Democrats stood beside Assemblyman Chris Ward as he closed arguments for AB 1955. (Photo: assembly.ca.gov)
9th Circuit Blocks State Officials from Enforcing California’s Gender Secrecy Law
Federal appeals court reverses course, holds California cannot bar school district policies that require parents be notified about their children’s secret ‘gender transitions’
By Katy Grimes, June 19, 2026 2:27 pm
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has blocked California officials from enforcing parts of California’s Gender Secrecy Law that limit schools from disclosing a student’s gender identity information to parents.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a preliminary injunction blocking California officials from enforcing key parts of Assembly Bill 1955 by Assemblyman Chris Ward (D-San Diego), the bill to prohibit schools from notifying parents if their child is “gender confused.”
This is the dangerous bill, which during Assembly debate in June 2024, then-Assemblyman Bill Essayli (R-Riverside) spoke about how morally and legally wrong it is to cut parents out of the discussions over a gender confused child, the Globe reported. He also brought up his bill from 2023 which would have addressed this, but Assembly Speaker pro Tempore Jim Wood interrupted him, and when Essayli challenged the interruption, and noted that he is always interrupted by Speaker Wood when he speaks on the Assembly Floor, Wood cut his mic off.
Essayli said the Democrat leadership was like “the Chinese Communist Party.”
He reiterated, “nobody cares more for kids than the parents.” And “schools are a mandated reporter.”
“School districts have no right to withhold this information from parents.” And he noted that courts across the country have upheld this legal right.
This law, passed by the California Legislature and signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom in 2024, prohibits school employees from disclosing a student’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to parents or guardians without the student’s consent.
The Thomas More Society, which represents the teachers and parents in the civil rights class action case Mirabelli v. Bonta, in which the U.S. Supreme Court vacated a Ninth Circuit stay and held that California’s school gender secrecy policies likely violate parents’ Free Exercise and Due Process rights, just released this statement:
Relying entirely on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Mirabelli v. Bonta (2026), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit yesterday enjoined enforcement of key provisions of California’s AB 1955—the state law that prohibited school districts from adopting parental notification policies regarding a minor student’s “gender identity.”
In City of Huntington Beach v. Gavin Newsom, a three-judge panel held that AB 1955 forbids the very parental notification policies the Constitution requires under Mirabelli and granted a preliminary injunction on behalf of seven parent-plaintiffs. The panel had twice previously denied injunctive relief in the case, but reversed course in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling inMirabelli, the landmark parental rights case brought by Thomas More Society on behalf of California parents and teachers.
“Yesterday, the Ninth Circuit enjoined AB 1955, California’s ban on school districts passing policies to advise parents about their child’s gender presentation at school, holding that, ‘In light of Mirabelli, AB 1955… forbids the mandatory policies that the Constitution requires,’” reacted Paul M. Jonna, Special Counsel for Thomas More Society and Partner at LiMandri & Jonna LLP. “This decision is a direct result of the courage of our clients who challenged California’s gender secrecy regime back in 2023.”
“The Supreme Court’s historic decision in Mirabelli makes clear that parents cannot be kept in the dark about their own children’s ‘gender identity’ at school,” Jonna added. “Every state law that interferes with parental rights in this way violatesMirabelli—and we are very pleased that the Ninth Circuit got this right by declaring AB 1955 unconstitutional.”
California is currently appealing the underlying district court judgment in the Ninth Circuit.
Read the decision in City of Huntington Beach v. Gavin Newsom, here.
For more information about Mirabelli v. Bonta, visit thomasmoresociety.org/
A California native and Navy mom, Katy lives in Sacramento, CA.
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Yes, and sadly California is relentlessly contorting itself into a pretzel trying to sidestep the Mirabelli decision. Here is their brief filed 5/26/26:
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72227486/45/mirabelli-et-al-v-bonta-et-al/
Good. Very glad to hear it. So far so good. We’ll see.
Just amazing that this is even an issue, isn’t it?
Horrifying and surreal.