Gavin Newsom Has a Long History of Pushing ‘Gender Transitions’ for Children

Gavin Newsom has struck again. On Monday, the California governor signed a law designed to allow schools to “transition” children without their parents’ knowledge or consent.

Newsom’s law prohibits school districts from requiring parental notification when a child asks to “transition.” That means that all teachers in California will be free to choose whether to conceal or reveal students’ newfound gender identities. Teachers can call a student by the biologically incorrect pronouns and allow him or her to use the opposite sex’s bathroom — and that child’s parents will be none the wiser. The law also protects teachers from retaliation for such actions.

In recent years, several conservative school districts in California have sought to create policies that require parental notification when a child voices a desire to transition. These districts have faced a bevy of lawsuits for doing so, including from California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D), who has said that such policies cause “imminent, irreparable harm.”

Newsom’s allies in the California Legislature have described the new law as a necessary defense against the supposedly evil parents who oppose their children’s “transitions.” These parents, said California Assemblymember Chris Ward (D), who introduced the legislation, can cause “serious harm” to their child if they are informed of the new gender identity. (“Although many LGBTQ youth have supportive families, some unfortunately continue to face rejection and are exposed to serious harm if pre-maturely forced to reveal their identity,” Ward said.)

Newsom has long been the country’s most radical politician on transgenderism, especially regarding the transitioning of children. This new law only cements his legacy as the preeminent national leader for pumping girls with testosterone and cutting off their breasts, and setting up boys for a lifetime of estrogen injections and complications after a penectomy and vaginoplasty.

Upon assuming the governorship, Newsom immediately set upon implementing the most extreme and ideological sex education imaginable. Under the California Health Education Framework, his Board of Education called on educators to inject radical transgender ideology into curricula for even the youngest students. 

The curriculum framework posits that children in kindergarten through third grade can “understand they have a gender identity that is different from their sex assigned at birth” and calls on teachers to expose students in this age group to images of children “who do not conform to typical gender stereotypes.” It calls for sex education to begin in fifth grade, when students are ages 10 to 11. Teachers are advised to use “gender-neutral language” in all discussions for fifth graders so as to be inclusive of “gender identity.”

The California curriculum recommends books that push radical transgender ideology. One such book is “George,” in which a young boy decides that he’s a girl named Melissa. One line in the book describes the child looking at his genitalia in the bathtub and being disgusted with himself. The California Health Education Framework says of this book: “Understanding individual differences will help students feel accepted and be more accepting of others. George by Alex Gino (2015) is an age-appropriate book and resource on this topic for fifth-grade students.”

When in 2022 the Florida Legislature went in the opposite direction as California, and passed the Parental Rights in Education bill, which says that “classroom instruction” on “sexual orientation or gender identity” should not occur in kindergarten through third grade “or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards,” Newsom responded by excoriating the bill. He said, “Anyone been paying attention to what that guy … is doing in Florida? The attacks on the LGBTQ community?”

Newsom then signed a law to make California a “sanctuary” for children to receive “gender-affirming treatment” that they could not undergo in conservative states. “In California we believe in equality and acceptance,” said Newsom. “We believe that no one should be prosecuted or persecuted for getting the care they need including gender-affirming care.”

The law went so far as to prohibit California courts from enforcing subpoenas from other states regarding transgender surgeries and medications for children. In addition, the law implied that arrest warrants from other states related to children’s “transgender” medical treatments would not be honored. Opponents of the law argued that it could cause parents to lose custody of their children and allow cross-sex hormones and genital surgeries to be given to children without parental consent. 

Some believe that Newsom relaxed his total radicalness on transgenderism when he vetoed a bill that would have required courts to consider whether a parent had affirmed his or her child’s “gender identity” in custody cases. However, his veto of this bill was really an attempt to ensure total radicalism on transgenderism nationwide. In explaining his veto, the governor said that he was fearful that the bill could inspire conservative states to enact laws to punish parents in custody cases who recognized their child’s newfound “gender identity.”

Newsom made his adherence to transgender ideology clear the day following that veto when he signed three separate laws that pushed transgenderism onto children, including one that requires California courts to keep petitions from minors to change their sex confidential.

With his new law to conceal children’s “gender transitions” from their parents, Newsom has gone all in. He is actively using the apparatus of California’s state government to push unproven and extreme medical interventions on children under the nonsensical explanation that they were born in the wrong body and really belong to the opposite sex. 

Just why is Newsom such a whacko on transgenderism for children? It seems a risky position to take, especially given that a 2023 Washington Post poll found that 68% of adults oppose giving children ages 10 to 14 puberty blockers and 58% oppose these interventions for children ages 15 to 17.

The answer lies in the fact that this stance gives Newsom the opportunity to be the man to push the country in a new direction. Since he is driven by a narcissistic desire to be the figure to create history, this satisfies him greatly. Newsom similarly loved being the man to begin the gay marriage revolution via his issuing of same-sex marriage licenses back in 2004. 

When it comes to Newsom, you can bet that he won’t stop until he advances his agenda on the rest of the nation. Watch out for this man — for the sake of all American children. 

Ellie Gardey Holmes is the author of “Newsom Unleashed: The Progressive Lust for Unbridled Power” and a reporter at the American Spectator.