California Gender and Transgender-Related Policies in Schools, Sports, and Medicine Initiative (2024)

California Gender and Transgender-Related Policies in Schools, Sports, and Medicine Initiative
Election date November 5, 2024
Topic LGBT issues and Education
Status Not on the ballot
Type State statute	Origin Citizens

The California Gender and Transgender-Related Policies in Schools, Sports, and Medicine Initiative (#23-0027) was not on the ballot in California as an initiated state statute on November 5, 2024.

Measure design

See also: Text of measure

The initiative would have prohibited males (persons with XY chromosomes) from competing in female (persons with XX chromosomes) sports in public schools and universities. It would also have required sex-segregated bathrooms and locker rooms at educational institutions. It would also have required schools to notify parents when a student requests to be treated as a gender identity that differs from the student's biological sex in the student's record.

It would have prohibited healthcare professionals from prescribing hormones or performing procedures that would stop or delay puberty or alter a minor's appearance for the purpose of changing gender identity. Violations of this provision would have been considered unprofessional conduct by the healthcare professional and be subject to discipline by the licensing entity for that health care provider. The initiative would have required the revocation of the health care provider's licensure or certification as part of the disciplinary process.

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title was as follows:

“

Restricts rights of transgender youth. Initiative statute.

”

Petition summary

The summary provided for inclusion on signature petition sheets was as follows:

“

Requires public and private schools and colleges to: restrict gender-segregated facilities like bathrooms to persons assigned that gender at birth; prohibit transgender female students (grades 7+) from participating in female sports. Repeals law allowing students to participate in activities and use facilities consistent with their gender identity. Requires schools to notify parents whenever a student under 18 asks to be treated as a gender differing from school records without exception for student safety. Prohibits gender-affirming health care for transgender patients under 18, even if parents consent or treatment is medically recommended.

”

Fiscal impact

The fiscal impact statement was as follows:

“

Potentially minor savings in state and local health care costs of up to millions of dollars annually from no longer paying for prohibited services for individuals under the age of 18. These savings could be affected by many other impacts, such as individuals seeking treatment later in life. Minor administrative and workload costs to schools, colleges, and universities, up to several millions of dollars initially. Potential, but unknown, cost pressures to state and local governments related to federal fiscal penalties if the measure results in federally funded schools, colleges, universities, or health care providers being deemed out of compliance with federal law.

”

Full text

The full text of the ballot measure is below:

Support

Protect Kids California led the campaign in support of the initiative. To see a full list of individuals and organizations that have endorsed the initiative, click here.

Supporters

Officials

• Asm. Bilal Essayli (R)

Organizations

• Independent Council on Woman’s Sports
• Moms for Liberty

Individuals

• Riley Gaines - Former NCAA athlete

Arguments

• Sophia Lorey, a former college soccer player: "Women have fought for a level playing field for years. Tragically, many bureaucrats in government, medicine, education, and athletics act as if the subjective feelings of men and boys are more important than the objective safety of women and girls. This is not acceptable. We must protect our sisters and daughters in bathrooms, locker rooms, and sports teams. Silence is not an option."
• Erin Friday, a parent and supporter of the initiative: "Parent notification is required in all school settings and is supported by the Supreme Court. In no other school settings are secrets kept from parents. Not bad grades, not disciplinary issues, nothing. Some will argue that this ‘outs’ the child in question. That’s utter nonsense, the child has already outed themselves by requesting that they go by another name. This is a simple notification from the school to the parent that their child has requested to do so."

Opposition

Ballotpedia did not locate a campaign in opposition to the ballot measure.

Opponents

Political Parties

• California Democratic Party

Organizations

• Equality California

Arguments

• Tom Temprano, Equality California spokesman: "California should be a safe and welcoming place for everyone, which is why we have longstanding laws in effect that protect and preserve the rights of LGBTQ+ youth and their families. This initiative seeks to undo these critical protections and make our schools and communities less safe for all youth."
• Kathie Moehlig, head of San Diego-based nonprofit TransFamily Support Services: "Schools don’t have an agenda to make kids trans. Schools have an agenda to keep all students safe. The unfortunate truth is that there are some kids who are in homes where sharing about their gender identity or sexual orientation would make them unsafe."

Campaign finance

See also: Campaign finance requirements for California ballot measures

The campaign finance information on this page reflects the most recent scheduled reports that Ballotpedia has processed, which covered through December 31, 2023. The deadline for the next scheduled reports was June 30, 2024.

One committee—Students First California Committee in Support of Measures to Protect Kids—registered in support of the initiative. It received over $82,000 in contributions.

	Cash Contributions	In-Kind Contributions	Total Contributions	Cash Expenditures	Total Expenditures
Support	$82,629.17	$0.00	$82,629.17	$49,089.14	$49,089.14
Oppose	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Total	$82,629.17	$0.00	$82,629.17	$49,089.14	$49,089.14

Support

The following table includes contribution and expenditure totals for the committee in support of the measure.

Committees in support of Gender and Transgender-Related Policies in Schools, Sports, and Medicine Initiative
Committee	Cash Contributions	In-Kind Contributions	Total Contributions	Cash Expenditures	Total Expenditures
A Students First California Committee in Support of Measures to Protect Kids	$82,629.17	$0.00	$82,629.17	$49,089.14	$49,089.14
Total	$82,629.17	$0.00	$82,629.17	$49,089.14	$49,089.14

Donors

The following were the top donors who contributed to the support committee.

Donor	Cash Contributions	In-Kind Contributions	Total Contributions
Clare Friday	$10,199.00	$0.00	$10,199.00
Dale Broome	$5,000.00	$0.00	$5,000.00
Mark Travis	$5,000.00	$0.00	$5,000.00
Debbie Weiss	$3,000.00	$0.00	$3,000.00
Clarence Brenan	$2,000.00	$0.00	$2,000.00

Background

2023 California laws related to gender and transgender policies

The following bills related to gender and transgender policies were passed and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) during the 2023 legislative session:

• Assembly Bill 5: The law requires the California Department of Education to develop training curriculum and local educational agencies to provide at least one hour of training annually to all staff on how to support lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ+) students.
• Assembly Bill 223: The bill requires any petition to a court to change gender, sex identifier, or name of persons under the age of 18 be kept confidential.
• Assembly Bill 760: The bill requires the California State University (CSU) and the University of California (UC) to authorize a process whereby current students and staff may request to change the person's name or gender in official records, including diploma and transcripts.
• Assembly Bill 783: The bill requires single-use toilet facilities to be identified as all-gender toilet facilities in all cities and counties.
• Senate Bill 372: The bill requires licensing entities within the Department of Consumer Affairs to update licensee records if it receives official documentation for a legal name or gender change.
• Senate Bill 407: The bill requires that the California Department of Social Services and counties to ensure that foster youth are placed in homes with families that demonstrate an ability to affirm and meet the needs of a child, regardless of the child's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.
• Senate Bill 760: The bill requires local educational agencies, County Office of Education, and charter schools to provide at least one all-gender restroom for students at K-12 schools.
• Senate Bill 857: The bill requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to convene an advisory task force to identify the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, and plus (LGBTQ+) pupils and submit a report to the state legislature and governor.

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing the initiative process in California

The state process

In California, the number of signatures required for an initiated state statute is equal to 5 percent of the votes cast in the preceding gubernatorial election. Petitions are allowed to circulate for 180 days from the date the attorney general prepares the petition language. Signatures need to be certified at least 131 days before the general election. As the verification process can take multiple months, the secretary of state provides suggested deadlines for ballot initiatives.

The requirements to get initiated state statutes certified for the 2024 ballot:

• Signatures: 546,651 were required.
• Deadline: The deadline for signature verification was 131 days before the general election, which was around June 27, 2024. However, the process of verifying signatures can take multiple months and proponents are recommended to file signatures at least two months before the verification deadline.

Signatures are first filed with local election officials, who determine the total number of signatures submitted. If the total number is equal to at least 100 percent of the required signatures, then local election officials perform a random check of signatures submitted in their counties. If the random sample estimates that more than 110 percent of the required number of signatures are valid, the initiative is eligible for the ballot. If the random sample estimates that between 95 and 110 percent of the required number of signatures are valid, a full check of signatures is done to determine the total number of valid signatures. If less than 95 percent are estimated to be valid, the initiative does not make the ballot.

Details about this initiative

• The initiative was filed on September 25, 2023, by Jonathan Zachreson.
• The initiative was cleared of circulation on November 29, 2023.
• On January 3, 2024, the campaign announced that they were filing a lawsuit against Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) regarding the ballot title. Jonathan Zachreson, the leader of Protect Kids California, said, “We find the attorney general’s title and summary for our proposed initiative laughable. Not only is the attorney general showing his bias, but he is also factually inaccurate."
• On April 10, 2024, the secretary of state reported that sponsors had collected 25% of the required number of signatures.
• On April 23, 2024, Sacramento Superior Court Judge Stephen Acquisto tentatively sided with the attorney general regarding the ballot title, but did not make a final decision. He said, "Under current law, minor students have express statutory rights with respect to their gender identity. A substantial portion of the proposed measure is dedicated to eliminating or restricting these statutory rights."
• On May 28, the campaign announced that they did not collect the required number of signatures needed to qualify for the ballot.

See also

2024 measures

• 2024 ballot measures
• LGBT issues on the ballot
• Education on the ballot
• 2024 petition deadlines

California

• California ballot measures
• California initiative laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls
• Ballot measure signature costs

External links

• Initiative and referendum status
• Full text