The California State Assembly passed a bill along strictly party lines requiring judges presiding over child custody hearings to weigh whether a parent supports their kid’s “gender transition” in determining “the health, safety, and welfare of the child.”
“This bill, for purposes of this provision, would include a parent’s affirmation of the child’s gender identity as part of the health, safety, and welfare of the child,” the legislation reads.
BREAKING: California lawmakers send Gov. Gavin Newsom a proposed law that would require judges to consider a parents affirmation of their child’s identity in custody cases.
(AB 957)Got out of the Assembly easily with final approval of technical changes. pic.twitter.com/uUVNMKUTua
— Ashley Zavala (@ZavalaA) September 8, 2023
California Bill AB957 amended a section of the state Family Code focused on “the best interests of the child,” adding new “comprehensive factors” including “a parent’s affirmation of the child’s gender identity or gender expression.”
“Affirmation includes a range of actions and will be unique for each child, but in every case must promote the child’s overall health and well-being,” the bill, authored by Democratic assembly member Lori Wilson, states.
At the time, Wilson reaffirmed the importance of her bill and called parents unsupportive of youth transition “abusive.”
“It is not taking away any other factor,” the assemblywoman told the outlet. “If a parent is abusive to their child, I don’t care what name they use for their child, I don’t care with what pronouns they use. That child should not be with that parent.”
Elon Musk, who recently accused an elite private school in California of infecting one of his children with a “woke mind virus” that led them to transition, reacted to the bill’s passage by calling it “a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
“What it actually means is that if you disagree with the other parent about sterilizing your child, you lose custody,” Musk wrote on the social-media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, which he acquired earlier this year. “Utter madness!”
In June, parental rights groups demonstrated outside the State Capitol in Sacramento to express their concern for the bill making its way through the legislative process.
“It happened to me when I refused to call my daughter by a male name and use male pronouns. CPS [Child Protective Services] showed up at my doorstep. The police followed,” Erica Friday, a community organizer and co-founder of the group OurDuty, told CBS News in June.
This is California State Rep. Lori Wilson, who wrote AB 957: "Parents affirm their children. Typically it happens when their gender identity matches their biological gender. But when it doesn't, the affirmation starts to wane… Our duty as parents is to affirm our children." pic.twitter.com/KP2Z9sksmp
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) September 8, 2023
“No one is out to get your kids,” Wilson told a local news affiliate earlier this year. “No one is out to force your kids to be anything they shouldn’t be. It’s about really protecting children who are caught up in the family court system from a parent that is antagonistic or non-affirming.”
Democratic governor Gavin Newsom, who recently ruled out any prospects of challenging President Joe Biden for the party’s nomination in 2024, is expected to sign the bill when it comes to his desk.