one point, it’s clear that she’s yelling. But she mostly keeps her arms crossed. She never hits back. Still, she is the only one punished.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/nS5qpi-NXfE\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>As Syiaah Skylit, wearing a long-sleeved white shirt under her prison blues, walked through the yard at Central California Women’s Facility in May 2022, she was accosted by incarcerated people who accused her of being a rapist. Courtesy of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’d been out of solitary confinement for just four weeks. She went right back in — and she hasn’t come out in more than a year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A sergeant who, the video shows, does not walk out to the yard until Skylit is handcuffed, wrote her \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24018553-referring-to-sexual-intercourse-through-rape\">rule violation report (DOC)\u003c/a>. He states that he heard her yell, “I’m gonna f- you bitches,” and a few variations on that theme. Then, using her legal name, he adds an editorial aside: “It should be known that when [Skylit] mentioned f-, [Skylit] was referring to sexual intercourse through rape.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CCWF initially accused Skylit of “threatening the life of a prisoner,” and referred her to the local district attorney for felony prosecution. It didn’t stick. Ultimately, her writeup was reduced to “behavior which could lead to violence.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Syiaah Skylit, transgender woman in California prison\"]‘It’s sad to be thankful for complete solitary confinement, isolation.’[/pullquote]In her defense, Skylit pointed to the video as evidence that she wasn’t the aggressor and that others had committed violence against \u003cem>her.\u003c/em> Records show that the senior hearing officer called the video “irrelevant.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CDCR does not comment on specific incarcerated people. Asked to respond to the behavior of the sergeant, it said state regulations forbid discrimination by staff and grant incarcerated people the right to be treated “respectfully, impartially, and fairly by all employees.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Skylit was far from alone in experiencing false allegations. Of the trans women at CCWF interviewed by KQED, each said they had been similarly targeted by others who were incarcerated and even by staff. Most were sent to solitary confinement pending investigations. Some were already there when they said they were framed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fancy Lipsey, records show, spent seven months in isolation after she was physically assaulted by other incarcerated people. As soon as she got out, a cisgender woman “went over to the officers and told them that I touched her vagina and her breasts in the dayroom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They reviewed the video on the spot “and saw that I was nowhere near this woman.” Still, they told Lipsey they were taking her back to solitary confinement. That’s when she cut her wrists, ending up on suicide watch instead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Calvin said she was punished after a roommate “went up to the program office and said I supposedly choked” another cisgender woman in their dorm in the middle of the night. The allegation came days after the alleged assault, which no one witnessed or reported at the time. Calvin said it took months to clear her name.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tremayne Carroll, a trans woman who uses a wheelchair, said that after she rebuffed sexual advances from a cisgender woman, that woman yelled to guards that Carroll had sexually assaulted her. When that went nowhere, the woman changed her story and said the two had had consensual sex.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Freddy Fox, an intersex prisoner who identifies as a trans woman and goes by “Foxy,” said she landed in solitary confinement after being assaulted. Alone in her cell in the weeks that followed, she was verbally harassed and accused of sexual impropriety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They would allege that I had exposed myself, then I’d have to go to the cameras to show that I did not expose myself,” Foxy said. The officers would then reduce the write-up to a lesser violation, she said, “but it’s still a sexual misconduct! That was the go-to thing in 2021 when we first arrived.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Porta-potty rapist’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Skylit’s case stands out in one crucial way: The false rape allegation went viral. Her chosen and legal names ended up all \u003ca href=\"https://reduxx.info/exclusive-female-inmate-reports-rape-occurred-in-california-womens-prison/\">over the internet.\u003c/a> One outlet called her the perpetrator of a “\u003ca href=\"https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/alleged-port-potty-rape-throws-harsh-glare-california-coed-prison-law-after\">port-a-potty rape\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s because, as soon as the Transgender Respect, Agency and Dignity Act went into effect, an anti-trans organization called the Women’s Liberation Front started working to roll it back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In November 2021, it filed \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22276203-chandlervcdcrcomplaint\">a lawsuit (DOC)\u003c/a> in federal court alleging the law violates the constitutional rights of cisgender women by forcing them to be housed with trans women who still have male genitalia. Simply having them there, the pending suit alleges, “substantially” increases the risk “of sexual harassment, sexual assault, rape, and physical violence, and to psychological fear of such harms.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Women’s Liberation Front was looking for a villain. The rumors about Skylit fit its narrative perfectly. Even though there were no eyewitnesses, no prison investigation and a girlfriend who \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22276218-43-3-asia-davis-declaration\">said the rape never happened (DOC)\u003c/a>, attorneys for the organization gathered hearsay declarations. The attorney handed them over to anti-trans websites and \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22276220-decl-of-plaintiff-supporter-mimi-lee-alleging-rape-of-ad-in-opposition-to-dismissal-033113109979\">attached them to a motion in the legal docket (DOC)\u003c/a>, making the declarations public record.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the tier in solitary confinement, the taunts of “porta-potty rapist” have been endless.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label='More on LGBTQI+ Rights' tag='transgender-rights']“I tell people, stop calling me that,” Skylit said. “Then, I’m a problem because I say things like, ‘Well, if I’m a rapist, then you a rapist,’ and then it’s like, ‘Oh, now he’s a threat, he’s arguing, he’s aggressive.’ I’m in a cage. By myself.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Skylit said cisgender incarcerated people have threatened to stab her, even chop off her penis. They’ve done it in front of officers without consequence. Yet just about every time she has erupted with verbal threats, she is written up. Prison officials have used the outbursts, and the enemies she’s made, as justification to keep her in solitary confinement, labeling her a “threat to the management and security of the institution.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some prisoners in solitary confinement — what CDCR calls restricted housing — are allowed cellmates for company. Skylit has had to cell alone. Some are allowed onto an open yard. But Skylit was designated a potential threat to others, so she has had to exercise in a cage that’s about 12-by-8 feet, often surrounded by other incarcerated people who insult her. When she attends her mental health groups, she is among those who must sit in a cage the size of a telephone booth called a “therapeutic module.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Multiple \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6987940/\">studies \u003c/a>confirm how damaging long-term solitary confinement is to mental health. So it’s no surprise that Skylit has struggled. Records show she has harmed herself on several occasions, once punching the wall until her hand bled. After that incident, for a few weeks in August 2022, she was medicated against her will with high doses of antipsychotic drugs. Too drugged to mount a defense, she was found guilty of multiple rule violations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A judge determined the prison violated her civil rights by force-medicating her. For Skylit, it was an important victory. But the whole experience eroded her faith in the prison mental health system. As the months ticked by, she went off all her medications — not just the hormones, but also the ones that treat depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Shattered trust\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It’s important to note that many cisgender incarcerated people at CCWF with histories of sexual victimization were truly scared of the newly arriving transgender women. Some still are. The fear-mongering from staff and outside anti-trans groups has not helped. But those fears appear to be unfounded.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED requested discipline data from CCWF. In the two years after the new law took effect, staff did not issue a single rule violation for physical or sexual violence to the trans women who came over from men’s prisons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, write-ups for violence were common in the rest of the prison population, including for fighting, assault and battery on prisoners and staff, and even inciting a riot. The data also show that the new arrivals under the law were six times more likely than other CCWF prisoners to be punished for behavior that could lead to consensual sex.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As it happens, there was a violent predator at CCWF. Allegedly, there was more than one and they weren’t transgender women. They were cisgender men, employees of the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In May 2023, as Skylit struggled to hold onto herself in her solitary cell, she heard the news that Gregory Rodriguez, a longtime guard at CCWF, was facing a 96-count criminal complaint for allegedly sexually assaulting more than a dozen incarcerated women over the course of years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’d been allowed to retire in August 2022 while under investigation. In addition to those charges, six women filed lawsuits under Jane Roe or Jane Doe pseudonyms against Rodriguez in federal court, contending he lured them to a suite of offices where there are no cameras and forcibly raped them. One of these alleged assaults took place on May 20, 2022, the same day that the crowd surrounded Skylit and called \u003cem>her\u003c/em> a rapist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CDCR \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article280162624.html\">settled those suits\u003c/a> earlier this month for $3.7 million. More lawsuits have been filed alleging sexual assaults by CCWF employees. Four of the named victims are transgender women, Skylit among them. Her \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24018568-skylitsexabusecomplaintaug14_2023\">lawsuit (DOC)\u003c/a> contends that Rodriguez and Pallares, the warden who called her a predator, each demanded sexual favors from her in the spring of 2022 “for the purpose of humiliating, degrading and demeaning” her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For him to have me come into that room, it’s just so dirty,” Skylit said. “I feel dirty.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pallares was demoted in January after the Rodriguez scandal broke. Currently, an associate warden at Pleasant Valley State Prison, he declined comment. Prison officials wouldn’t say whether Pallares was under investigation. But in a statement, officials said CDCR investigates all sexual assault allegations, and “resolutely condemns any staff member who violates their oath and shatters the trust of the public.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Syiaah Skylit, transgender woman in California prison\"]‘I don’t even understand who I am anymore. I’m full of anger. Hatred, ooh, hatred is huge for me right now. I’m lost, I’m completely lost.’[/pullquote]The totality of Skylit’s experience has left \u003cem>her \u003c/em>shattered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They come to my door every day asking me if I want to take my hormones. No, I don’t want to take no hormones,” she told KQED in March after 10 months of isolation. “I don’t even understand who I am anymore. I’m full of anger. Hatred, ooh, hatred is huge for me right now. I’m lost, I’m completely lost.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spending more than two years in solitary confinement means she hasn’t had access to the kind of programming that would earn her good-time credits and earlier release, like school, work and vocational training. She has never laid a finger on another prisoner or an officer, but her disciplinary write-ups have nevertheless added more than a year to her original 16-year sentence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prison officials are again recommending that Skylit be returned to a men’s prison. It requires a hearing that’s already been postponed for 17 months. She’s flip-flopped on whether to go back voluntarily. Being stuck in a box is destroying her, she said, and getting back into the general population may help her get out sooner. But with being falsely labeled a rapist, she’s terrified.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They will kill me,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If she does end up back in men’s prison, she shared in an emotional phone call, she plans to keep her gender identity secret. To prepare for the possibility, she started working out so she could fight for her life. She sold her earrings. And she cut off all her hair. She’d been growing it out for more than eight years, ever since those trans women in county jail lit a fire inside her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Making herself “bald-headed” as she said, was a painful act of surrender.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Skylit also threw away the trans-friendly children’s books she’d worked so hard to bring to life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I told myself, I’m not gonna get emotional or emo with this stuff no more,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A path forward\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>California’s law was meant to protect transgender women, but the culture at CCWF and rising anti-trans fervor all over the country have exposed them to new traumas. Implementation has been slow. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.oig.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Special-Review-No.-22-01.pdf\">report (PDF)\u003c/a> issued in late August by the current inspector general noted a “significant backlog” in transfer requests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of nearly 400 incarcerated people who’ve requested housing transfers under the law — the vast majority transgender women asking to move to women’s prison — more than 300 are still waiting for a committee to hear their case. Many live in daily fear of sexual and physical assault, said A.D. Lewis, an attorney who runs Trans Beyond Bars, a project for the Berkeley-based Prison Law Office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A transgender man, Lewis regularly communicates with trans-incarcerated people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The three dozen or so trans women who made it to CCWF — most during the first six months of implementation — are the vanguard. Many, like Skylit, have suffered. A small number have been transferred to the California Institution for Women, a lower security prison in San Bernardino County, where they say conditions are slightly better.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Jen Orthwein, forensic psychologist, co-founder of Medina Orthwein LLP\"]‘These systems are so built to destroy people, and if they survive and get out, they’re not better and they’re often much worse.’[/pullquote]In a statement, CDCR said it is working to implement some of the changes \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24016207-mossgroup-sb132-cdcr-assessment-report\">recommended by outside consultants (DOC)\u003c/a> earlier this year and is committed to providing “a safe, humane, respectful and rehabilitative environment for all incarcerated people, including the transgender, non-binary and intersex community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Advocates acknowledge that the cycles of harm continue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Instead of respecting trans people’s self-determination and prioritizing their safety, as the law requires,” Lewis said, correctional staff and other incarcerated people have used it “to put a target on trans peoples’ back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shortly after prison officials received KQED’s questions for this story in September, CCWF revoked all phone privileges for Skylit and others in solitary confinement. In an email to KQED after the initial publication of this story, a CDCR official said the revocation of phone privileges was a policy change ending what had been a temporary, more liberal phone privileges policy instituted in the early days of the COVID pandemic. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Skylit’s attorney worries about the impact of the trauma on her future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These systems are so built to destroy people, and if they survive and get out, they’re not better and they’re often much worse,” Orthwein said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a letter sent in July 2023 to Newsom, nearly two-dozen advocacy and legal organizations pressing for better treatment for transgender, nonbinary and intersex prisoners \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23991938-tni-coalition-letter-to-governor-newsom-71723pdf-2\">urged clemency (DOC)\u003c/a> for those who have experienced harm in prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wiener, meanwhile, expressed deep frustration with the pace of implementation. In response to KQED’s findings, he said he was “horrified to hear how trans women are being treated in women’s prison, both by the prisons and by other inmates. The fact that they’re being treated harshly and slandered, called rapists when they’re not, it’s terrifying and we’re not going to just let this go.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Lee Romney is a longtime journalist who spent 23 years at the \u003c/em>Los Angeles Times\u003cem>. Jennifer Johnson is a former career public defender who helped launch San Francisco’s Behavioral Health Court. This reporting, supported by the Fund for Investigative Journalism and the California Health Care Foundation, is part of a forthcoming podcast they’re co-creating. Called \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.novemberinmysoul.com/\">\u003cem>November In My Soul\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>, it explores the way bias makes its way into our intertwined mental health and criminal legal systems.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story has been updated.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "California’s Transgender Respect, Agency and Dignity Act was meant to protect transgender people, but the culture at state prisons and rising anti-trans fervor throughout the country have exposed them to new traumas.",
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"title": "California Prisons Fail to Uphold Transgender Rights Despite State Law | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Warning: There are descriptions of physical and sexual violence in this piece. Also, where legal names and chosen names differ, we’re using chosen names.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">S\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>yiaah Skylit had been stuck in solitary confinement at a maximum-security men’s prison for months when, in the fall of 2020, she got the news that gave her hope: Gov. Gavin Newsom had signed the \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB132\">Transgender Respect, Agency and Dignity Act\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Authored by state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), the law requires California prison staff to use the chosen pronouns of incarcerated people who are intersex or identify as nonbinary or transgender, as Skylit does.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It allows those incarcerated people to \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/prea/sb-132-faqs/\">select a gender preference for the guards who search them\u003c/a>. Most significantly, it mandates that prison officials, under most circumstances, honor requests to be housed at the type of facility — male or female — that aligns with the incarcerated person’s gender identity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For six years, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation bounced Skylit from one men’s prison to another. At each, safety proved elusive. By 2020, she was isolated in a cell for her own protection after brutal attacks by people she was incarcerated with and, \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23991903-syiaahkvsp2ndamendedcomplaint2022-03-03\">a lawsuit alleges (PDF)\u003c/a>, by guards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The prospect of serving out her remaining sentence in a women’s facility seemed nothing short of a miracle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For me, what it felt like was a sanctuary,” she said in one of several dozen interviews with KQED over the course of a year. “A place to be who you were meant to be without any retaliation, without any violence, without any judgment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Decades have passed since simply \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11917624/how-a-young-gay-man-survived-one-of-the-darkest-eras-in-california-queer-history\">being LGBTQ+ was considered a crime and a mental illness\u003c/a>. But bias and marginalization still lead to high rates of criminalization, especially for \u003ca href=\"https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/resources/NTDS_Report.pdf\">Black trans women (PDF)\u003c/a> like Skylit. Once incarcerated, harsh prison conditions take a serious toll on mental health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://cpb-us-e2.wpmucdn.com/sites.uci.edu/dist/0/1149/files/2013/06/BulletinVol2Issue2.pdf\">Studies (PDF)\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/usts/USTS%20Full%20Report%20-%20FINAL%201.6.17.pdf\">surveys (PDF)\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/pdca15.pdf\">federal data (PDF)\u003c/a> show that trans women held in men’s prisons are sexually and physically assaulted at rates as much as 13 times higher than cisgender men. When they report assaults or fears for their safety, they’re often met with \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23991938-tni-coalition-letter-to-governor-newsom-71723pdf-2\">staff retaliation (PDF)\u003c/a>. It’s not uncommon for trans women to harm themselves — just to get to the safety of a prison mental health bed. Skylit had lived that, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘For me, what it felt like was a sanctuary. A place to be who you were meant to be without any retaliation, without any violence, without any judgment.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The Transgender Respect, Agency and Dignity Act promised an end to those nightmares.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“No more having to hide in fear,” Skylit said. “No more having to be quiet about who I really am. I was excited. I couldn’t wait.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This story is a result of a year-long investigation into the effectiveness of the legislation that aimed to reduce the trauma of transgender women in California’s prisons. KQED’s reporters interviewed a dozen incarcerated people and reviewed data along with several hundred pages of prison grievances, disciplinary records and legal filings. The reporting revealed that trans women like Skylit and many others transferred to a women’s prison under the new law have not found the sanctuary they were seeking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Skylit, the nightmares have only gotten worse.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Living with secrets\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Skylit grew up in Compton. When she was 5, she and her siblings entered the foster care system after their mother suffered a mental health break. When Skylit was 14, her mother died by apparent suicide, and the following year, she said, “I tried to kill myself by running in front of a moving train.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She was physically uninjured but sent to a psychiatric hospital. It wouldn’t be the last time she’d tried to take her own life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11964099\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11964099\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Free-Syiaah-social-KQED-800x949.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"949\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Free-Syiaah-social-KQED-800x949.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Free-Syiaah-social-KQED-1020x1210.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Free-Syiaah-social-KQED-160x190.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Free-Syiaah-social-KQED-1295x1536.jpg 1295w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Free-Syiaah-social-KQED.jpg 1686w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In August 2020, as Syiaah Skylit sat in solitary confinement at Kern Valley State Prison for her own protection, transgender advocates launched a Change.org campaign urging clemency for her. She helped with the design of the artwork. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Syiaah Skylit, Micah Bazant and Freddie Francis)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Skylit is a slight 5 feet, 5 inches tall with a big, dimpled smile. As a teen and living as a boy, she was bullied for being a flashy dresser, for the way she carried herself. She experimented with a gay relationship, but it left her feeling “confused.” The adults in her life were religious and viewed LGBTQ+ people as sinners. Her brothers were gang members. She did what they asked of her, she said, because “I didn’t want to look weak.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I couldn’t come out and be myself around people like my family and my friends that I grew up with,” Skylit said. “I grew up in a hard-ass neighborhood. That ain’t about to fly.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, she harbored a secret she never shared with her brothers, one even she didn’t fully comprehend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would dress up. I would put makeup on. All I understood as a person was, ‘Hey, I like this,’” she said. “So if I like this, why is it so bad? Am I a bad person?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A stint in juvenile detention didn’t stop Skylit from setting her sights on a bright future. She finished high school on time, enrolled in community college, worked multiple jobs and, for a while, paid her rent. But anxiety, depression and drug use interrupted her stability. She’d already been homeless once when, facing eviction in 2012, she and a friend robbed a convenience store in San Bernardino County. It yielded little, so they robbed a Los Angeles County jewelry store — and got caught.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At 22, Skylit was facing criminal trials in both counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘I couldn’t come out and be myself around people like my family and my friends that I grew up with. I grew up in a hard-ass neighborhood. That ain’t about to fly.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Her first stop was a San Bernardino County jail, where she came out as gay to get to the relative safety of what was then called the “alternative lifestyles tank.” According to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23999484-syiaah2015sanbernardinocolawsuit\">class-action lawsuit (DOC)\u003c/a>, the conditions were distressing: discrimination by staff and denial of basic services. Skylit, under her legal name, was among the named plaintiffs. A settlement led to \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24002812-sanbernardinoinjunctiverelief\">significant reforms (DOC)\u003c/a>. It was in that jail, she said, where she first learned to advocate for her rights, even in the face of retaliation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s also where she first encountered openly transgender women and was blown away by their courage and joyful confidence. In their midst, Skylit said, she at last felt free of judgment, open to self-acceptance. Her next stop — a stint in the segregated LGBTQ+ tank at the Los Angeles County jail — only reinforced those feelings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s when I got a taste of all the ‘T’ and I was just living it,” she said of the ‘T’ for Transgender in the alphabet soup of LGBTQ+. “It was like discovering myself.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She was sentenced to 16 years in prison. It may seem paradoxical, but incarceration gave Skylit breathing room to explore her gender identity. In court, she apologized to her robbery victims. Then, she made a promise to herself to use “every second, every minute” of her time inside “to really find out who I am. I mean, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I felt I had.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Skylit entered California’s prison system for men in December 2015. Soon, she chose her new name. “Syiaah” is an acronym — sexy, young, intelligent, ambitious, authentic and heroic. She picked “Sky” as “an inspiration to reach higher limits.” And “lit” is a nod to her hip-hop Compton roots “to be vibrant, live.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Put it together, it’s ‘I keep the sky lit’,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In keeping with the up-to-date \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24002874-ama-medical-spectrum-of-gender-d-295312\">medical (DOC)\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/diversity/education/transgender-and-gender-nonconforming-patients\">psychiatric\u003c/a> understanding of gender identity, the Transgender Respect, Agency and Dignity Act doesn’t require incarcerated people to be on hormone replacement therapy or to be interested in gender-affirming surgeries to be transferred to housing that aligns with their sense of safety. During Skylit’s early years in prison, that wasn’t the case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation \u003cem>did\u003c/em> consider such transfer requests. The federal Prison Rape Elimination Act had since 2012 \u003ca href=\"https://www.prearesourcecenter.org/frequently-asked-questions/does-policy-houses-transgender-or-intersex-inmates-based-exclusively\">forbidden\u003c/a> the department from housing prisoners based solely on external genital anatomy. But the CDCR did it on a case-by-case basis, and the tiny number granted all happened to be for trans women who’d had gender-affirming genital surgery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not everybody wants that. Gender identity and gender transition are deeply personal. Skylit’s records show she declared her transgender identity on a special CDCR form about a year after arrival — and soon after started \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24018578-skylit-2019-housing-complaint\">asking to be transferred to a women’s prison (DOC)\u003c/a>. That went nowhere. So Skylit worked to stay true to her transition, even as she was funneled through a series of men’s prisons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I tapped into it, despite the long time I was facing, I was happy,” she said. “But that happiness turned into survival real fast.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Met by violence\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Almost immediately, Skylit’s gender identity and small stature made her a target. On several occasions, she said, correctional officers placed her in cells with large men who specifically requested her and then pressured her for sex. When she filed grievances in an attempt to switch cells or responded to physical assaults by fighting, she said, staff responded with Rule Violation Reports, known as RVRs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The more I would push back,” she said, “the more they would attack me with RVRs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, Skylit pressed on. She requested hormone replacement therapy, and by the time those treatments started, in 2018, she’d been moved to Mule Creek State Prison near the small Sierra foothills town of Ione. It’s one of a dozen or so facilities in the state designated as “transgender hubs.” That means, medical and mental services for trans prisoners are concentrated there, as are prison commissary items unavailable elsewhere, such as sports bras and makeup for trans women, and boxer shorts for trans men.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Skylit could finally stop MacGyvering her fashion looks. She could style her hair, wear makeup and earrings. On the prison yard, she said she found a sense of belonging with her trans sisters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were out there,” she said. “Having fun, protecting each other.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even at men’s prisons designated as transgender hubs, trans women were mixed with cisgender men in common areas and their assigned cells. The truer Skylit felt to herself, she said, the greater the danger she experienced.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Yeah, it’s OK to come out and you got a nice little outfit on, but guess what you just did?” she said. “You just called attention to yourself and now you have certain people who are making sexual advances towards you, and some of them don’t stop.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of her trans sisters exchanged sex for safety. But even that was no guarantee of safety. Skylit wept while recounting how a close friend staggered out of her cell “with a huge gash in her skull, busted lip, trying to get out of the room that she placed herself in because she wanted to be \u003cem>herself\u003c/em>. And she couldn’t complain to the officers, because they’re not gonna do anything.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>So Skylit found herself facing a soul-crushing choice between her safety and her identity. Skylit drew a line against assault. That meant more fights and more disciplinary write-ups. The hormone treatments caused muscle weakness, so she made another compromise. She began stopping and starting the medications depending on the danger she was facing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Either I’m gonna be who I wanna be or I’m gonna end up dead,” she said. “Girl, I can’t be dead and be myself at the same time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a survival strategy it made sense, but abruptly going on and off hormones brings on acute mood swings. It also heightens \u003ca href=\"https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/diversity/education/transgender-and-gender-nonconforming-patients/gender-dysphoria-diagnosis\">gender dysphoria\u003c/a>, a mental health diagnosis associated with distress a person can feel at being a gender other than the one assigned at birth. Skylit had experienced that for most of her life, as she hid her true gender identity, and it caused depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Skylit juggled these stressors, prison officials transferred her again — this time to Kern Valley State Prison, a maximum-security facility in the Central Valley town of Delano that houses some of the state’s most violent offenders. Among them, transgender advocates \u003ca href=\"https://prisonhealth.news/2021/10/29/lgbtq-prison-testimonies-dakota-rose-in-california/\">note\u003c/a>, are gang members known to target LGBTQ+ people in prisons. That’s where she \u003ca href=\"https://sfbayview.com/2021/05/trans-woman-seeks-release-from-cdcr-custody-after-attacks/\">hit a new low\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Skylit and a \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23991903-syiaahkvsp2ndamendedcomplaint2022-03-03\">lawsuit filed on her behalf (DOC),\u003c/a> she was assaulted twice by incarcerated men and witnessed gruesome attacks on two other trans women. Terrified, she says she asked to speak to a sergeant about her safety concerns. Instead, she alleges, two officers followed her into her cell. One pulled down her pants, ran a baton along her bottom and threatened to rape her with it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And I’m just sitting there like this can’t be real,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>That night, she drank from a bottle of laundry detergent in a desperate attempt to get sent to a mental health crisis unit. An officer stripped her of her clothes and left her lying naked in her cell next to the empty bottle. The next day, an officer pepper sprayed her at close range. Others beat her with batons. CDCR does not comment on active litigation. In legal filings, the named officers have denied wrongdoing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Finally, Skylit said, a sergeant agreed to isolate her for her protection. That’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.vera.org/news/violence-torture-and-isolation-what-its-like-to-be-trans-in-prison\">a common fate for trans women\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s sad to be thankful for complete solitary confinement, isolation,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She would stay there for seven months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Skylit had sought help from various attorneys. One responded. Jen Orthwein is a forensic psychologist who once treated transgender clients behind prison walls. They later co-founded a queer-owned law firm to challenge the harsh conditions they’d witnessed. Orthwein worked with other transgender advocates to launch a \u003ca href=\"https://www.change.org/p/gavin-newsom-call-for-the-immediate-release-of-syiaah-skylit-from-cdcr-custody-blacktranslivesmatter?utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=custom_url&recruited_by_id=cc830240-3ea3-11e9-a4df-e5579d49cec9\">petition\u003c/a> for clemency on Skylit’s behalf.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, with colored pencils and paper, Skylit got to work crafting a series of illustrated \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24018571-its-a-colorful-world-by-syiaah-skylit\">children’s books (DOC)\u003c/a> featuring gender-non-conforming characters. Among them is a rainbow-colored kid named Unique, who is fully embraced by loving parents but bullied on the playground for delighting in toys conventionally meant for both boys and girls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The project helped Skylit reimagine her traumatic past. She also hoped her books might make their way into the world and change the mindset of young readers “to where they’re not growing into hatred, but actually out of it.” She finished two, got started on a third. And that’s where she was when Orthewin gave her the good news. The Transgender Respect, Agency and Dignity Act was state law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11964104\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11964104\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231011-ITS-A-COLORFUL-WORLD-2-KQED-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Scans of two pages of drawing and text from a hand written book.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231011-ITS-A-COLORFUL-WORLD-2-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231011-ITS-A-COLORFUL-WORLD-2-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231011-ITS-A-COLORFUL-WORLD-2-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231011-ITS-A-COLORFUL-WORLD-2-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231011-ITS-A-COLORFUL-WORLD-2-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231011-ITS-A-COLORFUL-WORLD-2-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Excerpts from ‘It’s a Colorful World.’ \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Syiaah Skylit)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It was like a prayer had been answered,” Skylit said. “Like, ‘This is it!’ This is going to be the beginning of Syiaah Skylit at her best, at completely being herself.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>New perils\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Wiener’s bill was years in the making, and he’s quick to note that top CDCR officials were on board. They welcomed advocates to join a working group to brainstorm solutions to unsafe conditions and sought input directly from incarcerated transgender people. The Office of Inspector General detailed in \u003ca href=\"https://www.oig.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Special-Review-Incarcerated-Transgender-Nonbinary-Intersex-Individuals.pdf\">a 2020 report (PDF)\u003c/a> the painful responses to those surveys.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Laws in \u003ca href=\"https://www.acluct.org/en/know-your-rights/know-your-rights-trans-people-who-are-incarcerated-connecticut\">Connecticut\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23991974-952-management-of-gender-diverse-and-intersex-inmates-final-version\">Rhode Island (DOC)\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://lgbtqbar.org/bar-news/tiproject/ma/\">Massachusetts\u003c/a> call for similar reforms, while \u003ca href=\"https://www.aclu-nj.org/en/press-releases/settlement-nj-civil-rights-suit-promises-necessary-reform-affirming-transgender\">New Jersey\u003c/a> has made comparable policy changes in response to litigation. But advocates who helped craft California’s law say it is the most expansive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wiener said in an interview that he knew at the start that the magnitude of changes mandated by the law required patience and that it would take time to implement. More recently, though, he’s grown deeply concerned about the way his legislation has played out on the ground. Because, he said, even with senior CDCR management on board, “the culture in the individual prisons is just so challenging that it doesn’t translate.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11964100\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11964100\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/SenWienerAtSanQuentinTransRemembranceDay-2019-KQED-800x539.jpg\" alt='A group of people, most wearing the same uniform of blue shirts and pants, stand together holding signs and joined by a person wearing a suit helping to hold a banner reading \"trans lives matter.\"' width=\"800\" height=\"539\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/SenWienerAtSanQuentinTransRemembranceDay-2019-KQED-800x539.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/SenWienerAtSanQuentinTransRemembranceDay-2019-KQED-1020x687.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/SenWienerAtSanQuentinTransRemembranceDay-2019-KQED-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/SenWienerAtSanQuentinTransRemembranceDay-2019-KQED-1536x1035.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/SenWienerAtSanQuentinTransRemembranceDay-2019-KQED-1920x1294.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/SenWienerAtSanQuentinTransRemembranceDay-2019-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) attends CDCR’s first Transgender Remembrance Day in 2019, organized jointly by trans and cisgender incarcerated people. Wiener had already authored the bill that would become the Transgender Respect, Agency and Dignity Act, with buy-in from top CDCR officials. \u003ccite>(California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Officials chose the Central California Women’s Facility, or CCWF, in Chowchilla as the prison where all the trans women would go first. It’s a facility with a \u003ca href=\"https://prisonlaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/16.08.18-Prison-Law-Office-report-on-CCWF.pdf\">troubled history (PDF)\u003c/a> when it comes to staff accountability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of a dozen CCWF prisoners interviewed by KQED, all said they heard correctional staff express hostility to the new law even before the transfers began, warning the cisgender population that fakers and sexual predators were heading their way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tasha Brown, a cisgender woman, said she heard guards say, “The doors were going to be open for people to come in to violate us, to rape us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tomas Green, a transgender man, said he heard guards “telling women here that the trans women were men and that they were gonna get raped.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Alexanne Danis, a cisgender woman, said she heard a lieutenant openly state that the transfers “don’t belong here, that they have to leave.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Officers and fellow cisgender incarcerated people, Danis said, also spoke about driving the new transfers out, “saying that they were gonna stage stuff and that they were gonna make it sound worse than it was if anything did happen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Michelle Calvin was one of the first transgender women to arrive at CCWF. She helped work on Wiener’s legislation and has since transferred to the lower-security California Institution for Women. She heard the characterizations by staff that trans women were “gonna come over here and rape y’all and beat y’all up and take y’all stuff.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The power to reverse the law, she heard officers tell incarcerated people, rested in their hands: “Take your house back. Take your prison back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Advocates who helped craft the law were well aware of this toxic environment. They say they pressed officials to allow them to hold a town hall at the women’s prison to defuse these narratives before the transfers began. It never happened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, the trans women who began arriving in the first half of 2021 had no idea what they were stepping into.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Orthwein, Skylit’s attorney, was part of the working group that informed the new law and said key CDCR decisions around implementation proved harmful. The new arrivals were held in segregation for their first month. There, they were issued new prison identification numbers beginning with a distinctive two-letter combination. Instead of “some semblance of privacy about their transgender status,” which advocates had pressed for, this immediately outed them, feeding hostility and rejection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CCWF houses people in dorms, as many as eight to a room. Without exception, the trans women interviewed by KQED said they have been refused entry to dorms by prisoners who viewed them as “men.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Skylit’s first day in the general population, in mid-July 2021, guards started writing her up for minor violations. Within a month, she was in solitary confinement, accused of having a consensual relationship with her cisgender female bunkmate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sex is against prison rules systemwide, but every CCWF prisoner interviewed for this piece said it’s extremely common, especially in women’s prisons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘At the end of the day, we’re humans. I’m not saying every relationship in here is just peachy perfect, no. You have a lot of relationships in here that are toxic — fight, argue. But that’s life in the free world.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Yes, you’re not supposed to have sex but it happens. It’s natural and there’s nothing that’s gonna stop it from happening,” said Giovanni Gonzales, a transgender man who runs a group to educate peers about gender identity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Relationships form quickly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At the end of the day, we’re humans,” Green said. “I’m not saying every relationship in here is just peachy perfect, no. You have a lot of relationships in here that are toxic — fight, argue. But that’s life in the free world.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, while sex and intimacy may be universal, punishment is not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gonzales and Green said staff often turn a blind eye to cisgender women who couple up, especially if they express their gender in stereotypically feminine ways. If a transgender man is caught being amorous, they said, a rule violation is more likely. As for the trans women who were just arriving at CCWF, a harsher set of unwritten rules seemed to apply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One cisgender couple in Skylit’s dorm had been having regular sex without consequence, she said. As Skylit was handcuffed and written up for her relationship, she asked an officer why she was going to isolation and the bunkmate wasn’t. He replied, “Because you’re a man and she’s a woman.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a hearing to discuss her situation, records show that Acting Warden Michael Pallares told her he would push to send her back to men’s prison. She claimed he was hostile, “calling me a predator, saying that I’m preying on women.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In men’s prison, Skylit had lived in constant fear of sexual assault. Now \u003cem>she \u003c/em>was cast as a sexual predator. Her disciplinary paperwork relied on “confidential sources” to suggest she was faking her status because she “displays very masculine behavior when with the inmate population.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In isolation, according to grievances and a government claim filed by Orthwein, Skylit’s gender identity was undermined. She had trouble accessing her hormones and was denied a razor for 40 days straight. She grew a full beard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People screaming at me, yelling at me, calling me a man, and I need to go back to the men’s prison,” she said. “‘Look at the hair on yo’ face.’ [I was] pleading, pleading, pleading, ‘Please give me a razor, please give me a razor,’ and denied every time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A psychologist misgendered Skylit in a report, yet \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24018435-psychologist-note-razors-clothing\">noted (DOC)\u003c/a> that an extended stay in isolation would likely increase her mental health symptoms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the months that followed, Skylit was sent multiple times to a mental health unit for being suicidal. She was bumped up to a more intensive level of mental health care. Yet she remained in solitary confinement for eight months. Then, without explanation, Pallares released her to the general population.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her freedom wouldn’t last.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘What did you all do to our homegirl?’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Skylit’s time in isolation had taken a toll. On the yard, she said she made enemies when she responded to threats and harassment with aggressive posturing and language. She said she tried not to engage, hanging out and playing cards every day with a couple of other trans women and one cisgender woman who was sweet on her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We would hold hands,” she said. “We would hug, we would kiss.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prison officials aren’t supposed to penalize trans women more harshly for breaking rules that cisgender prisoners also break, like the one forbidding any behavior that could lead to sex. But the atmosphere around these relationships, interviews and records reveal, was tense and complex.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While some cisgender women feared or lashed out at the new arrivals, others were eager to partner with them. Of a half-dozen transgender women at CCWF who were interviewed by KQED, the five who have not had gender-affirming genital surgery, said they’ve been subject to sexual advances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Meanwhile, \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24016207-mossgroup-sb132-cdcr-assessment-report\">a report (DOC)\u003c/a> on the implementation of the new law commissioned by CDCR found that a “sexualized environment, including being sexually pressured or pursued,” was among the reasons given by transgender women who voluntarily returned to men’s prison. Other reasons included “hostile reception from staff or incarcerated individuals,” “false allegations to be removed from room” and “issues with getting hygiene items, such as razors.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In men’s prison, Skylit said, consensual sex generally went unpunished. That made it hard for her to imagine just how much the bond with her new “bestie” would cost her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On May 19, 2022, Skylit and her friends were on the yard drinking prison-made wine, disciplinary records show. Skylit and her girlfriend were kissing. A few minutes after Skylit went to use the porta-potty, she said, the girlfriend followed her in and started throwing up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Skylit said she was holding her hair back when Calvin, one of the trans friends she played cards with, let her know a guard was approaching. Skylit stepped out and asked a couple of other people to check on the girlfriend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They “opened the door and they say, ‘What did you all do to our homegirl? We don’t know what you two doing, we don’t know what’s going on over here,’” Skylit recounted. “And I said, ‘We just been drinking and she was in the thing throwing up.’ But now, it’s a commotion. It’s a crowd coming up.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Skylit and two other witnesses, the girlfriend came out, and the guard scolded them. “She was like, ‘I’m OK bestie, I love you so much,’ and I hugged her and I walked away.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rumors about a rape started circulating. Skylit said she heard it “from like one or two people. It wasn’t \u003cem>big\u003c/em> until the next day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘They were surrounding me and pushing me and spitting on me and swinging at me.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>By then, a fictional narrative had taken shape: In those few moments inside the porta-potty, Skylit had committed rape, while Calvin stood guard. To be clear, prison officials never accused her of rape or sexual assault. The girlfriend told them — and KQED — that it never happened. Still, the rumors proved to be Skylit’s undoing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That next day, according to Skylit and five witnesses, as she was returning from a mental health appointment, she was roughed up on the yard by 12 to 15 incarcerated people who called her “nothing but a rapist.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They were surrounding me and pushing me and spitting on me and swinging at me,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED obtained video of the incident through a public records request. There’s no audio, but the grainy image shows Skylit, who had a pass to be on the yard, doing an about-face as a group of incarcerated people in civilian clothes approached her. One appears to throw liquid at her. A few shove and punch her. She gets agitated. At one point, it’s clear that she’s yelling. But she mostly keeps her arms crossed. She never hits back. Still, she is the only one punished.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/nS5qpi-NXfE'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/nS5qpi-NXfE'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>As Syiaah Skylit, wearing a long-sleeved white shirt under her prison blues, walked through the yard at Central California Women’s Facility in May 2022, she was accosted by incarcerated people who accused her of being a rapist. Courtesy of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’d been out of solitary confinement for just four weeks. She went right back in — and she hasn’t come out in more than a year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A sergeant who, the video shows, does not walk out to the yard until Skylit is handcuffed, wrote her \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24018553-referring-to-sexual-intercourse-through-rape\">rule violation report (DOC)\u003c/a>. He states that he heard her yell, “I’m gonna f- you bitches,” and a few variations on that theme. Then, using her legal name, he adds an editorial aside: “It should be known that when [Skylit] mentioned f-, [Skylit] was referring to sexual intercourse through rape.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CCWF initially accused Skylit of “threatening the life of a prisoner,” and referred her to the local district attorney for felony prosecution. It didn’t stick. Ultimately, her writeup was reduced to “behavior which could lead to violence.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In her defense, Skylit pointed to the video as evidence that she wasn’t the aggressor and that others had committed violence against \u003cem>her.\u003c/em> Records show that the senior hearing officer called the video “irrelevant.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CDCR does not comment on specific incarcerated people. Asked to respond to the behavior of the sergeant, it said state regulations forbid discrimination by staff and grant incarcerated people the right to be treated “respectfully, impartially, and fairly by all employees.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Skylit was far from alone in experiencing false allegations. Of the trans women at CCWF interviewed by KQED, each said they had been similarly targeted by others who were incarcerated and even by staff. Most were sent to solitary confinement pending investigations. Some were already there when they said they were framed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fancy Lipsey, records show, spent seven months in isolation after she was physically assaulted by other incarcerated people. As soon as she got out, a cisgender woman “went over to the officers and told them that I touched her vagina and her breasts in the dayroom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They reviewed the video on the spot “and saw that I was nowhere near this woman.” Still, they told Lipsey they were taking her back to solitary confinement. That’s when she cut her wrists, ending up on suicide watch instead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Calvin said she was punished after a roommate “went up to the program office and said I supposedly choked” another cisgender woman in their dorm in the middle of the night. The allegation came days after the alleged assault, which no one witnessed or reported at the time. Calvin said it took months to clear her name.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tremayne Carroll, a trans woman who uses a wheelchair, said that after she rebuffed sexual advances from a cisgender woman, that woman yelled to guards that Carroll had sexually assaulted her. When that went nowhere, the woman changed her story and said the two had had consensual sex.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Freddy Fox, an intersex prisoner who identifies as a trans woman and goes by “Foxy,” said she landed in solitary confinement after being assaulted. Alone in her cell in the weeks that followed, she was verbally harassed and accused of sexual impropriety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They would allege that I had exposed myself, then I’d have to go to the cameras to show that I did not expose myself,” Foxy said. The officers would then reduce the write-up to a lesser violation, she said, “but it’s still a sexual misconduct! That was the go-to thing in 2021 when we first arrived.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Porta-potty rapist’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Skylit’s case stands out in one crucial way: The false rape allegation went viral. Her chosen and legal names ended up all \u003ca href=\"https://reduxx.info/exclusive-female-inmate-reports-rape-occurred-in-california-womens-prison/\">over the internet.\u003c/a> One outlet called her the perpetrator of a “\u003ca href=\"https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/alleged-port-potty-rape-throws-harsh-glare-california-coed-prison-law-after\">port-a-potty rape\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s because, as soon as the Transgender Respect, Agency and Dignity Act went into effect, an anti-trans organization called the Women’s Liberation Front started working to roll it back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In November 2021, it filed \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22276203-chandlervcdcrcomplaint\">a lawsuit (DOC)\u003c/a> in federal court alleging the law violates the constitutional rights of cisgender women by forcing them to be housed with trans women who still have male genitalia. Simply having them there, the pending suit alleges, “substantially” increases the risk “of sexual harassment, sexual assault, rape, and physical violence, and to psychological fear of such harms.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Women’s Liberation Front was looking for a villain. The rumors about Skylit fit its narrative perfectly. Even though there were no eyewitnesses, no prison investigation and a girlfriend who \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22276218-43-3-asia-davis-declaration\">said the rape never happened (DOC)\u003c/a>, attorneys for the organization gathered hearsay declarations. The attorney handed them over to anti-trans websites and \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22276220-decl-of-plaintiff-supporter-mimi-lee-alleging-rape-of-ad-in-opposition-to-dismissal-033113109979\">attached them to a motion in the legal docket (DOC)\u003c/a>, making the declarations public record.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the tier in solitary confinement, the taunts of “porta-potty rapist” have been endless.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“I tell people, stop calling me that,” Skylit said. “Then, I’m a problem because I say things like, ‘Well, if I’m a rapist, then you a rapist,’ and then it’s like, ‘Oh, now he’s a threat, he’s arguing, he’s aggressive.’ I’m in a cage. By myself.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Skylit said cisgender incarcerated people have threatened to stab her, even chop off her penis. They’ve done it in front of officers without consequence. Yet just about every time she has erupted with verbal threats, she is written up. Prison officials have used the outbursts, and the enemies she’s made, as justification to keep her in solitary confinement, labeling her a “threat to the management and security of the institution.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some prisoners in solitary confinement — what CDCR calls restricted housing — are allowed cellmates for company. Skylit has had to cell alone. Some are allowed onto an open yard. But Skylit was designated a potential threat to others, so she has had to exercise in a cage that’s about 12-by-8 feet, often surrounded by other incarcerated people who insult her. When she attends her mental health groups, she is among those who must sit in a cage the size of a telephone booth called a “therapeutic module.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Multiple \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6987940/\">studies \u003c/a>confirm how damaging long-term solitary confinement is to mental health. So it’s no surprise that Skylit has struggled. Records show she has harmed herself on several occasions, once punching the wall until her hand bled. After that incident, for a few weeks in August 2022, she was medicated against her will with high doses of antipsychotic drugs. Too drugged to mount a defense, she was found guilty of multiple rule violations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A judge determined the prison violated her civil rights by force-medicating her. For Skylit, it was an important victory. But the whole experience eroded her faith in the prison mental health system. As the months ticked by, she went off all her medications — not just the hormones, but also the ones that treat depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Shattered trust\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It’s important to note that many cisgender incarcerated people at CCWF with histories of sexual victimization were truly scared of the newly arriving transgender women. Some still are. The fear-mongering from staff and outside anti-trans groups has not helped. But those fears appear to be unfounded.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED requested discipline data from CCWF. In the two years after the new law took effect, staff did not issue a single rule violation for physical or sexual violence to the trans women who came over from men’s prisons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, write-ups for violence were common in the rest of the prison population, including for fighting, assault and battery on prisoners and staff, and even inciting a riot. The data also show that the new arrivals under the law were six times more likely than other CCWF prisoners to be punished for behavior that could lead to consensual sex.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As it happens, there was a violent predator at CCWF. Allegedly, there was more than one and they weren’t transgender women. They were cisgender men, employees of the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In May 2023, as Skylit struggled to hold onto herself in her solitary cell, she heard the news that Gregory Rodriguez, a longtime guard at CCWF, was facing a 96-count criminal complaint for allegedly sexually assaulting more than a dozen incarcerated women over the course of years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’d been allowed to retire in August 2022 while under investigation. In addition to those charges, six women filed lawsuits under Jane Roe or Jane Doe pseudonyms against Rodriguez in federal court, contending he lured them to a suite of offices where there are no cameras and forcibly raped them. One of these alleged assaults took place on May 20, 2022, the same day that the crowd surrounded Skylit and called \u003cem>her\u003c/em> a rapist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CDCR \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article280162624.html\">settled those suits\u003c/a> earlier this month for $3.7 million. More lawsuits have been filed alleging sexual assaults by CCWF employees. Four of the named victims are transgender women, Skylit among them. Her \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24018568-skylitsexabusecomplaintaug14_2023\">lawsuit (DOC)\u003c/a> contends that Rodriguez and Pallares, the warden who called her a predator, each demanded sexual favors from her in the spring of 2022 “for the purpose of humiliating, degrading and demeaning” her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For him to have me come into that room, it’s just so dirty,” Skylit said. “I feel dirty.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pallares was demoted in January after the Rodriguez scandal broke. Currently, an associate warden at Pleasant Valley State Prison, he declined comment. Prison officials wouldn’t say whether Pallares was under investigation. But in a statement, officials said CDCR investigates all sexual assault allegations, and “resolutely condemns any staff member who violates their oath and shatters the trust of the public.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The totality of Skylit’s experience has left \u003cem>her \u003c/em>shattered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They come to my door every day asking me if I want to take my hormones. No, I don’t want to take no hormones,” she told KQED in March after 10 months of isolation. “I don’t even understand who I am anymore. I’m full of anger. Hatred, ooh, hatred is huge for me right now. I’m lost, I’m completely lost.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spending more than two years in solitary confinement means she hasn’t had access to the kind of programming that would earn her good-time credits and earlier release, like school, work and vocational training. She has never laid a finger on another prisoner or an officer, but her disciplinary write-ups have nevertheless added more than a year to her original 16-year sentence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prison officials are again recommending that Skylit be returned to a men’s prison. It requires a hearing that’s already been postponed for 17 months. She’s flip-flopped on whether to go back voluntarily. Being stuck in a box is destroying her, she said, and getting back into the general population may help her get out sooner. But with being falsely labeled a rapist, she’s terrified.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They will kill me,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If she does end up back in men’s prison, she shared in an emotional phone call, she plans to keep her gender identity secret. To prepare for the possibility, she started working out so she could fight for her life. She sold her earrings. And she cut off all her hair. She’d been growing it out for more than eight years, ever since those trans women in county jail lit a fire inside her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Making herself “bald-headed” as she said, was a painful act of surrender.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Skylit also threw away the trans-friendly children’s books she’d worked so hard to bring to life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I told myself, I’m not gonna get emotional or emo with this stuff no more,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A path forward\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>California’s law was meant to protect transgender women, but the culture at CCWF and rising anti-trans fervor all over the country have exposed them to new traumas. Implementation has been slow. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.oig.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Special-Review-No.-22-01.pdf\">report (PDF)\u003c/a> issued in late August by the current inspector general noted a “significant backlog” in transfer requests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of nearly 400 incarcerated people who’ve requested housing transfers under the law — the vast majority transgender women asking to move to women’s prison — more than 300 are still waiting for a committee to hear their case. Many live in daily fear of sexual and physical assault, said A.D. Lewis, an attorney who runs Trans Beyond Bars, a project for the Berkeley-based Prison Law Office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A transgender man, Lewis regularly communicates with trans-incarcerated people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The three dozen or so trans women who made it to CCWF — most during the first six months of implementation — are the vanguard. Many, like Skylit, have suffered. A small number have been transferred to the California Institution for Women, a lower security prison in San Bernardino County, where they say conditions are slightly better.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In a statement, CDCR said it is working to implement some of the changes \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24016207-mossgroup-sb132-cdcr-assessment-report\">recommended by outside consultants (DOC)\u003c/a> earlier this year and is committed to providing “a safe, humane, respectful and rehabilitative environment for all incarcerated people, including the transgender, non-binary and intersex community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Advocates acknowledge that the cycles of harm continue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Instead of respecting trans people’s self-determination and prioritizing their safety, as the law requires,” Lewis said, correctional staff and other incarcerated people have used it “to put a target on trans peoples’ back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shortly after prison officials received KQED’s questions for this story in September, CCWF revoked all phone privileges for Skylit and others in solitary confinement. In an email to KQED after the initial publication of this story, a CDCR official said the revocation of phone privileges was a policy change ending what had been a temporary, more liberal phone privileges policy instituted in the early days of the COVID pandemic. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Skylit’s attorney worries about the impact of the trauma on her future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These systems are so built to destroy people, and if they survive and get out, they’re not better and they’re often much worse,” Orthwein said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a letter sent in July 2023 to Newsom, nearly two-dozen advocacy and legal organizations pressing for better treatment for transgender, nonbinary and intersex prisoners \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23991938-tni-coalition-letter-to-governor-newsom-71723pdf-2\">urged clemency (DOC)\u003c/a> for those who have experienced harm in prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wiener, meanwhile, expressed deep frustration with the pace of implementation. In response to KQED’s findings, he said he was “horrified to hear how trans women are being treated in women’s prison, both by the prisons and by other inmates. The fact that they’re being treated harshly and slandered, called rapists when they’re not, it’s terrifying and we’re not going to just let this go.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Lee Romney is a longtime journalist who spent 23 years at the \u003c/em>Los Angeles Times\u003cem>. Jennifer Johnson is a former career public defender who helped launch San Francisco’s Behavioral Health Court. This reporting, supported by the Fund for Investigative Journalism and the California Health Care Foundation, is part of a forthcoming podcast they’re co-creating. Called \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.novemberinmysoul.com/\">\u003cem>November In My Soul\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>, it explores the way bias makes its way into our intertwined mental health and criminal legal systems.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story has been updated.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>When California’s top education official, Tony Thurmond, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11959851/tony-thurmond-on-culture-wars-in-california-schools\">showed up at a local school board meeting in Chino\u003c/a> this summer, he was ready for a fight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But this conservative school board was ready, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like dozens of local school board candidates across the state, their president and other members were backed by both local religious leaders and national far-right groups. Frustrated by the domination of California Democrats in Sacramento and around the state, those groups have focused not on electing state lawmakers or even local city leaders, but instead on \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-11-29/despite-statewide-losses-california-conservatives-say-school-board-wars-arent-over\">putting conservative majorities\u003c/a> on local school boards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Chino, that resulted in a ban on the pride flag and then, this summer, a policy to require teachers and school staff to alert parents if a student requests to be “identified or treated” as a gender other than the one listed on their birth certificate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some supporters argue the policy is necessary to keep parents abreast of what their kids are doing at school, while others have gone further to suggest that teachers are pushing students to change their gender identities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Thurmond, who this week \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11962489/california-education-chief-tony-thurmond-announces-run-for-governor-in-2026-race\">announced his bid for governor\u003c/a> in the 2026 race, showed up to the board meeting in San Bernardino County to voice his opposition to the notification proposal, he was berated by board president Sonja Shaw. That evening, Chino Valley Unified School District passed the transgender reporting policy, which has now been adopted by a half-dozen districts across California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, Democrats are grappling with how to respond. While party leaders like Thurmond have spoken out strongly against the transgender notification policies — and the state attorney general is suing the district over its policy — the state Legislature recently ended its annual session without any concrete action on the parental notification issue. Lawmakers have also acknowledged the challenge of crafting responses on a fast-moving issue largely playing out on the local level. When recently asked if he thinks Democrats were caught off guard by the push, Thurmond was blunt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11962595\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11962595\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/022_ElSobrante_BettyReidSoskinMiddleSchool_09222021-qut.jpg\" alt=\"California Superintendent Tony Thurmond is pictured speaking from a wooden podium. He has a business suit and black face mask on. It's daytime.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1278\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/022_ElSobrante_BettyReidSoskinMiddleSchool_09222021-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/022_ElSobrante_BettyReidSoskinMiddleSchool_09222021-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/022_ElSobrante_BettyReidSoskinMiddleSchool_09222021-qut-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/022_ElSobrante_BettyReidSoskinMiddleSchool_09222021-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/022_ElSobrante_BettyReidSoskinMiddleSchool_09222021-qut-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California Superintendent Tony Thurmond told KQED that Democrats and progressives need to come up with ways to counter what some are calling anti-trans policies throughout California that focus on LGBTQ students. Thurmond recently showed up to a school board meeting in San Bernardino County to voice his opposition to a transgender reporting policy, which has now been adopted by a half-dozen districts across California. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I think the short answer is yes,” he \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11959851/tony-thurmond-on-culture-wars-in-california-schools\">said on KQED’s Political Breakdown\u003c/a>. “This is a scripted playbook. It is a nationally driven playbook by groups that have been losing at the ballot box in congressional races, and [for] the White House and in state legislatures. And they’ve made a decision that they’re going to wage war at the local level, at the school district level and the school board. And so, Democrats and progressives and others need to come back with ways to counter this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But countering what backers frame not as anti-trans policies, but simply “parental rights” is proving to be a more politically fraught conversation for Democrats than other conservative culture crusades, such as banning books or restricting abortion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond\"]‘It is a nationally driven playbook by groups that have been losing at the ballot box. … They’re going to wage war at the local level, at the school district level and the school board. And so, Democrats and progressives and others need to come back with ways to counter this.’[/pullquote]And Gov. Gavin Newsom — who normally relishes his role publicly baiting Republicans for issues he sees as politically expedient for the left — has acknowledged the political minefield that issues involving transgender students present for Democrats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While broadly defending transgender kids, the governor has also, at times, acknowledged the nuance of an issue that intersects with not one, but two, thorny political questions: One, the public’s general uneasiness with transgender issues, which were not even part of the broader political debate a few years ago. And two, the public support for including parents in conversations about their kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Late last week, Newsom signed a bill requiring all public schools to have at least one gender-neutral bathroom, but vetoed legislation requiring courts to consider a parent’s affirmation of their child’s gender identity in custody and visitation decisions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a recent onstage interview with Politico, Newsom mocked Republican leaders for focusing on transgender kids over issues like academics and for obsessively talking about a group that makes up just a tiny fraction of the population. But he also said, that after talking to parents, he gets why they’re angry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I totally understand why you were out there. If I were told those things, I would’ve been out there too,” he said. “People are being ginned up. And so, I’m not here to criticize them, but there’s a lot of misunderstanding, misrepresentation out there because people are weaponizing these grievances against vulnerable communities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11962596\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11962596\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/003_SanFrancisco_NewsomRecallEvent_09142021-qut.jpg\" alt=\"California Gov. Gavin Newsom is pictured speaking from a podium inside a conference room.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/003_SanFrancisco_NewsomRecallEvent_09142021-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/003_SanFrancisco_NewsomRecallEvent_09142021-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/003_SanFrancisco_NewsomRecallEvent_09142021-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/003_SanFrancisco_NewsomRecallEvent_09142021-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/003_SanFrancisco_NewsomRecallEvent_09142021-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gov. Newsom signed Senate Bill 760 on Saturday, Sept. 23, that requires all public schools to have at least 1 gender-neutral bathroom. Newsom later vetoed legislation requiring courts to consider a parent’s affirmation of their child’s gender identity in custody and visitation decisions. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At the state Capitol, Democrats lambasted the transgender reporting policies as an affront to student privacy that will potentially endanger kids and thrust teachers into the middle of delicate family conversations. A direct legislative response, however, was constrained by both the Capitol calendar and the power local governments have over decision-making in California schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the Temecula Valley Unified School District in Riverside County voted earlier this year to ban curriculum materials that referenced gay rights leader Harvey Milk, the state Legislature fired back, passing a bill to prevent book banning in the state. Newsom signed that bill Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Gov. Gavin Newsom\"]‘People are being ginned up. And so, I’m not here to criticize them, but there’s a lot of misunderstanding, misrepresentation out there because people are weaponizing these grievances against vulnerable communities.’[/pullquote]But that legislation was the product of months of compromise — which led to the removal of language placing tougher restrictions on districts, in the face of opposition from the group representing California school boards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the transgender reporting policies began to proliferate this summer, Assemblymember Alex Lee (D-San José) said his colleagues in the Legislative LGBTQ caucus had conversations with fellow Democrats and the Newsom administration about a legislative response, but decided that more time was needed to craft a bill that could pass legal muster.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re really playing kind of a whack-a-mole approach to it — when they come up with new ways to hurt LGBTQ families and kids, we have to make sure we are approaching it with much more sensitivity and much more nuance,” Lee said. “So, there is more time and delay when we’re coming up with [a] new policy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lee vowed “quick, decisive action” on the issue when the Legislature reconvenes in January, though he acknowledged a political response on the local level will be critical as LGBTQ rights debates continue to serve as flashpoints in districts up and down the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label='More on LGBTQ Students’ Rights' tag='lgbtq-students']“I really hope that folks will take that to heart and really get involved in local school districts,” Lee added. “Local control does matter, so it really matters who actually runs for school board, who’s involved in that process.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Chino, the board was swung toward a conservative majority in last year’s election \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11922860/california-republicans-are-betting-big-on-local-school-board-races\">through the organizing work of the California Republican Party\u003c/a> and Real Impact, a political group run by local pastor Jack Hibbs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chino’s transgender reporting policy followed a ban on the display of certain flags, including the LGBTQ pride flag. The moves came after a series of tense meetings marked by personal attacks and heightened rhetoric. On both issues, the lone dissenting vote on the five-member board was cast by Donald Bridge, the former president of the local teachers union.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Opponents of the policies pushed by the board majority worry this year’s raucous debates could stymie efforts to reverse the political balance of the board in the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When potential candidates look at what he’s going through, are they going to jump in? I wouldn’t,” said Brenda Walker, current president of the Associated Chino Teachers union. “So, yes, it’s going to be difficult to find candidates.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Walker said her members have already noticed a chilling effect on both students and teachers compared to last school year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For now, the concerns are moot: A superior court judge in San Bernardino County has put Chino’s transgender notification policy on hold after California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit arguing the policy violates the privacy rights of students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But supporters of similar policies are hoping to expand their campaign beyond this initial series of local skirmishes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nearly two dozen conservative and religious groups, including Real Impact, have formed the Coalition for Parental Rights, to encourage more California school districts to adopt transgender reporting policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some members of that group are also attempting to qualify three statewide initiatives for the November ballot: a transgender notification law, a ban on transgender students from competing on sports teams consistent with their gender identity, and a ban on puberty blockers and sexual reassignment surgery for minors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Erin Friday, who heads the group Our Duty, and who is sponsoring the notification ballot measure, said she’s turning to California voters after a similar policy was blocked by the state Legislature.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re ignoring [us] and saying that we’re right-wing bigots,” Friday said. “And that’s just not true. We’re parents who are safeguarding the bodily integrity of our children.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Rob Stutzman, GOP consultant\"]‘If voters are presented with a specific question about, you know, ‘Should parents be notified if their minor child identifies as transgender?’ I think that’s likely to pass.’[/pullquote]If the transgender reporting law qualifies for the ballot, progressives would be wise to define the effort as an attack on LGBTQ children, said GOP consultant Rob Stutzman.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To the extent that it starts to become a backlash to LGBTQ citizens, that’s not going to fly in California,” Stutzman said. “But if voters are presented with a specific question about, you know, ‘Should parents be notified if their minor child identifies as transgender?’ I think that’s likely to pass. Now, the people running the campaign could be distasteful enough that it clouds out the actual policy question before them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those who have been involved in education leadership say that while the details of the current dustup are new, the broad contours are not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11936552 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/01/122622-Eli-Erlick-TH-01-CM-1020x680.jpg']Camille Maben served on the Rocklin School Board for nearly 30 years, starting in the early 1990s. She recalled a debate 20 years ago over sex education curriculum at the board that also made national headlines. The conservative majority at the time, she said, voted to institute an “abstinence only” curriculum — and were promptly voted out of power in the next election. The new board repealed the abstinence-only class in lieu of a more “well-rounded” approach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What it did really was kind of reset our community’s look at education … and work to have a board that was balanced, that put students first always,” she said. “When an issue takes off and becomes part of a bigger conversation or agenda … it’s easy to lose sight of … you’re locally elected to serve the people within your community and do your best for those people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maben said the current debate seems strikingly similar. Rocklin’s new conservative majority recently passed a policy nearly identical to the Chino Hills one, also requiring school staff to notify parents of a change to a kid’s gender status. Teachers and others are already planning to sue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mabel said in any community, school board members would do well to listen to the entire community — not just their allies. If they don’t, she said, each community has recourse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“\u003c/em>The process we have in place, not only locally, but as a country, is if you really don’t like it, no matter what side you’re on, then when it comes time for election, you change that. And you elect someone else. That’s the process we have. That’s how democracy works,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "With some school districts passing anti-LGBTQ policies and conservative groups threatening ballot measures, KQED looks at how Democrats are responding and the political dilemma it presents.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When California’s top education official, Tony Thurmond, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11959851/tony-thurmond-on-culture-wars-in-california-schools\">showed up at a local school board meeting in Chino\u003c/a> this summer, he was ready for a fight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But this conservative school board was ready, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like dozens of local school board candidates across the state, their president and other members were backed by both local religious leaders and national far-right groups. Frustrated by the domination of California Democrats in Sacramento and around the state, those groups have focused not on electing state lawmakers or even local city leaders, but instead on \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-11-29/despite-statewide-losses-california-conservatives-say-school-board-wars-arent-over\">putting conservative majorities\u003c/a> on local school boards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Chino, that resulted in a ban on the pride flag and then, this summer, a policy to require teachers and school staff to alert parents if a student requests to be “identified or treated” as a gender other than the one listed on their birth certificate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some supporters argue the policy is necessary to keep parents abreast of what their kids are doing at school, while others have gone further to suggest that teachers are pushing students to change their gender identities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Thurmond, who this week \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11962489/california-education-chief-tony-thurmond-announces-run-for-governor-in-2026-race\">announced his bid for governor\u003c/a> in the 2026 race, showed up to the board meeting in San Bernardino County to voice his opposition to the notification proposal, he was berated by board president Sonja Shaw. That evening, Chino Valley Unified School District passed the transgender reporting policy, which has now been adopted by a half-dozen districts across California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, Democrats are grappling with how to respond. While party leaders like Thurmond have spoken out strongly against the transgender notification policies — and the state attorney general is suing the district over its policy — the state Legislature recently ended its annual session without any concrete action on the parental notification issue. Lawmakers have also acknowledged the challenge of crafting responses on a fast-moving issue largely playing out on the local level. When recently asked if he thinks Democrats were caught off guard by the push, Thurmond was blunt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11962595\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11962595\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/022_ElSobrante_BettyReidSoskinMiddleSchool_09222021-qut.jpg\" alt=\"California Superintendent Tony Thurmond is pictured speaking from a wooden podium. He has a business suit and black face mask on. It's daytime.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1278\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/022_ElSobrante_BettyReidSoskinMiddleSchool_09222021-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/022_ElSobrante_BettyReidSoskinMiddleSchool_09222021-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/022_ElSobrante_BettyReidSoskinMiddleSchool_09222021-qut-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/022_ElSobrante_BettyReidSoskinMiddleSchool_09222021-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/022_ElSobrante_BettyReidSoskinMiddleSchool_09222021-qut-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California Superintendent Tony Thurmond told KQED that Democrats and progressives need to come up with ways to counter what some are calling anti-trans policies throughout California that focus on LGBTQ students. Thurmond recently showed up to a school board meeting in San Bernardino County to voice his opposition to a transgender reporting policy, which has now been adopted by a half-dozen districts across California. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I think the short answer is yes,” he \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11959851/tony-thurmond-on-culture-wars-in-california-schools\">said on KQED’s Political Breakdown\u003c/a>. “This is a scripted playbook. It is a nationally driven playbook by groups that have been losing at the ballot box in congressional races, and [for] the White House and in state legislatures. And they’ve made a decision that they’re going to wage war at the local level, at the school district level and the school board. And so, Democrats and progressives and others need to come back with ways to counter this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But countering what backers frame not as anti-trans policies, but simply “parental rights” is proving to be a more politically fraught conversation for Democrats than other conservative culture crusades, such as banning books or restricting abortion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘It is a nationally driven playbook by groups that have been losing at the ballot box. … They’re going to wage war at the local level, at the school district level and the school board. And so, Democrats and progressives and others need to come back with ways to counter this.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>And Gov. Gavin Newsom — who normally relishes his role publicly baiting Republicans for issues he sees as politically expedient for the left — has acknowledged the political minefield that issues involving transgender students present for Democrats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While broadly defending transgender kids, the governor has also, at times, acknowledged the nuance of an issue that intersects with not one, but two, thorny political questions: One, the public’s general uneasiness with transgender issues, which were not even part of the broader political debate a few years ago. And two, the public support for including parents in conversations about their kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Late last week, Newsom signed a bill requiring all public schools to have at least one gender-neutral bathroom, but vetoed legislation requiring courts to consider a parent’s affirmation of their child’s gender identity in custody and visitation decisions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a recent onstage interview with Politico, Newsom mocked Republican leaders for focusing on transgender kids over issues like academics and for obsessively talking about a group that makes up just a tiny fraction of the population. But he also said, that after talking to parents, he gets why they’re angry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I totally understand why you were out there. If I were told those things, I would’ve been out there too,” he said. “People are being ginned up. And so, I’m not here to criticize them, but there’s a lot of misunderstanding, misrepresentation out there because people are weaponizing these grievances against vulnerable communities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11962596\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11962596\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/003_SanFrancisco_NewsomRecallEvent_09142021-qut.jpg\" alt=\"California Gov. Gavin Newsom is pictured speaking from a podium inside a conference room.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/003_SanFrancisco_NewsomRecallEvent_09142021-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/003_SanFrancisco_NewsomRecallEvent_09142021-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/003_SanFrancisco_NewsomRecallEvent_09142021-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/003_SanFrancisco_NewsomRecallEvent_09142021-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/003_SanFrancisco_NewsomRecallEvent_09142021-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gov. Newsom signed Senate Bill 760 on Saturday, Sept. 23, that requires all public schools to have at least 1 gender-neutral bathroom. Newsom later vetoed legislation requiring courts to consider a parent’s affirmation of their child’s gender identity in custody and visitation decisions. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At the state Capitol, Democrats lambasted the transgender reporting policies as an affront to student privacy that will potentially endanger kids and thrust teachers into the middle of delicate family conversations. A direct legislative response, however, was constrained by both the Capitol calendar and the power local governments have over decision-making in California schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the Temecula Valley Unified School District in Riverside County voted earlier this year to ban curriculum materials that referenced gay rights leader Harvey Milk, the state Legislature fired back, passing a bill to prevent book banning in the state. Newsom signed that bill Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>But that legislation was the product of months of compromise — which led to the removal of language placing tougher restrictions on districts, in the face of opposition from the group representing California school boards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the transgender reporting policies began to proliferate this summer, Assemblymember Alex Lee (D-San José) said his colleagues in the Legislative LGBTQ caucus had conversations with fellow Democrats and the Newsom administration about a legislative response, but decided that more time was needed to craft a bill that could pass legal muster.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re really playing kind of a whack-a-mole approach to it — when they come up with new ways to hurt LGBTQ families and kids, we have to make sure we are approaching it with much more sensitivity and much more nuance,” Lee said. “So, there is more time and delay when we’re coming up with [a] new policy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lee vowed “quick, decisive action” on the issue when the Legislature reconvenes in January, though he acknowledged a political response on the local level will be critical as LGBTQ rights debates continue to serve as flashpoints in districts up and down the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“I really hope that folks will take that to heart and really get involved in local school districts,” Lee added. “Local control does matter, so it really matters who actually runs for school board, who’s involved in that process.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Chino, the board was swung toward a conservative majority in last year’s election \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11922860/california-republicans-are-betting-big-on-local-school-board-races\">through the organizing work of the California Republican Party\u003c/a> and Real Impact, a political group run by local pastor Jack Hibbs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chino’s transgender reporting policy followed a ban on the display of certain flags, including the LGBTQ pride flag. The moves came after a series of tense meetings marked by personal attacks and heightened rhetoric. On both issues, the lone dissenting vote on the five-member board was cast by Donald Bridge, the former president of the local teachers union.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Opponents of the policies pushed by the board majority worry this year’s raucous debates could stymie efforts to reverse the political balance of the board in the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When potential candidates look at what he’s going through, are they going to jump in? I wouldn’t,” said Brenda Walker, current president of the Associated Chino Teachers union. “So, yes, it’s going to be difficult to find candidates.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Walker said her members have already noticed a chilling effect on both students and teachers compared to last school year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For now, the concerns are moot: A superior court judge in San Bernardino County has put Chino’s transgender notification policy on hold after California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit arguing the policy violates the privacy rights of students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But supporters of similar policies are hoping to expand their campaign beyond this initial series of local skirmishes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nearly two dozen conservative and religious groups, including Real Impact, have formed the Coalition for Parental Rights, to encourage more California school districts to adopt transgender reporting policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some members of that group are also attempting to qualify three statewide initiatives for the November ballot: a transgender notification law, a ban on transgender students from competing on sports teams consistent with their gender identity, and a ban on puberty blockers and sexual reassignment surgery for minors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Erin Friday, who heads the group Our Duty, and who is sponsoring the notification ballot measure, said she’s turning to California voters after a similar policy was blocked by the state Legislature.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re ignoring [us] and saying that we’re right-wing bigots,” Friday said. “And that’s just not true. We’re parents who are safeguarding the bodily integrity of our children.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘If voters are presented with a specific question about, you know, ‘Should parents be notified if their minor child identifies as transgender?’ I think that’s likely to pass.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>If the transgender reporting law qualifies for the ballot, progressives would be wise to define the effort as an attack on LGBTQ children, said GOP consultant Rob Stutzman.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To the extent that it starts to become a backlash to LGBTQ citizens, that’s not going to fly in California,” Stutzman said. “But if voters are presented with a specific question about, you know, ‘Should parents be notified if their minor child identifies as transgender?’ I think that’s likely to pass. Now, the people running the campaign could be distasteful enough that it clouds out the actual policy question before them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those who have been involved in education leadership say that while the details of the current dustup are new, the broad contours are not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Camille Maben served on the Rocklin School Board for nearly 30 years, starting in the early 1990s. She recalled a debate 20 years ago over sex education curriculum at the board that also made national headlines. The conservative majority at the time, she said, voted to institute an “abstinence only” curriculum — and were promptly voted out of power in the next election. The new board repealed the abstinence-only class in lieu of a more “well-rounded” approach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What it did really was kind of reset our community’s look at education … and work to have a board that was balanced, that put students first always,” she said. “When an issue takes off and becomes part of a bigger conversation or agenda … it’s easy to lose sight of … you’re locally elected to serve the people within your community and do your best for those people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maben said the current debate seems strikingly similar. Rocklin’s new conservative majority recently passed a policy nearly identical to the Chino Hills one, also requiring school staff to notify parents of a change to a kid’s gender status. Teachers and others are already planning to sue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mabel said in any community, school board members would do well to listen to the entire community — not just their allies. If they don’t, she said, each community has recourse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“\u003c/em>The process we have in place, not only locally, but as a country, is if you really don’t like it, no matter what side you’re on, then when it comes time for election, you change that. And you elect someone else. That’s the process we have. That’s how democracy works,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Judge Halts Southern California School District's Transgender Outing Policy",
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"content": "\u003cp>A judge on Wednesday halted a Southern California school district from requiring parents to be notified if their children change their gender identification or pronouns at school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge Thomas S. Garza ruled after California Attorney General Rob Bonta \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11959323/california-sues-southern-california-school-district-over-transgender-notification-policy\">sued the Chino Valley Unified School District\u003c/a> for adopting a policy requiring schools to tell parents when their children change their pronouns or use a bathroom of a gender other than the one listed on their official paperwork.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Today’s decision by the San Bernardino Superior Court rightfully upholds the state rights of our LGBTQ+ students and protects kids from harm by immediately halting the board’s forced outing policy,” Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Garza’s order halts the district’s policy while Bonta’s lawsuit continues. During a court hearing Wednesday, Garza raised questions about why the policy came up in the first place and how it protected students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Full details of the order were not immediately available. The next court hearing on the issue was scheduled for Oct. 13.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sonja Shaw, president of the Chino Valley Unified Board of Education, said she was disappointed by the ruling but hopes the case will bring attention to the issue. She said she and other parents feel state officials are limiting their ability to be involved in their children’s education on issues ranging from gender identification to curriculum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t understand why they are so gung ho on this issue, but everything else we have to inform the parents about,” Shaw said. “There is obviously an issue and parents are concerned.”[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"California Attorney General Rob Bonta\"]‘Today’s decision by the San Bernardino Superior Court rightfully upholds the state rights of our LGBTQ+ students and protects kids from harm by immediately halting the board’s forced outing policy.’[/pullquote]Chino Valley Unified, which serves 27,000 students about 35 miles east of Los Angeles, is one of several that requires parents to be informed if their children are transgender. The district passed the policy this summer, saying it supported the rights of parents to be involved in their children’s care and education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two nearby districts have done the same, while at least two others in the state are bringing up similar measures this week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bonta argues the policy will forcibly out transgender students in violation of their privacy rights and threaten their well-being. Chino Valley contends the policy seeks to involve parents so they can provide the support their children need.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During Wednesday’s hearing, Delbert Tran, a deputy attorney general for California, said students were already being affected by the policy and feared being themselves at school, and that risking the safety of one transgender student would be too many. “This policy needs to be addressed now,” Tran told the court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anthony De Marco, an attorney for Chino Valley Unified, argued the policy would not affect students who were holding private conversations with teachers, but would involve parents in situations where students were making more public decisions such as changing their name or pronouns or using bathrooms or joining sports teams of a gender other than the one on their official paperwork. “We need those parents to be part of a successful transition,” De Marco said.[aside label='More on California Schools' tag='california-schools']He also questioned whether elementary school students as young as 4 and 5 years old should be treated the same as high school teens involved in confidential counseling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The national conversation over transgender rights has intensified as other states have sought to \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/politics-health-texas-state-government-tennessee-minnesota-878a9217fa434f3ecd83738a71e40572\">impose bans on gender-affirming care\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/congress-transgender-women-sports-ban-athletes-1c58c20cac2b191e323e4376d7949a2d\">bar transgender athletes\u003c/a> from girls’ and women’s sports, and require schools to “out” transgender and nonbinary students to their parents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, parental notification policies cropped up after Republican state lawmaker Bill Essayli proposed a statewide bill on the issue, but it never received a hearing in Sacramento. He then worked with school board members and the California Family Council to draft the policy that was voted on in Chino Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Essayli said he hopes other school districts evaluating similar proposals will not be discouraged by the judge’s decision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of the conversations about transgender students and LGBTQ+ curriculum are taking place in communities that elected more conservative school board members after the pandemic drove many parents who were angry about closures to political action. The districts are increasingly at odds with Gov. Gavin Newsom and fellow Democrats who dominate the state’s political leadership.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A judge on Wednesday halted a Southern California school district from requiring parents to be notified if their children change their gender identification or pronouns at school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge Thomas S. Garza ruled after California Attorney General Rob Bonta \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11959323/california-sues-southern-california-school-district-over-transgender-notification-policy\">sued the Chino Valley Unified School District\u003c/a> for adopting a policy requiring schools to tell parents when their children change their pronouns or use a bathroom of a gender other than the one listed on their official paperwork.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Today’s decision by the San Bernardino Superior Court rightfully upholds the state rights of our LGBTQ+ students and protects kids from harm by immediately halting the board’s forced outing policy,” Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Garza’s order halts the district’s policy while Bonta’s lawsuit continues. During a court hearing Wednesday, Garza raised questions about why the policy came up in the first place and how it protected students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Full details of the order were not immediately available. The next court hearing on the issue was scheduled for Oct. 13.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sonja Shaw, president of the Chino Valley Unified Board of Education, said she was disappointed by the ruling but hopes the case will bring attention to the issue. She said she and other parents feel state officials are limiting their ability to be involved in their children’s education on issues ranging from gender identification to curriculum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t understand why they are so gung ho on this issue, but everything else we have to inform the parents about,” Shaw said. “There is obviously an issue and parents are concerned.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘Today’s decision by the San Bernardino Superior Court rightfully upholds the state rights of our LGBTQ+ students and protects kids from harm by immediately halting the board’s forced outing policy.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Chino Valley Unified, which serves 27,000 students about 35 miles east of Los Angeles, is one of several that requires parents to be informed if their children are transgender. The district passed the policy this summer, saying it supported the rights of parents to be involved in their children’s care and education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two nearby districts have done the same, while at least two others in the state are bringing up similar measures this week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bonta argues the policy will forcibly out transgender students in violation of their privacy rights and threaten their well-being. Chino Valley contends the policy seeks to involve parents so they can provide the support their children need.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During Wednesday’s hearing, Delbert Tran, a deputy attorney general for California, said students were already being affected by the policy and feared being themselves at school, and that risking the safety of one transgender student would be too many. “This policy needs to be addressed now,” Tran told the court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anthony De Marco, an attorney for Chino Valley Unified, argued the policy would not affect students who were holding private conversations with teachers, but would involve parents in situations where students were making more public decisions such as changing their name or pronouns or using bathrooms or joining sports teams of a gender other than the one on their official paperwork. “We need those parents to be part of a successful transition,” De Marco said.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>He also questioned whether elementary school students as young as 4 and 5 years old should be treated the same as high school teens involved in confidential counseling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The national conversation over transgender rights has intensified as other states have sought to \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/politics-health-texas-state-government-tennessee-minnesota-878a9217fa434f3ecd83738a71e40572\">impose bans on gender-affirming care\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/congress-transgender-women-sports-ban-athletes-1c58c20cac2b191e323e4376d7949a2d\">bar transgender athletes\u003c/a> from girls’ and women’s sports, and require schools to “out” transgender and nonbinary students to their parents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, parental notification policies cropped up after Republican state lawmaker Bill Essayli proposed a statewide bill on the issue, but it never received a hearing in Sacramento. He then worked with school board members and the California Family Council to draft the policy that was voted on in Chino Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Essayli said he hopes other school districts evaluating similar proposals will not be discouraged by the judge’s decision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of the conversations about transgender students and LGBTQ+ curriculum are taking place in communities that elected more conservative school board members after the pandemic drove many parents who were angry about closures to political action. The districts are increasingly at odds with Gov. Gavin Newsom and fellow Democrats who dominate the state’s political leadership.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>A new political campaign is attempting to disrupt and even dismantle key protections for transgender youth in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://protectkidsca.com/\">Protect Kids California\u003c/a>, a recently formed group of mostly conservative state lawmakers and activists, filed paperwork this week to try to add three statewide initiatives to the November 2024 ballot that would ask voters to weigh in on hot-button issues like access to gender-affirming health care for transgender youth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The measures are aimed at “returning to traditional social norms,” said Jonathan Zachreson, a Roseville City School District board member and president of Students First California, a separate group that’s bankrolling the new effort.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The United States is going in the wrong direction,” added Zachreson, whose group drew attention for protesting pandemic lockdowns and vaccine mandates.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Jorge Reyes Salinas, communications director, Equality California\"]‘The actions of these extremists and elected officials are dangerous and they have consequences — with anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes increasing significantly in California over the past couple of years.’[/pullquote]All three ballot measure submissions will now be reviewed by the state Attorney General’s Office, which has until late October of this year to prepare a title and summary. At that point, the backers of the measures can begin circulating petitions for signatures. Each measure \u003ca href=\"https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/ballot-measures/pdf/statewide-initiative-guide.pdf\">must collect nearly 550,000 signatures (PDF)\u003c/a> to qualify for the 2024 ballot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Transgender advocates say the effort is putting LGBTQ+ youth directly in harm’s way. According to a\u003ca href=\"https://www.thetrevorproject.org/survey-2023/\"> 2023 national survey\u003c/a> from The Trevor Project, a nonprofit suicide-prevention group, almost a third of LGBTQ+ youth said they suffered from mental health issues due to discriminatory policies and legislation. The survey also found that 41% of LGBTQ+ youth have seriously considered committing suicide within the last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The actions of these extremists and elected officials are dangerous and they have consequences — with anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes increasing significantly in California over the past couple of years,” said Jorge Reyes Salinas, a spokesperson for LGTBQ+ advocacy group Equality California, and has pledged to organize to quash these efforts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first initiative would require that collegiate sports teams and facilities be segregated by biological sex. Zachreson says the measure is intended to prevent transgender girls from competing in female competitions and, in his words, “unfairly winning.” He points to the instance of \u003ca href=\"https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12120895/Trans-skier-took-spot-California-womens-race-competitors-dad-hits-result.html\">a transgender skier who won\u003c/a> a California-Nevada high school race earlier this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s important that we bring integrity back to women’s sports and we protect their spaces,” Zachreson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The second initiative would require schools to notify parents if a child requests that a teacher or peer identify them as a gender different from the one assigned at birth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That issue recently garnered\u003ca href=\"https://www.ocregister.com/2023/07/20/state-schools-chief-tony-thurmond-booted-from-chino-valley-school-board-meeting/\"> headlines when Chino Valley Unified School District enacted a similar policy\u003c/a>, prompting the California Attorney General’s office to \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-announces-lawsuit-challenging-chino-valley-unified-school?utm_source=CalMatters+Newsletters&utm_campaign=7e162ac5aa-WHATMATTERS&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_faa7be558d-7e162ac5aa-151883311&mc_cid=7e162ac5aa&mc_eid=b7b597a2a8\">sue the district\u003c/a>, arguing such a policy is a civil rights violation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Let’s call this policy what it is: It is a forced outing policy,” Bonta said at a press conference earlier this week, announcing the suit. “It tramples on students’ rights. It presents students with a terrible choice: Either walk back your rights to gender identity and gender expression, to be yourself, to be who you are. Or, face the risk of serious harm.”[aside postID=\"news_11959323,news_11959451,news_11936552\" label=\"Related Posts\"]The third initiative submitted by the group would prevent doctors from providing gender-affirming care like puberty blockers to people under 18.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These kids are fast-tracked to removing body parts and put on cross-sex hormones,” said Erin Friday, a backer of the measure and self-proclaimed Democrat, who says her daughter considered transitioning when she was 13, but was ultimately dissuaded from doing so.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Opponents point to studies showing that access to \u003ca href=\"https://www.columbiapsychiatry.org/news/gender-affirming-care-saves-lives#:~:text=Research%20demonstrates%20that%20gender%2Daffirming,and%20nonbinary%20children%20and%20adolescents.\">puberty blockers and hormone therapies is crucial in reducing the high rate of suicides among transgender youth\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These extremists want the state of California to override parents, override the doctors, override the kids whose life is at issue. And say, ‘You’re just not allowed to get that health care,’” said state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), a vehement opponent of the campaign. “This is an absolute overreach and it is very dangerous.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last September, Wiener sponsored,\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB107\"> SB 107\u003c/a>, a bill to ensure that transgender youth and their families from outside of California can come to the state to safely access hormones or puberty blockers without fear of prosecution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A new political campaign is attempting to disrupt and even dismantle key protections for transgender youth in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://protectkidsca.com/\">Protect Kids California\u003c/a>, a recently formed group of mostly conservative state lawmakers and activists, filed paperwork this week to try to add three statewide initiatives to the November 2024 ballot that would ask voters to weigh in on hot-button issues like access to gender-affirming health care for transgender youth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The measures are aimed at “returning to traditional social norms,” said Jonathan Zachreson, a Roseville City School District board member and president of Students First California, a separate group that’s bankrolling the new effort.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The United States is going in the wrong direction,” added Zachreson, whose group drew attention for protesting pandemic lockdowns and vaccine mandates.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>All three ballot measure submissions will now be reviewed by the state Attorney General’s Office, which has until late October of this year to prepare a title and summary. At that point, the backers of the measures can begin circulating petitions for signatures. Each measure \u003ca href=\"https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/ballot-measures/pdf/statewide-initiative-guide.pdf\">must collect nearly 550,000 signatures (PDF)\u003c/a> to qualify for the 2024 ballot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Transgender advocates say the effort is putting LGBTQ+ youth directly in harm’s way. According to a\u003ca href=\"https://www.thetrevorproject.org/survey-2023/\"> 2023 national survey\u003c/a> from The Trevor Project, a nonprofit suicide-prevention group, almost a third of LGBTQ+ youth said they suffered from mental health issues due to discriminatory policies and legislation. The survey also found that 41% of LGBTQ+ youth have seriously considered committing suicide within the last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The actions of these extremists and elected officials are dangerous and they have consequences — with anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes increasing significantly in California over the past couple of years,” said Jorge Reyes Salinas, a spokesperson for LGTBQ+ advocacy group Equality California, and has pledged to organize to quash these efforts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first initiative would require that collegiate sports teams and facilities be segregated by biological sex. Zachreson says the measure is intended to prevent transgender girls from competing in female competitions and, in his words, “unfairly winning.” He points to the instance of \u003ca href=\"https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12120895/Trans-skier-took-spot-California-womens-race-competitors-dad-hits-result.html\">a transgender skier who won\u003c/a> a California-Nevada high school race earlier this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s important that we bring integrity back to women’s sports and we protect their spaces,” Zachreson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The second initiative would require schools to notify parents if a child requests that a teacher or peer identify them as a gender different from the one assigned at birth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That issue recently garnered\u003ca href=\"https://www.ocregister.com/2023/07/20/state-schools-chief-tony-thurmond-booted-from-chino-valley-school-board-meeting/\"> headlines when Chino Valley Unified School District enacted a similar policy\u003c/a>, prompting the California Attorney General’s office to \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-announces-lawsuit-challenging-chino-valley-unified-school?utm_source=CalMatters+Newsletters&utm_campaign=7e162ac5aa-WHATMATTERS&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_faa7be558d-7e162ac5aa-151883311&mc_cid=7e162ac5aa&mc_eid=b7b597a2a8\">sue the district\u003c/a>, arguing such a policy is a civil rights violation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Let’s call this policy what it is: It is a forced outing policy,” Bonta said at a press conference earlier this week, announcing the suit. “It tramples on students’ rights. It presents students with a terrible choice: Either walk back your rights to gender identity and gender expression, to be yourself, to be who you are. Or, face the risk of serious harm.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The third initiative submitted by the group would prevent doctors from providing gender-affirming care like puberty blockers to people under 18.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These kids are fast-tracked to removing body parts and put on cross-sex hormones,” said Erin Friday, a backer of the measure and self-proclaimed Democrat, who says her daughter considered transitioning when she was 13, but was ultimately dissuaded from doing so.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Opponents point to studies showing that access to \u003ca href=\"https://www.columbiapsychiatry.org/news/gender-affirming-care-saves-lives#:~:text=Research%20demonstrates%20that%20gender%2Daffirming,and%20nonbinary%20children%20and%20adolescents.\">puberty blockers and hormone therapies is crucial in reducing the high rate of suicides among transgender youth\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These extremists want the state of California to override parents, override the doctors, override the kids whose life is at issue. And say, ‘You’re just not allowed to get that health care,’” said state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), a vehement opponent of the campaign. “This is an absolute overreach and it is very dangerous.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last September, Wiener sponsored,\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB107\"> SB 107\u003c/a>, a bill to ensure that transgender youth and their families from outside of California can come to the state to safely access hormones or puberty blockers without fear of prosecution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "California Officials Spar With Local School Boards Over LGBTQ Rights",
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"content": "\u003cp>California’s culture wars escalated Monday as the state sued a school district over its transgender student policy, and a parents’ group took the first step toward placing a trio of initiatives on next year’s ballot that would restrict protections for transgender youth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The moves follow highly publicized \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/k-12-education/2023/07/school-boards/\">incidents\u003c/a> last month in which state leaders attempted to rein in school boards they said had run afoul of civil rights laws. Under California’s local control system, school boards have wide latitude to enact their own policies — a freedom that’s now being tested as a handful of districts move to expand parental rights by limiting the rights of LGBTQ students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Monday morning, Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press-docs/082723.Complaint.pdf\">complaint (PDF)\u003c/a> against the Chino Valley Unified School District in San Bernardino County over its new \u003ca href=\"https://www.chino.k12.ca.us/cms/lib/CA01902308/Centricity/domain/693/series_5000/BP%205020.1.pdf\">policy (PDF)\u003c/a> requiring parental notification when students change their gender identity at school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The complaint, filed in San Bernardino County Superior Court, seeks a temporary restraining order against enforcement of the policy, which Bonta referred to as the “forced outing” of transgender and gender nonconforming students, while the court determines whether it violates state law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It presents students with a terrible choice,” the attorney general said at a news conference in Los Angeles. “Either walk back your rights to gender identity and gender expression, to be yourself, to be who you are, or face the risk of serious harm. Mental harm, emotional harm, physical harm.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The policy requires schools to notify parents when students request to be identified by a name or pronoun, or use facilities or participate in a program that does not align with the sex on their official records. Parents would be notified even if they do not have the student’s permission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bonta said this could potentially put students with parents hostile to their gender expression in danger. He argued that the policy violates California’s constitutional right to privacy, as well as the state’s equal protection clause and state laws that guarantee students the equal right to an education regardless of their gender identity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Citing comments from school board members who said transgender students were suffering from a mental illness and a perversion, Bonta said the policy was plainly discriminatory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In its function, in its text and in its context, this policy is destructive, it’s discriminatory and it is downright dangerous,” Bonta said. “It has no place in California, which is why we have moved in court to strike it down.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Desperate attempt to stop us’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Sonja Shaw, Chino Valley’s school board president, was undaunted by the lawsuit, and said the district’s policy is legally sound.[pullquote size='medium' align='right' citation=\"Sonja Shaw, president, Chino Valley Unified School Board of Education\"]‘This is a desperate attempt to stop us, and quite honestly, it’s embarrassing that Bonta is wasting so much time and money on this.’[/pullquote]“This is a desperate attempt to stop us, and quite honestly, it’s embarrassing that Bonta is wasting so much time and money on this,” Shaw said Monday. “Every time he does something like this, it’s a gift, because it exposes who these people really are — extremists who want to come between students and their parents.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a boisterous meeting July 20, the Chino Valley Unified board voted 4–1 to pass the policy requiring school staff to notify parents within three days of discovering that a child has changed their gender identity. That could include changing their name or pronouns, joining a single-sex team or club or using bathrooms or locker rooms that don’t align with their gender at birth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond attended the meeting to protest the policy, but police escorted him out when he spoke longer than his allotted time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Andi Johnston, Chino Valley Unified communications director, said that the district’s policy does actually include protections for students who might be at risk for abuse from parents. If a student believes they are in danger or may be abused, injured or neglected due to their parents knowing of their preferred gender identity, staff must notify police or child protective services and won’t immediately notify parents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11959460\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1568px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11959460\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/08282023-Protect-Kids-California-Presser-RL-CM-01.jpg\" alt=\"A state representative speaks behind a podium. \" width=\"1568\" height=\"1045\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/08282023-Protect-Kids-California-Presser-RL-CM-01.jpg 1568w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/08282023-Protect-Kids-California-Presser-RL-CM-01-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/08282023-Protect-Kids-California-Presser-RL-CM-01-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/08282023-Protect-Kids-California-Presser-RL-CM-01-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/08282023-Protect-Kids-California-Presser-RL-CM-01-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1568px) 100vw, 1568px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Assemblymember Bill Essayli, a Corona Republican, speaks during a press conference at the state Capitol in Sacramento on Aug. 28, 2023. \u003ccite>(Rahul Lal/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Chino Valley Unified was among the state’s first districts to enact such a policy, which is based on a bill that’s currently stalled in the Legislature. \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1314\">Assembly Bill 1314\u003c/a>, proposed by Assemblymember Bill Essayli, a Republican from Riverside, would have reversed the state’s current policy of protecting the privacy of LGBTQ students who might not be “out” at home. Because the chair of the Assembly education committee, Al Muratsuchi, declined to schedule the bill for a hearing, Essayli said he would contact school boards directly and urge them to pursue the issue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since then, three other districts — Anderson Union High School District in Shasta County, and Murrieta Valley Unified and Temecula Valley Unified in Riverside County — have adopted similar policies. Several others have proposals in the works.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Going to the voters in 2024\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A few hours after Bonta filed his lawsuit, the group Protect Kids California filed state paperwork to place \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/initiatives/active-measures\">three initiatives\u003c/a> on the fall 2024 ballot that would require schools to notify parents when students alter their gender identity; restrict girls’ locker rooms, bathrooms and sports teams to “biological” girls, based on the sex assigned them on their birth certificates; and ban surgery and hormone therapy for transgender minors.[aside postID=\"news_11959323,news_11936552\" label=\"Related Coverage\"]“These initiatives are necessary because we have a Legislature that’s out of touch with most Californians, so we’re taking these issues directly to the voters,” said Jonathan Zachreson, a Roseville City School District board member and president of Students First California, which is backing the initiatives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group has until April to gather close to 550,000 signatures per initiative to qualify for the ballot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a press conference Monday afternoon on the steps of the Capitol, backers of the initiatives said they were eager to return rights to parents, who they say are best suited to help their children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we are concerned with is who gets to raise our kids, who gets to raise the next generation of students in the state of California,” Essayli said. “Is it the government or is it their parents?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the end of the event, a group of young activists confronted one of the speakers but was then surrounded by backers of the initiatives. The activists wanted to know why adults were speaking on behalf of youth who’d be affected by the policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Impacts on young people\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>LGBTQ groups said both efforts — the proposed initiatives and the school board actions — are deeply harmful to LGBTQ students, and that the state is right to intervene. The 2015 \u003ca href=\"https://www.ustranssurvey.org/\">U.S. Trans Survey\u003c/a> found that 10% of transgender people had faced violence from a family member due to their gender identity, and 15% had run away or been forced from their homes. In general, LGBTQ youth are more prone to depression and anxiety and are four times as likely to attempt suicide as their peers, according to the\u003ca href=\"https://www.thetrevorproject.org/\"> Trevor Project,\u003c/a> which advocates for LGBTQ youth.[pullquote size='medium' align='right' citation=\"Jorge Reyes Salinas, communications director, Equality California\"]‘These anti-LGBTQ policies are spreading like wildfire, and people need to realize the harmful impact that these policies have on young people.’[/pullquote]“These anti-LGBTQ policies are spreading like wildfire, and people need to realize the harmful impact that these policies have on young people,” said Jorge Reyes Salinas, communications director for \u003ca href=\"https://www.eqca.org/\">Equality California\u003c/a>, a civil rights organization focusing on LGBTQ issues. “It’s imperative that the state take action. … We’re grateful that Bonta filed this suit to uphold the rights and dignity of LGBTQ students.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said he’s confident the ballot initiatives will fail, saying that most Californians oppose “hate and discrimination, especially when it comes to LGBTQ students. But we are ready to continue fighting, and we’re not going to stop until we’re victorious.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, members of the California Legislative LGBT Caucus, with help from Gov. Gavin Newsom, said they were continuing to craft a bill strengthening the rights of transgender students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Recognizing the nuance and complexity of this work, we are continuing to refine our legislative approach in this two-year session, including working with the governor and key stakeholders, to ensure the most comprehensive and responsible legislation is proposed,” said Assemblymember Chris Ward, a Democrat from San Diego. “Our LGBTQ Caucus is fully committed to assuring that every student feels safe and supported in their school environment and that teachers aren’t forced into policing and outing students. We know that lives and careers are at stake here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Under a system that has long prioritized local control for school districts, state officials are now fighting some recent board decisions regarding LGBTQ students.",
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"nprByline": "\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/author/carolyn-jones/\">Carolyn Jones\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/author/alexei-koseff/\">Alexei Koseff\u003c/a>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>California’s culture wars escalated Monday as the state sued a school district over its transgender student policy, and a parents’ group took the first step toward placing a trio of initiatives on next year’s ballot that would restrict protections for transgender youth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The moves follow highly publicized \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/k-12-education/2023/07/school-boards/\">incidents\u003c/a> last month in which state leaders attempted to rein in school boards they said had run afoul of civil rights laws. Under California’s local control system, school boards have wide latitude to enact their own policies — a freedom that’s now being tested as a handful of districts move to expand parental rights by limiting the rights of LGBTQ students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Monday morning, Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press-docs/082723.Complaint.pdf\">complaint (PDF)\u003c/a> against the Chino Valley Unified School District in San Bernardino County over its new \u003ca href=\"https://www.chino.k12.ca.us/cms/lib/CA01902308/Centricity/domain/693/series_5000/BP%205020.1.pdf\">policy (PDF)\u003c/a> requiring parental notification when students change their gender identity at school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The complaint, filed in San Bernardino County Superior Court, seeks a temporary restraining order against enforcement of the policy, which Bonta referred to as the “forced outing” of transgender and gender nonconforming students, while the court determines whether it violates state law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It presents students with a terrible choice,” the attorney general said at a news conference in Los Angeles. “Either walk back your rights to gender identity and gender expression, to be yourself, to be who you are, or face the risk of serious harm. Mental harm, emotional harm, physical harm.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The policy requires schools to notify parents when students request to be identified by a name or pronoun, or use facilities or participate in a program that does not align with the sex on their official records. Parents would be notified even if they do not have the student’s permission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bonta said this could potentially put students with parents hostile to their gender expression in danger. He argued that the policy violates California’s constitutional right to privacy, as well as the state’s equal protection clause and state laws that guarantee students the equal right to an education regardless of their gender identity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Citing comments from school board members who said transgender students were suffering from a mental illness and a perversion, Bonta said the policy was plainly discriminatory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In its function, in its text and in its context, this policy is destructive, it’s discriminatory and it is downright dangerous,” Bonta said. “It has no place in California, which is why we have moved in court to strike it down.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Desperate attempt to stop us’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Sonja Shaw, Chino Valley’s school board president, was undaunted by the lawsuit, and said the district’s policy is legally sound.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘This is a desperate attempt to stop us, and quite honestly, it’s embarrassing that Bonta is wasting so much time and money on this.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“This is a desperate attempt to stop us, and quite honestly, it’s embarrassing that Bonta is wasting so much time and money on this,” Shaw said Monday. “Every time he does something like this, it’s a gift, because it exposes who these people really are — extremists who want to come between students and their parents.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a boisterous meeting July 20, the Chino Valley Unified board voted 4–1 to pass the policy requiring school staff to notify parents within three days of discovering that a child has changed their gender identity. That could include changing their name or pronouns, joining a single-sex team or club or using bathrooms or locker rooms that don’t align with their gender at birth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond attended the meeting to protest the policy, but police escorted him out when he spoke longer than his allotted time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Andi Johnston, Chino Valley Unified communications director, said that the district’s policy does actually include protections for students who might be at risk for abuse from parents. If a student believes they are in danger or may be abused, injured or neglected due to their parents knowing of their preferred gender identity, staff must notify police or child protective services and won’t immediately notify parents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11959460\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1568px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11959460\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/08282023-Protect-Kids-California-Presser-RL-CM-01.jpg\" alt=\"A state representative speaks behind a podium. \" width=\"1568\" height=\"1045\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/08282023-Protect-Kids-California-Presser-RL-CM-01.jpg 1568w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/08282023-Protect-Kids-California-Presser-RL-CM-01-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/08282023-Protect-Kids-California-Presser-RL-CM-01-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/08282023-Protect-Kids-California-Presser-RL-CM-01-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/08282023-Protect-Kids-California-Presser-RL-CM-01-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1568px) 100vw, 1568px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Assemblymember Bill Essayli, a Corona Republican, speaks during a press conference at the state Capitol in Sacramento on Aug. 28, 2023. \u003ccite>(Rahul Lal/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Chino Valley Unified was among the state’s first districts to enact such a policy, which is based on a bill that’s currently stalled in the Legislature. \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1314\">Assembly Bill 1314\u003c/a>, proposed by Assemblymember Bill Essayli, a Republican from Riverside, would have reversed the state’s current policy of protecting the privacy of LGBTQ students who might not be “out” at home. Because the chair of the Assembly education committee, Al Muratsuchi, declined to schedule the bill for a hearing, Essayli said he would contact school boards directly and urge them to pursue the issue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since then, three other districts — Anderson Union High School District in Shasta County, and Murrieta Valley Unified and Temecula Valley Unified in Riverside County — have adopted similar policies. Several others have proposals in the works.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Going to the voters in 2024\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A few hours after Bonta filed his lawsuit, the group Protect Kids California filed state paperwork to place \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/initiatives/active-measures\">three initiatives\u003c/a> on the fall 2024 ballot that would require schools to notify parents when students alter their gender identity; restrict girls’ locker rooms, bathrooms and sports teams to “biological” girls, based on the sex assigned them on their birth certificates; and ban surgery and hormone therapy for transgender minors.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“These initiatives are necessary because we have a Legislature that’s out of touch with most Californians, so we’re taking these issues directly to the voters,” said Jonathan Zachreson, a Roseville City School District board member and president of Students First California, which is backing the initiatives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group has until April to gather close to 550,000 signatures per initiative to qualify for the ballot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a press conference Monday afternoon on the steps of the Capitol, backers of the initiatives said they were eager to return rights to parents, who they say are best suited to help their children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we are concerned with is who gets to raise our kids, who gets to raise the next generation of students in the state of California,” Essayli said. “Is it the government or is it their parents?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the end of the event, a group of young activists confronted one of the speakers but was then surrounded by backers of the initiatives. The activists wanted to know why adults were speaking on behalf of youth who’d be affected by the policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Impacts on young people\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>LGBTQ groups said both efforts — the proposed initiatives and the school board actions — are deeply harmful to LGBTQ students, and that the state is right to intervene. The 2015 \u003ca href=\"https://www.ustranssurvey.org/\">U.S. Trans Survey\u003c/a> found that 10% of transgender people had faced violence from a family member due to their gender identity, and 15% had run away or been forced from their homes. In general, LGBTQ youth are more prone to depression and anxiety and are four times as likely to attempt suicide as their peers, according to the\u003ca href=\"https://www.thetrevorproject.org/\"> Trevor Project,\u003c/a> which advocates for LGBTQ youth.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“These anti-LGBTQ policies are spreading like wildfire, and people need to realize the harmful impact that these policies have on young people,” said Jorge Reyes Salinas, communications director for \u003ca href=\"https://www.eqca.org/\">Equality California\u003c/a>, a civil rights organization focusing on LGBTQ issues. “It’s imperative that the state take action. … We’re grateful that Bonta filed this suit to uphold the rights and dignity of LGBTQ students.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said he’s confident the ballot initiatives will fail, saying that most Californians oppose “hate and discrimination, especially when it comes to LGBTQ students. But we are ready to continue fighting, and we’re not going to stop until we’re victorious.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, members of the California Legislative LGBT Caucus, with help from Gov. Gavin Newsom, said they were continuing to craft a bill strengthening the rights of transgender students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Recognizing the nuance and complexity of this work, we are continuing to refine our legislative approach in this two-year session, including working with the governor and key stakeholders, to ensure the most comprehensive and responsible legislation is proposed,” said Assemblymember Chris Ward, a Democrat from San Diego. “Our LGBTQ Caucus is fully committed to assuring that every student feels safe and supported in their school environment and that teachers aren’t forced into policing and outing students. We know that lives and careers are at stake here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "california-sues-southern-california-school-district-over-transgender-notification-policy",
"title": "California Sues Chino Valley School District Over Transgender Notification Policy",
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"headTitle": "California Sues Chino Valley School District Over Transgender Notification Policy | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>California’s attorney general sued a Southern California school district Monday over its new policy requiring schools to notify parents if their children change their gender identification or pronouns, the latest blow in an intensifying battle between a handful of school districts and the state about the rights of trans kids and their parents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Attorney General Rob Bonta said policies like the one adopted by Chino Valley Unified School District will forcibly out transgender students and threaten their well-being. But the district’s board president and supporters say parents have a right to know the decisions their children are making in schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bonta is seeking a court order to immediately block the policy in Chino Valley, east of Los Angeles, which requires schools to notify parents within three days if employees become aware a student is asking to be treated as a gender other than the one listed on official records.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For far too many transgender children and gender-nonconforming youth, school serves as their only safe haven — a place away from home where they can find validation, safety, privacy. We have to protect that,” he said. He argued that the policy discriminates against the students and violates the state constitution’s requirement of equal protection for all.[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A couple of nearby districts have adopted similar policies and at least one more is considering doing so. The moves have stoked fierce debates at local school board meetings amid an intense national conversation over the rights of transgender people, as other states have sought to \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/politics-health-texas-state-government-tennessee-minnesota-878a9217fa434f3ecd83738a71e40572\">impose bans on gender-affirming care\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/congress-transgender-women-sports-ban-athletes-1c58c20cac2b191e323e4376d7949a2d\">bar trans athletes\u003c/a> from girls and women’s sports and require schools to “out” trans and nonbinary students to their parents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, the proposals are coming from communities that have elected more conservative school board members since the COVID-19 pandemic, putting them increasingly at odds with Gov. Gavin Newsom and the other Democrats who dominate the state’s political leadership.[pullquote size='medium' align='right' citation=\"California Attorney General Rob Bonta\"]‘For far too many transgender children and gender-nonconforming youth, school serves as their only safe haven — a place away from home where they can find validation, safety, privacy. We have to protect that.’[/pullquote]Among them is Chino Valley Unified President Sonja Shaw, who said the lawsuit was no surprise as state officials have repeatedly taken steps “to shut parents out of their children’s lives.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We will stand our ground and protect our children with all we can because we are not breaking the law,” Shaw said in a text message. “Parents have a constitutional right in the upbringing of their children. Period.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chino Valley spokesperson Andi Johnston said the district’s policy protects transgender students by requiring schools to notify social services or law enforcement if the student believes they are in danger. In such circumstances, staff wouldn’t notify parents until the appropriate agencies had investigated the concern, Johnston said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The notification policies aren’t \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11956879/when-culture-wars-rip-through-school-boards-should-the-state-intervene\">the only battle\u003c/a> between local schools and California officials. Earlier this year, Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/gavin-newsom-temecula-harvey-milk-curriculum-6fceefd6ebe1a201749dccfff7ed975a\">threatened to fine\u003c/a> the Temecula Valley Unified School District after it rejected an elementary school social studies curriculum that included books mentioning politician and gay rights advocate Harvey Milk. The district later reversed course on the curriculum decision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State lawmakers are also considering legislation aimed at ensuring school curricula reflects gender, racial and cultural diversity. The bill would require the California Department of Education to release guidance on managing conversations about race and gender at school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier this month, Newsom said state lawmakers were drafting legislation to address policies to notify parents that their child changed their gender identity. But Assemblymember Chris Ward, vice chair of the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus, said they won’t introduce the legislation this year.[pullquote size='medium' align='right' citation=\"President Sonja Shaw, Chino Valley Unified School District\"]‘We will stand our ground and protect our children with all we can because we are not breaking the law. Parents have a constitutional right in the upbringing of their children. Period.’[/pullquote]“Recognizing the nuance and complexity of this work, we are continuing to refine our legislative approach. . . to ensure the most comprehensive and responsible legislation is proposed,” Ward, a Democrat representing San Diego, said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The parental notification policies began cropping up after Republican state lawmaker Bill Essayli proposed a statewide bill on the issue that never received a hearing in Sacramento. He then shifted focus and started working with local school board members like Shaw and the California Family Council to draft the notification policy that was voted on in Chino Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Temecula Valley and Murrieta Valley have also adopted similar policies, and Orange Unified is debating it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a lot of systems in place to deal with physical abuse of any minor, and I think it’s wrong for the state to presume that parents are a danger and therefore take a blanket policy where they’re going to withhold information from all parents under the auspice that some parents might be harmful to their kids,” Essayli said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Jody Herman, a public policy scholar at the University of California Los Angeles School of Law, said requiring school staff to notify parents if their child identifies as trans is taking a “gamble” with someone’s life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Parents are not uniformly accepting,” Herman said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tony Hoang, executive directory of Equality California, said Chino Valley school board’s policy and others similar to it are “intensifying the already alarming increase of anti-LGBTQ+ hate we are experiencing.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"Related Stories\" tag=\"transgender-students\"]“This lawsuit sends a clear message that discrimination and harassment have no place in our schools, and no place in California,” said Hoang.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Teachers are also caught in the debate. Greg Goodlander, a high school French teacher and the president of the Orange Unified Educators Association, said the proposal has been a distraction and there’s no evidence it would enhance student learning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our teachers are not trained on how to handle this situation, and this has not been negotiated with the association in our contract,” Goodlander said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Orange Unified, a diverse district made up of residents with wide-ranging political views, board members sparred during a recent debate about the proposal. Supporters said parents ought to be involved in these issues so they can advocate for their children and seek counseling where appropriate, while opponents said the move would discriminate against transgender students and insert government into family life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This type of issue should be between a parent and a child,” said Orange Unified board member Kris Erickson, who opposes the policy. “It shouldn’t be between a teacher, a parent and a child.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sophie Austin is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED News Staff contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Attorney General Rob Bonta called Chino Valley Unified School District's policy to notify parents a 'forced outing' of transgender students, which violates their civil rights.\r\n",
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"title": "California Sues Chino Valley School District Over Transgender Notification Policy | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>California’s attorney general sued a Southern California school district Monday over its new policy requiring schools to notify parents if their children change their gender identification or pronouns, the latest blow in an intensifying battle between a handful of school districts and the state about the rights of trans kids and their parents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Attorney General Rob Bonta said policies like the one adopted by Chino Valley Unified School District will forcibly out transgender students and threaten their well-being. But the district’s board president and supporters say parents have a right to know the decisions their children are making in schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bonta is seeking a court order to immediately block the policy in Chino Valley, east of Los Angeles, which requires schools to notify parents within three days if employees become aware a student is asking to be treated as a gender other than the one listed on official records.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For far too many transgender children and gender-nonconforming youth, school serves as their only safe haven — a place away from home where they can find validation, safety, privacy. We have to protect that,” he said. He argued that the policy discriminates against the students and violates the state constitution’s requirement of equal protection for all.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A couple of nearby districts have adopted similar policies and at least one more is considering doing so. The moves have stoked fierce debates at local school board meetings amid an intense national conversation over the rights of transgender people, as other states have sought to \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/politics-health-texas-state-government-tennessee-minnesota-878a9217fa434f3ecd83738a71e40572\">impose bans on gender-affirming care\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/congress-transgender-women-sports-ban-athletes-1c58c20cac2b191e323e4376d7949a2d\">bar trans athletes\u003c/a> from girls and women’s sports and require schools to “out” trans and nonbinary students to their parents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, the proposals are coming from communities that have elected more conservative school board members since the COVID-19 pandemic, putting them increasingly at odds with Gov. Gavin Newsom and the other Democrats who dominate the state’s political leadership.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Among them is Chino Valley Unified President Sonja Shaw, who said the lawsuit was no surprise as state officials have repeatedly taken steps “to shut parents out of their children’s lives.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We will stand our ground and protect our children with all we can because we are not breaking the law,” Shaw said in a text message. “Parents have a constitutional right in the upbringing of their children. Period.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chino Valley spokesperson Andi Johnston said the district’s policy protects transgender students by requiring schools to notify social services or law enforcement if the student believes they are in danger. In such circumstances, staff wouldn’t notify parents until the appropriate agencies had investigated the concern, Johnston said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The notification policies aren’t \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11956879/when-culture-wars-rip-through-school-boards-should-the-state-intervene\">the only battle\u003c/a> between local schools and California officials. Earlier this year, Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/gavin-newsom-temecula-harvey-milk-curriculum-6fceefd6ebe1a201749dccfff7ed975a\">threatened to fine\u003c/a> the Temecula Valley Unified School District after it rejected an elementary school social studies curriculum that included books mentioning politician and gay rights advocate Harvey Milk. The district later reversed course on the curriculum decision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State lawmakers are also considering legislation aimed at ensuring school curricula reflects gender, racial and cultural diversity. The bill would require the California Department of Education to release guidance on managing conversations about race and gender at school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier this month, Newsom said state lawmakers were drafting legislation to address policies to notify parents that their child changed their gender identity. But Assemblymember Chris Ward, vice chair of the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus, said they won’t introduce the legislation this year.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Recognizing the nuance and complexity of this work, we are continuing to refine our legislative approach. . . to ensure the most comprehensive and responsible legislation is proposed,” Ward, a Democrat representing San Diego, said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The parental notification policies began cropping up after Republican state lawmaker Bill Essayli proposed a statewide bill on the issue that never received a hearing in Sacramento. He then shifted focus and started working with local school board members like Shaw and the California Family Council to draft the notification policy that was voted on in Chino Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Temecula Valley and Murrieta Valley have also adopted similar policies, and Orange Unified is debating it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a lot of systems in place to deal with physical abuse of any minor, and I think it’s wrong for the state to presume that parents are a danger and therefore take a blanket policy where they’re going to withhold information from all parents under the auspice that some parents might be harmful to their kids,” Essayli said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Jody Herman, a public policy scholar at the University of California Los Angeles School of Law, said requiring school staff to notify parents if their child identifies as trans is taking a “gamble” with someone’s life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Parents are not uniformly accepting,” Herman said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tony Hoang, executive directory of Equality California, said Chino Valley school board’s policy and others similar to it are “intensifying the already alarming increase of anti-LGBTQ+ hate we are experiencing.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“This lawsuit sends a clear message that discrimination and harassment have no place in our schools, and no place in California,” said Hoang.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Teachers are also caught in the debate. Greg Goodlander, a high school French teacher and the president of the Orange Unified Educators Association, said the proposal has been a distraction and there’s no evidence it would enhance student learning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our teachers are not trained on how to handle this situation, and this has not been negotiated with the association in our contract,” Goodlander said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Orange Unified, a diverse district made up of residents with wide-ranging political views, board members sparred during a recent debate about the proposal. Supporters said parents ought to be involved in these issues so they can advocate for their children and seek counseling where appropriate, while opponents said the move would discriminate against transgender students and insert government into family life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This type of issue should be between a parent and a child,” said Orange Unified board member Kris Erickson, who opposes the policy. “It shouldn’t be between a teacher, a parent and a child.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sophie Austin is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED News Staff contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "When Culture Wars Rip Through School Boards, Should the State Intervene?",
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"content": "\u003cp>Last week’s tussles between state officials and a pair of Southern California school boards may have died down, but they’ve thrown a spotlight on deeper tensions over who makes decisions for local schools — a rift that’s likely to grow as the culture wars escalate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both incidents, which garnered national attention, centered on LGBTQ issues and the state’s ability to rein in local boards that it says may have violated California’s education and civil rights laws.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can expect to see more of this as these right-wing groups now follow a scripted playbook and there’s a new level of organization,” said Bruce Fuller, a UC Berkeley professor of education and public policy. “And certainly as long as we have an ambitious governor, we can expect to see these battles repeated.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, Chino police \u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/updates/conservative-school-board-kicks-out-state-superintendent-tony-thurmond-from-meeting\">escorted the state’s top education official\u003c/a>, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, from a school board meeting after he urged the board to reject a plan he viewed as harmful to LGBTQ students. The plan, based on a stalled Assembly bill, called for school staff to notify parents if a child identifies as a gender they weren’t assigned at birth. The board ended up approving the proposal 4–1.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier in the month, Gov. Gavin Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2023/07/21/temecula-curriculum-adoption/\">threatened\u003c/a> to fine Temecula Valley Unified $1.5 million for rejecting a state-approved textbook that included a supplemental lesson on Harvey Milk, the former San Francisco supervisor who was assassinated in 1978. Newsom said the state would order the new textbooks on its own and bill the district. Last week, the board relented and agreed to purchase the new textbooks but \u003ca href=\"https://simbli.eboardsolutions.com/SB_Meetings/ViewMeeting.aspx?S=36030186&MID=23246\">review\u003c/a> the material related to gay rights, replacing it with a curriculum that reflects “the board’s commitment to exclude sexualized topics of instruction from the elementary school grade levels.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Enforcing the education code\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>State officials have several enforcement options when they believe districts have run afoul of the education code. Those include fines, like the one Newsom threatened in Temecula Valley; publicly voicing disapproval, such as Thurmond’s comments in Chino Valley; and investigation and litigation, which Attorney General Rob Bonta \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press-docs/Letter%20to%20TVUSD.pdf\">said (PDF)\u003c/a> he would pursue in Temecula Valley. The California Department of Education also has a complaint process, which anyone can use if they believe their district isn’t complying with state law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s also legislation. Recently, Thurmond and Newsom have thrown their support behind \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1078\">AB 1078\u003c/a>, which would raise the threshold for school districts to ban books, from a simple board majority to a two-thirds majority. The bill would also strengthen the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/cr/cf/senatebill48faq.asp\">FAIR Act\u003c/a>, a state law that requires districts to include the contributions of African American, Native American, Mexican American, LGBTQ and other under-represented groups in history and social studies curriculum.[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Asm. Corey Jackson (D-Moreno Valley)\"]‘Once you start creating a climate that is not welcoming to all students you’re mandated to serve, districts need to know: We are coming for you.’[/pullquote]The bill’s author, Democratic Assemblymember Corey Jackson of Moreno Valley, said legislation like AB 1078 is more important than ever as the state seeks tougher tools to punish districts that stray from civil rights laws.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These culture wars are being used to generate anger to achieve political goals,” Jackson said. “We have to close as many loopholes as possible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The crux of the issue, Jackson said, is local control, the decade-old policy that gives school districts a large degree of autonomy in how they operate. Put forth by then-Gov. Jerry Brown, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/lc/\">the Local Control Funding Formula\u003c/a> was meant to decentralize state education, allowing districts to tailor their spending policies to the unique needs of their students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In some cases, Jackson said, local control has gone too far.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I know my history too well to have faith in local control,” Jackson said. “If a school district discriminates against students, puts politics ahead of education, I honestly don’t have any limits when it comes to limiting local control. … Once you start creating a climate that is not welcoming to all students you’re mandated to serve, districts need to know: We are coming for you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Nuances of local control\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Under the previous funding system, schools received money through grants earmarked for specific programs. Under local control, district funding comes through a formula based on how many lower-income students, English learners and foster youth are enrolled. School boards, not the state, decide how to spend the money, allowing them a degree of autonomy they didn’t have previously.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some districts fear that with bills like Jackson’s and other recent moves, the state might be taking back some of that control. Recently, the state has added several categorical grants and mandated programs and increased its interest in local school board matters, such as in Temecula Valley and Chino Valley. That’s one reason the California School Boards Association has so far opposed Jackson’s bill, saying it would pose an unnecessary hardship for the vast majority of school districts that comply with the law, and that the state already has adequate safeguards.[aside postID=news_11953735 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/RS55638_011_KQED_GrassValleyElementarySchoolOakland_04282022-KQED-1020x680.jpg']“We are greatly concerned with how (the bill) is drawn from the experience of two or three school districts to apply statewide,” the association wrote to the chair of the Senate Education Committee, noting that California has nearly 1,000 school districts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Troy Flint, the school board association’s spokesperson, said districts are hoping that the trend does not continue, even as the culture wars intensify.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There has been increased encroachment on local control from a budgetary, policy and administrative perspective,” he said. “School districts and county offices of education believe that their knowledge base and relationships, as members of the community, are essential in developing and implementing policies that make sense for their particular student populations. So naturally, they are very protective of local control.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A spokesman for Newsom’s office said that the governor is committed to local control, and the incident in Temecula Valley was an isolated, egregious example of a district flouting the law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Local control is not — and has never been — a license to willfully violate the law,” said Ben Chida, the governor’s chief deputy cabinet secretary and senior education policy advisor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steve Zimmer, California’s deputy superintendent for student support services, reiterated the state’s support for local control.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Superintendent and I are both former school board members. We believe strongly in local control. Local control is a core value of the California public education system,” Zimmer said. “But there have to be checks and balances.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Increasing vitriol\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Regardless, school boards are likely to remain an epicenter of conflict, especially as the presidential election nears, said Julie Marsh, professor of education policy in the Rossier School of Education and the Sol Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t think it’s going to die down. School boards have become a pawn in a broader national campaign,” Marsh said. “All of this is bringing to a head a classic conflict in education — what’s the role of the state? Local control has to be for everyone, but in some districts we’re now seeing a need for guardrails.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11956883\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/?attachment_id=11956883\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-11956883\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11956883\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/GettyImages-1258884803.jpg\" alt=\"a police officer, in riot gear, stands in front of a barricade, with a group of people holding signs behind it saying 'protect our children'\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/GettyImages-1258884803.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/GettyImages-1258884803-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/GettyImages-1258884803-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/GettyImages-1258884803-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A school board meeting in Glendale in June required the police to intervene, coming 2 weeks after another meeting sparked violent protests over declaring June as Pride Month. \u003ccite>(David McNew/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>She worries about the growing lack of civility and threats of violence. In his response to Temecula Valley, Newsom described three of the board members as “radicalized zealots” and “extremists.” In Chino Valley, board President Sonja Shaw accused Thurmond of “proposing things that pervert children.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the vitriol began during the pandemic, when angry parents in some parts of the state protested school closures, mask mandates and vaccines. For some parents, the anger grew to encompass how schools teach subjects related to race, sex and other culture war issues.[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Julie Marsh, professor of education policy, USC\"]‘All of this is bringing to a head a classic conflict in education — what’s the role of the state? Local control has to be for everyone, but in some districts we’re now seeing a need for guardrails.’[/pullquote]Capitalizing on some of the dissatisfaction, the state Republican party last year launched the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11932143/the-gop-wanted-to-flip-california-school-boards-it-looks-like-they-didnt-succeed\">“Parent Revolt” campaign\u003c/a>, urging \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11922860/california-republicans-are-betting-big-on-local-school-board-races\">frustrated parents\u003c/a> to run for their local school boards. Shaw, the Chino Valley board president, was elected as part of that wave.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Angry rhetoric undoubtedly plays a role in the high turnover rate among superintendents, and the fact that some school boards can’t fill their vacancies, Marsh said. It also deters members of the public from speaking out, for fear of threats or intimidation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is not unique to California and it’s not unique to school boards,” she said. “We’re very concerned about the extreme emotion, the tone, the polarization, the personal attacks. We need some kind of legislation to protect civility in public meetings.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fuller agreed that the rhetoric can have a corrosive effect on schools and other institutions. While the governor and state superintendent were right to step in, perhaps they could have settled the conflict behind the scenes, instead of drawing more attention to the matter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They could have deployed their influence to expand understanding and engage people with whom they disagree. Instead they became antagonistic to gain political attention,” Fuller said. “They could have settled the issue quietly, rather than spurring it on. There are compelling reasons for the state to intervene in some cases, but why not first try to negotiate an agreement.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, the battle over the rights of LGBTQ students is likely to continue. Zimmer said the state is looking at various options to pressure Chino Valley to overturn its policy related to LGBTQ students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state is also urging students in that district to seek help if they need it. The state’s Department of Education offers numerous \u003ca href=\"https://www.cde.ca.gov/pd/ee/supportlgbtq.asp\">resources\u003c/a> for LGBTQ students, families and schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re very clear that their dignity and humanity matters, and they have a right to a welcoming, safe school environment,” Zimmer said. “Superintendent Thurmond stands behind them and will continue to fight for them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Last week’s tussles between state officials and a pair of Southern California school boards may have died down, but they’ve thrown a spotlight on deeper tensions over who makes decisions for local schools — a rift that’s likely to grow as the culture wars escalate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both incidents, which garnered national attention, centered on LGBTQ issues and the state’s ability to rein in local boards that it says may have violated California’s education and civil rights laws.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can expect to see more of this as these right-wing groups now follow a scripted playbook and there’s a new level of organization,” said Bruce Fuller, a UC Berkeley professor of education and public policy. “And certainly as long as we have an ambitious governor, we can expect to see these battles repeated.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, Chino police \u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/updates/conservative-school-board-kicks-out-state-superintendent-tony-thurmond-from-meeting\">escorted the state’s top education official\u003c/a>, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, from a school board meeting after he urged the board to reject a plan he viewed as harmful to LGBTQ students. The plan, based on a stalled Assembly bill, called for school staff to notify parents if a child identifies as a gender they weren’t assigned at birth. The board ended up approving the proposal 4–1.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier in the month, Gov. Gavin Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2023/07/21/temecula-curriculum-adoption/\">threatened\u003c/a> to fine Temecula Valley Unified $1.5 million for rejecting a state-approved textbook that included a supplemental lesson on Harvey Milk, the former San Francisco supervisor who was assassinated in 1978. Newsom said the state would order the new textbooks on its own and bill the district. Last week, the board relented and agreed to purchase the new textbooks but \u003ca href=\"https://simbli.eboardsolutions.com/SB_Meetings/ViewMeeting.aspx?S=36030186&MID=23246\">review\u003c/a> the material related to gay rights, replacing it with a curriculum that reflects “the board’s commitment to exclude sexualized topics of instruction from the elementary school grade levels.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Enforcing the education code\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>State officials have several enforcement options when they believe districts have run afoul of the education code. Those include fines, like the one Newsom threatened in Temecula Valley; publicly voicing disapproval, such as Thurmond’s comments in Chino Valley; and investigation and litigation, which Attorney General Rob Bonta \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press-docs/Letter%20to%20TVUSD.pdf\">said (PDF)\u003c/a> he would pursue in Temecula Valley. The California Department of Education also has a complaint process, which anyone can use if they believe their district isn’t complying with state law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s also legislation. Recently, Thurmond and Newsom have thrown their support behind \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1078\">AB 1078\u003c/a>, which would raise the threshold for school districts to ban books, from a simple board majority to a two-thirds majority. The bill would also strengthen the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/cr/cf/senatebill48faq.asp\">FAIR Act\u003c/a>, a state law that requires districts to include the contributions of African American, Native American, Mexican American, LGBTQ and other under-represented groups in history and social studies curriculum.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘Once you start creating a climate that is not welcoming to all students you’re mandated to serve, districts need to know: We are coming for you.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The bill’s author, Democratic Assemblymember Corey Jackson of Moreno Valley, said legislation like AB 1078 is more important than ever as the state seeks tougher tools to punish districts that stray from civil rights laws.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These culture wars are being used to generate anger to achieve political goals,” Jackson said. “We have to close as many loopholes as possible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The crux of the issue, Jackson said, is local control, the decade-old policy that gives school districts a large degree of autonomy in how they operate. Put forth by then-Gov. Jerry Brown, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/lc/\">the Local Control Funding Formula\u003c/a> was meant to decentralize state education, allowing districts to tailor their spending policies to the unique needs of their students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In some cases, Jackson said, local control has gone too far.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I know my history too well to have faith in local control,” Jackson said. “If a school district discriminates against students, puts politics ahead of education, I honestly don’t have any limits when it comes to limiting local control. … Once you start creating a climate that is not welcoming to all students you’re mandated to serve, districts need to know: We are coming for you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Nuances of local control\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Under the previous funding system, schools received money through grants earmarked for specific programs. Under local control, district funding comes through a formula based on how many lower-income students, English learners and foster youth are enrolled. School boards, not the state, decide how to spend the money, allowing them a degree of autonomy they didn’t have previously.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some districts fear that with bills like Jackson’s and other recent moves, the state might be taking back some of that control. Recently, the state has added several categorical grants and mandated programs and increased its interest in local school board matters, such as in Temecula Valley and Chino Valley. That’s one reason the California School Boards Association has so far opposed Jackson’s bill, saying it would pose an unnecessary hardship for the vast majority of school districts that comply with the law, and that the state already has adequate safeguards.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“We are greatly concerned with how (the bill) is drawn from the experience of two or three school districts to apply statewide,” the association wrote to the chair of the Senate Education Committee, noting that California has nearly 1,000 school districts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Troy Flint, the school board association’s spokesperson, said districts are hoping that the trend does not continue, even as the culture wars intensify.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There has been increased encroachment on local control from a budgetary, policy and administrative perspective,” he said. “School districts and county offices of education believe that their knowledge base and relationships, as members of the community, are essential in developing and implementing policies that make sense for their particular student populations. So naturally, they are very protective of local control.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A spokesman for Newsom’s office said that the governor is committed to local control, and the incident in Temecula Valley was an isolated, egregious example of a district flouting the law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Local control is not — and has never been — a license to willfully violate the law,” said Ben Chida, the governor’s chief deputy cabinet secretary and senior education policy advisor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steve Zimmer, California’s deputy superintendent for student support services, reiterated the state’s support for local control.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Superintendent and I are both former school board members. We believe strongly in local control. Local control is a core value of the California public education system,” Zimmer said. “But there have to be checks and balances.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Increasing vitriol\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Regardless, school boards are likely to remain an epicenter of conflict, especially as the presidential election nears, said Julie Marsh, professor of education policy in the Rossier School of Education and the Sol Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t think it’s going to die down. School boards have become a pawn in a broader national campaign,” Marsh said. “All of this is bringing to a head a classic conflict in education — what’s the role of the state? Local control has to be for everyone, but in some districts we’re now seeing a need for guardrails.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11956883\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/?attachment_id=11956883\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-11956883\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11956883\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/GettyImages-1258884803.jpg\" alt=\"a police officer, in riot gear, stands in front of a barricade, with a group of people holding signs behind it saying 'protect our children'\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/GettyImages-1258884803.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/GettyImages-1258884803-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/GettyImages-1258884803-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/GettyImages-1258884803-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A school board meeting in Glendale in June required the police to intervene, coming 2 weeks after another meeting sparked violent protests over declaring June as Pride Month. \u003ccite>(David McNew/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>She worries about the growing lack of civility and threats of violence. In his response to Temecula Valley, Newsom described three of the board members as “radicalized zealots” and “extremists.” In Chino Valley, board President Sonja Shaw accused Thurmond of “proposing things that pervert children.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the vitriol began during the pandemic, when angry parents in some parts of the state protested school closures, mask mandates and vaccines. For some parents, the anger grew to encompass how schools teach subjects related to race, sex and other culture war issues.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Capitalizing on some of the dissatisfaction, the state Republican party last year launched the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11932143/the-gop-wanted-to-flip-california-school-boards-it-looks-like-they-didnt-succeed\">“Parent Revolt” campaign\u003c/a>, urging \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11922860/california-republicans-are-betting-big-on-local-school-board-races\">frustrated parents\u003c/a> to run for their local school boards. Shaw, the Chino Valley board president, was elected as part of that wave.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Angry rhetoric undoubtedly plays a role in the high turnover rate among superintendents, and the fact that some school boards can’t fill their vacancies, Marsh said. It also deters members of the public from speaking out, for fear of threats or intimidation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is not unique to California and it’s not unique to school boards,” she said. “We’re very concerned about the extreme emotion, the tone, the polarization, the personal attacks. We need some kind of legislation to protect civility in public meetings.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fuller agreed that the rhetoric can have a corrosive effect on schools and other institutions. While the governor and state superintendent were right to step in, perhaps they could have settled the conflict behind the scenes, instead of drawing more attention to the matter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They could have deployed their influence to expand understanding and engage people with whom they disagree. Instead they became antagonistic to gain political attention,” Fuller said. “They could have settled the issue quietly, rather than spurring it on. There are compelling reasons for the state to intervene in some cases, but why not first try to negotiate an agreement.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, the battle over the rights of LGBTQ students is likely to continue. Zimmer said the state is looking at various options to pressure Chino Valley to overturn its policy related to LGBTQ students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state is also urging students in that district to seek help if they need it. The state’s Department of Education offers numerous \u003ca href=\"https://www.cde.ca.gov/pd/ee/supportlgbtq.asp\">resources\u003c/a> for LGBTQ students, families and schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re very clear that their dignity and humanity matters, and they have a right to a welcoming, safe school environment,” Zimmer said. “Superintendent Thurmond stands behind them and will continue to fight for them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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},
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"info": "The day's top stories from BBC News compiled twice daily in the week, once at weekends.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/BBC-World-Service-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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},
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},
"californiareport": {
"id": "californiareport",
"title": "The California Report",
"tagline": "California, day by day",
"info": "KQED’s statewide radio news program providing daily coverage of issues, trends and public policy decisions.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-California-Report-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareport",
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"order": 8
},
"link": "/californiareport",
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},
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"title": "The California Report Magazine",
"tagline": "Your state, your stories",
"info": "Every week, The California Report Magazine takes you on a road trip for the ears: to visit the places and meet the people who make California unique. The in-depth storytelling podcast from the California Report.",
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"order": 10
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM3NjkwNjk1OTAz",
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"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
"meta": {
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"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
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},
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"order": 1
},
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"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"order": 9
},
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"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
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},
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"id": "fresh-air",
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"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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"hidden-brain": {
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"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
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"source": "NPR"
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"how-i-built-this": {
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"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
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"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
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"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"order": 18
},
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},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
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"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
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},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
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"source": "WaitWhat"
},
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"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
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}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/",
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"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
},
"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
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