California has passed a gender bill that punishes parents for not affirming their child’s gender dysphoria and/or transition.

A newly revised California bill would make a parent’s refusal to “affirm” a child’s transgender identity grounds for denial of custody or visitation rights.

The legislation, which already passed the state Assembly, would require any judge hearing a custody dispute over a trans-identifying child to favor a parent who “affirms” the kid’s preferred gender. On Tuesday, the authors of the bill released an updated version that defines “the health, safety, and welfare” of a child to include “a parent’s affirmation of the child’s gender identity.”

Critics say the bill, as now written, could lead judges to treat as abusers parents who are anything less than fully supportive of their child’s claims to be transgender.

“When you say that gender affirmation is in the child’s best interest for health, safety, and welfare, it takes nothing to say [non-affirmation] is now abuse because you’re not taking care of the health, safety, and welfare if you’re not affirming them,” said Erin Friday, a San Francisco attorney and co-lead of the parent coalition Our Duty.

Yes, this bill is THAT BAD. The state is now mandating that parents will be punished with jail time if they do not automatically and unhesitatingly affirm their child’s desire/whim to gender transition. And no, the parents can’t even ask for therapy for the child to determine if he or she really wants to transition or is just embracing this dangerous life-altering fad. 

This bill is a complete abomination. It takes away parents rights.

In California, parents are presumed to be abusers.

Affirm any and all transgender identities, or lose your child.

AB957 has passed the CA Senate. https://t.co/0a341CUfwr

— Scarlett Johnson (@scarlett4kids) September 6, 2023

Remember when we wrote about the young boy in Texas whose mother (and I use that term VERY loosely) wanted to transition her son into a girl? The parents are divorced and the father understandably objected and wanted his son protected from transitioning in all aspects. Which includes the medications and life-damaging surgeries. 

In California, this law once it is signed by Gavin Newsom, would cause the objecting parent to be classified as an abuser for not affirming their child’s whims. 

Unfortunately, the voices of the rational weren’t loud enough and the Democrat-led California legislature voted this hideously evil abomination into being. And yet, there are parents/voters out there who are surprised this happened. 

“It’s mind-boggling to me,” Christina Irvin, a parent in Bakersfield said. “How did we even get here?” It’s just downright evil.”

That’s Irvin’s reaction to California Assembly Bill 957. The proposed bill would require social workers to take children who identify as transgender, away from their parents if the parents don’t quote “affirm” the child identifying as transgender.

“I think it’s frightening. I really do,” Irvin said. “I think it’s unconscionable that the government would deem to think itself a parent.”

She said children don’t have a good grasp on what is good for them.

I wonder who she voted for? Also, if she’d been paying attention, she’d have known that California was moving this direction when, last year, the state declared itself a sanctuary state for abortions and parents wanting to trans their kids. 

It is not your duty to affirm your children. It’s your duty to *raise* your children, and that does not always mean affirming them. Please imagine the idea of “affirmation waning” in parenting as a legal standard for the state to get into custody decisions. These are bad ideas. https://t.co/oafMPspZfq

— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) September 8, 2023

But supposedly this bill won’t penalize anyone who refuses to affirm their child’s whims. Except it will. 

This bill is 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.

Utter madness!

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 8, 2023

The bill itself leaves the very definition of affirmation wide-open to interpretation. Thus family law and custody decisions can far too easily be weaponized. 

The California bill does not define “affirmation,” leaving it unclear if a parent would be required to support a child’s desire to socially transition or receive medical sex-change treatments. Nor does the bill make distinctions based on a child’s age or mental health record.

Wilson’s spokesman disputed that the revised bill is significantly different than the previous version and noted that A.B. 957 only relates to family law. It would not make parental “non-affirmation” a crime.

“It’s not saying [affirmation] is the most important factor or determining factor,” the spokesman, Taylor Woolfork, said. “It’s one of many factors that the judge should consider while working out a custody agreement.”

Again, as happened in Texas and has happened to other children (specifically the case involving a trafficked girl in Baltimore), the law has swung to the side of transitioning the child against all rational and reasoned objections. 

No matter what anyone says, this bill penalizes parents. The state will have its say under this law. 

AB 957 post-amendment “would include a parent’s affirmation of the child’s gender identity as part of the health, safety, and welfare of the child,” altering the definition and application of the entire California Family Code.

California courts would be given complete authority under Section 3011 of California’s Family Code to remove a child from his or her parents’ home if parents disapprove of LGBTQ+ ideology.

Yes, it won’t take long for this legislation to be weaponized against parents who are dealing with custody disputes. And this bill was passed even as Gavin Newsom is suing Chino schools for refusing to hide a child’s desire to transition from their parents! 

The state does not own the parent nor the child. Yet, with this law (which Newsom will probably sign), the state becomes the malignant power-mad abuser of children. 

Feature Photo Credit: Gender sign at San Diego Pride parade, via iStock, cropped and modified