By Dan Hart
The Washington Stand
A recently amended bill that originally passed California’s State Assembly in May would take the extraordinary step of holding parents liable for child abuse if they refuse to affirm the chosen gender identity of their child.
As reported by The Daily Signal, AB 957 was originally centered on requiring courts to take into consideration a parent’s willingness to affirm their child’s chosen gender identity in custody cases. But the bill was amended in the California Senate by state Senator Scott Wiener (D) on June 6 so that it “would include a parent’s affirmation of the child’s gender identity as part of the health, safety, and welfare of the child.”
Because the amended bill rewrites Section 3011 of California’s Family Code so that it would be a violation of the child’s health, safety, and welfare to not affirm their chosen gender identity, a parent that does so would be committing the equivalent of child abuse. This would then give California courts the authority to remove a child from his or her parents’ home.
In addition, organizations that interact with the child — such as schools, churches, and hospitals — would also run the risk of committing child abuse if they do not affirm a child’s chosen gender identity.
