Attorney General Bonta: Superior Court's Final Ruling Against Chino Valley's Forced Outing Policy Upholds Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students' Civil Rights

SAN BERNARDINO— California Attorney General Rob Bonta today issued a statement following the San Bernardino Superior Court’s ruling in People of the State of California v. Chino Valley Unified School District, issuing injunctive and declaratory relief against the Chino Valley Unified School District Board of Education’s (Board) mandatory gender identity disclosure policy. The ruling permanently halts enforcement of the Policy’s provisions that required schools to inform parents, with minimal exceptions, whenever a student requests to use a name or pronoun—or access facilities or programs—that do not align with the sex on their birth certificate or official records, even when the school district knows that such disclosure will result in mental, psychological, or physical harm to the student. The Court’s ruling comes after Attorney General Bonta obtained a preliminary injunction enjoining the facially discriminatory provisions of the original forced outing policy in October 2023.

“The decision from the Court to grant a permanent injunction and declaratory relief against Chino Valley Unified’s initial forced outing policy is a win for all students in Chino Valley and across the State,” said Attorney General Bonta. “Chino Valley Unified has an obligation to protect the safety and well-being of the students it is charged to serve, especially our most vulnerable student communities who need a supportive and welcoming environment to succeed. This ruling, consistent with our previously secured preliminary injunction, reaffirms this obligation by ensuring no child becomes a target again by blocking Chino Valley Unified from ever adopting another forced outing policy. Let this decision send a clear message to other school districts that have passed or are contemplating similar policies: discriminatory policies will not be tolerated in our educational institutions. I urge all school districts to take note and ensure every student, including LBGTQ+ students, can enjoy their right to learn and thrive in a school environment that promotes safety, privacy, and inclusivity.”

In August 2023, Attorney General Bonta announced a lawsuit challenging the enforcement of Policy 5020.1, asserting it violated several state protections safeguarding students’ civil and constitutional rights. Shortly after securing a temporary restraining order, the San Bernardino Superior Court issued a preliminary injunction against the Board’s forced outing policy in October 2023. The Court held that several provisions violated California’s equal protection clause and discriminated against transgender and gender nonconforming students, causing them irreparable harm.

While the District voted to rescind the forced outing policy on March 7, 2024, in response to the San Bernardino County Superior Court’s preliminary injunction order, the District’s Board continued to stand "proudly” by Policy 5020.1, the District’s counsel continued to maintain that it was “common sense and constitutional,” and the District continued to make comments echoing the anti-trans statements they made publicly before enacting the policy. In discussing the policy before its passage, board members made a number of statements describing students who are transgender or gender nonconforming as suffering from a “mental illness” or “perversion”, or as being a threat to the integrity of the nation and the family. The Board President went so far as to state that transgender and gender nonconforming individuals needed “non-affirming” parental actions so that they could “get better.” 

The ruling granting injunctive and declaratory relief against Board Policy 5020.1:

• Prevents the Board from reenacting or implementing its initial policy, which it rescinded only after the court issued a preliminary injunction against it.
• Denies the Board’s motion to dismiss the case on grounds of mootness, as the Court’s ruling was necessary to resolve clear issues of public interest broadly affecting students, parents, school officials, and teachers throughout the State.
• Recognizes that "there is nothing wrong or pathological with being transgender or gender non-conforming."
• Declares that the Board’s forced outing policy violated the Equal Protection Clause of California's Constitution, Education Code section 220, and Government section 11135 by discriminating against transgender and gender nonconforming students, a ruling consistent with the previously obtained preliminary injunction.

The Attorney General has a substantial interest in protecting the legal rights, physical safety, and mental health of students in California schools, and in protecting them from trauma, harassment, bullying, and exposure to violence and threats of violence. Research shows that protecting a transgender student’s ability to make choices about how and when to inform others is critical to their well-being, as transgender students are exposed to high levels of harassment and mistreatment at school and in their communities when those environments are not supportive of their gender identity. 

• One-in-10 respondents in a 2015 national survey said that an immediate family member had been violent toward them because they were transgender, and 15% ran away from home or were kicked out of their home because they were transgender. Fewer than one-in-three transgender and gender nonbinary youth found their home to be gender-affirming.
• Nearly 46% of transgender students reported missing at least one day of school in the preceding month because they felt unsafe or uncomfortable there and 17% of transgender students reported that they left a K-12 school due to the severity of the harassment they experienced at school.
• Seventy-seven percent of students known or perceived as transgender reported negative experiences such as harassment and assault, and over half of transgender and nonbinary youth reported seriously considering suicide in the past year. 
• Meanwhile, transgender or gender nonconforming students who have social environments that support their gender identity have mental health outcomes that largely "mirror" those of their cisgender peers.

A copy of the ruling is available here.