Newsom’s Unconstitutional Secret Gender Transitions Is OVER!
For years now, countless California parents have lived with a quiet, growing heartbreak. Discovering that their children were being encouraged and aided to pursue gender transitions at school without their knowledge. In many cases by the time a parent realized what was happening, their child was already on puberty blockers and hormones. Families were blindsided and untold damage was done to many children and families because the state insisted that secrecy was not only acceptable, but required.
When AB 1955 was passed in July 2024 and signed by Gavin Newsom, it codified that secrecy into law. Teachers were ordered to affirm a student’s gender identity while keeping any changes hidden from parents. In effect, the state demanded that educators lie, not to protect children from harm, but to keep parents in the dark about life altering decisions involving their own minor children.
There is no way to know how many children have been affected by gender ideology promoted by public schools without parental knowledge as California does not track the number of children receiving “ gender affirming care” who are on puberty blockers, cross sex hormones or have undergone surgeries.
This week, that painful chapter finally met a turning point.
U.S District Court Judge Roger Benitez issued a summary judgment declaring AB 1955 unconstitutional. Thank you Judge Benitez for having the courage to rule fairly and uphold the constitution!
According to reporting on the ruling, the court found that:
Parents have a federal constitutional right to know if their child expresses gender incongruence at school.
Teachers have a constitutional right to tell the truth to parents.
These rights supersede any state or local policies that attempt to force secrecy.
This wasn’t just a legal correction, it was a moral one. I am deeply grateful that Judge Benitez had the wisdom and courage to reverse this harmful policy. For too long, families have been pushed aside while the state inserted itself between parents and their children. The emotional toll has been enormous. Confusion, betrayal, and the fear that the most important relationship in a child’s life was being quietly undermined.
This ruling restores something fundamental: the bond between parent and child.
For a long time, it felt like California was trapped in a nightmare where ideology trumped common sense, and where parental involvement was treated as a danger rather than a necessity. But this ruling shows that people are finally waking up. It shows that the courts still have the power and the willingness to check government overreach. It shows that parents are reclaiming their rightful place in their children’s lives. And it shows that the tide is turning.
The ruling has been described as a first of its kind, class wide, precedent setting victory. It permanently blocks the state from forcing teachers to hide critical information from parents. It reinforces constitutional protections that apply nationwide.
This decision doesn’t erase the pain families have endured but I’m grateful that parents are being restored to their rightful place. No family should ever have to surrender their relationship or their authority to a system that was never meant to replace them.
For that, I am profoundly thankful.
Carol Pefley
Candidate for Ca State Assembly
