CHINO, Calif. (NewsNation) — A California superior court judge has blocked parts of a controversial school district policy that opponents said would force teachers to out transgender students.
The part of the policy in question would have required school staff to tell parents if their child asks to change their gender identification.
The policy will remain halted after San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge Michael A. Sachs granted a preliminary injunction Thursday to block them until a final decision is made in the case.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who filed a lawsuit against the Chino Valley Unified School District in August, said the policy is harmful to transgender and gender-nonconforming students.
“This case is about a policy that is discriminatory,” Delbert Tran, a deputy attorney general representing the state, said at the hearing.
The ruling comes amid debates across the country over transgender rights as other states have sought to impose bans on gender-affirming care, bar trans athletes from girls and women’s sports, and require schools to out trans and nonbinary students to their parents.
Similar battles are taking place in states like Massachusetts, Wisconsin and Virginia.
In Massachusetts, 16 attorneys general signed a brief in support of protecting the privacy of transgender students who have shared their identity with school staff.
Earlier this month, a Wisconsin judge blocked a school district’s policy that allowed students to change their names and gender pronouns without their caregivers’ permission.
And in Virginia Beach, two parents filed a lawsuit last month urging their local district to adopt Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s new policies on transgender students, according to The Associated Press. One of those policies would prevent transgender girls from playing on girls’ sports teams.
NewsNation’s Katie Smith and The Associated Press contributed to this report.