Gender Identification Ballot Measure Fails Short Of Signatures
Sacramento, CA — A proposed state ballot measure related to transgender students, which was in the midst of a legal battle with the Attorney General’s Office, will not go before California voters in November.
The measure, if it had passed, would have required schools to notify parents if students want to use a different gender identification. In addition, it would have prevented male students who transitioned to females from participating in girl’s sports, and barred gender-affirming surgeries for minors in most cases.
The group campaigning for the measure announced that it fell approximately 150,000 signatures short of the 546,651 required to put it on the November ballot.
They had proposed calling it the “Protect Kids of California Act.” However, California Attorney General Rob Bonta instead named it the “Restrict Rights of Transgender Youth” initiative. The ballot proponents argued that Bonta’s title was biased and it made it harder for them to collect signatures. A Sacramento County Superior Court judge sided with the Attorney General and ruled that the title was accurate. The group had planned to appeal.
Some Democratic lawmakers in Sacramento, opposed to the ballot measure, announced the introduction of a separate bill last week that would ban school districts from being required to notify parents about gender identification changes, and would create legal protections for transgender athletes wanting to participate in women’s sports.
