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"California is ground zero for the decimation of parents’ rights and AB 957 -- soon to be headed to the governor’s desk -- is the newest iteration." "[This bill] is replete with legal problems -- not only does it violate the free speech and religious liberty rights for parents who hold fast to a notion of sex-based, immutable reality based on either science or religion, but it violates the 14th Amendment right to direct a child’s upbringing long recognized by the Supreme Court and pits parent against parent with the leftist aligned gender identity interests sure to win." |
Assembly Bill 957 – passed by the California Senate on Wednesday (30-9) and by the State Assembly on Friday (57-16) – would "include a parent's affirmation of the child's gender identity as part of the health, safety, and welfare of the child." Both votes were along party lines in the Democrat-dominated legislative chambers.
Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom is expected to sign the bill into law. Greg Burt of California Family Council predicts when that happens, the new law will immediately rear its head in family court. "… It's going to immediately … affect custody decisions that judges are making in divorce proceedings," he tells AFN.
He explains it is not at all uncommon for warring parents to use their children to get back at the offending spouse, sometimes by playing the gender identity card. But Burt says it could soon be applied to intact families – because alleged "gender confusion" is happening more and more often.
"This is setting the stage for saying that any parent who won't affirm a child's gender identity is a threat to them," says Burt. "There's so many kids now identifying as the opposite sex. It's a social contagion."
Entrepreneur Elon Musk – a resident of California – has blasted the legislation, describing it as "a wolf in sheep's clothing." He adds: "What it actually means is that if you disagree with the other parent about sterilizing your child, you lose custody. Utter madness!"
Burt warns it could even mean a visit from Child Protective Services to remove children from their parent's custody.
"[Transgender militants] cannot handle anybody challenging this worldview they have," he concludes. "I'm not sure how we're all going to live in this pluralistic society if Christians can no longer express their own views about these very important topics."
A Republican state senator – one of only eight in the 40-seat Senate – warned parents in June to "flee" the state if the measure became law.
