Judge Allows Temecula Valley, CA to Forcibly Out Trans Students
CHINO, CA – Superior Court of Riverside County Judge Eric A. Keen on Friday issued a ruling allowing the Temecula Valley Unified School District to enforce a forced outing policy, even as the constitutionality of Temecula’s policy remains an open question.
“Educating children works best with engaged parents and caring teachers working together to create a safe space for all children to learn,” said parent, former teacher and Our Schools USA co-founder Kristi Hirst. “This policy breaks down trust between our most vulnerable students and their teachers, and in the wake of Nex Benedict’s murder, make Temecula schools a hostile environment for students that extremists in Temecula and across the country don’t want to believe exist.”
When a similar forced outing policy was passed by the Chino Valley Unified School District in July 2023, the LA Blade reported that hundreds of scared students contacted a hotline set up by the Rainbow Youth Project USA and Our Schools USA (“648 crisis calls since August from California LGBTQ+ students,” LA Blade, 11/20/23). The hotline can be reached at 866-975-8870.
According to Rainbow Youth Project USA, there have been a significant spike in contacts from Oklahoma since the murder of Nex Benedict was made public early last week.
Judge Keen, ruling days later, declined to see this connection to current events, writing that the policy “does not expressly single out transgender or gender-nonconforming students, as it applies to any student’s request to change their school official or unofficial records.”
A number of Temecula parents, confused by Judge Keen’s ruling, have reached out to Our Schools USA for clarifications.
Founded in February 2023, Our Schools USA is a grassroots non-profit that has grown to have chapters and partnerships with public school advocates in thirty states. Our efforts have been covered by the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, CBS News, NBC News, Fox News, The Guardian, Daily Beast, Vice News, San Francisco Chronicle, Sacramento Bee, and more. Get more information at OurSchoolsUSA.org.
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