A federal appeals court temporarily blocked a California gender secrecy law that allows schools to hide students’ “gender transitions” from parents.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit struck another blow to the law on Thursday, siding with the City of Huntington Beach over the State of California. A three-judge panel issued a preliminary injunction blocking the law as litigation continues, specifically citing the Supreme Court’s March ruling against the law in a separate case called Mirabelli v. Bonta.
“In light of Mirabelli, the Movants are likely to succeed on the merits of their constitutional claim, including the required threshold showing of Article III standing,” the panel wrote.
Nick Barry, senior counsel at America First Legal (AFL) representing the City of Huntington Beach in the case, called the Ninth Circuit’s decision a “powerful vindication of parental rights.”
“California cannot use state law to force schoolteachers and administrators into a conspiracy of silence against parents. California’s law, and similar school policies, use state coercion to intentionally interfere with the parent-child relationship and separate a child from their parent,” Barry said in a statement. “That is wrong and unlawful. The Constitution is clear — parents have the right to know what is happening with their children and make decisions regarding their mental health, and no state law can override that fundamental protection.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed the law in July 2024, making California the first state to ban school districts from requiring staff to inform parents if their child changes “gender” identification at school.
After the law went into effect, the Huntington Beach city council responded by passing an ordinance called “Parents Right to Know” that requires teachers to tell parents about their child’s “gender identity.”
Then-Mayor Gracey Van Der Mark said at the time that the ordinance “represents the city taking a stand against Sacramento’s overreach in its blatant invasion of the parent-child relationship.”
The city subsequently filed a lawsuit against California but was ultimately blocked by a district court and the Ninth Circuit. The city renewed its push against the law after the Supreme Court blocked the law in another case and said that “parents — not the State — have primary authority with respect to the upbringing and education of children.”
Paul M. Jonna, special counsel for the Thomas More Society, which was involved in the Supreme Court case, said the Ninth Circuit’s 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 continued. “Every state law that interferes with parental rights in this way violates Mirabelli — and we are very pleased that the Ninth Circuit got this right by declaring AB 1955 unconstitutional.”
Newsom and California Democrats continue to stand by the gender secrecy law and have vowed to keep fighting for it.
“Teachers should be focused on teaching — not forced to be gender cops,” Newsom spokesperson Marissa Saldivar told The Sacramento Bee after the Supreme Court’s ruling. “Today’s shadow docket ruling by the Supreme Court undermines student privacy and the ability to learn in a safe and supportive classroom, free from discrimination based on gender identity.”
The case is City of Huntington Beach v. California, No. 25-3826 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.