Gavin Newsom cut parents out of trans kids’ lives — until one brave judge said no

[Kamaji]

Gavin Newsom cut parents out of trans kids’ lives — until one brave judge said no

By Sonja Shaw   
Published Jan. 1, 2026

Last week US District Judge Roger Benitez issued a landmark ruling that confirmed what parents have been saying for years: School policies that hide a child’s gender-identity changes from families are unconstitutional.

Benitez’s decision in Mirabelli v. Olson, which overturns a law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2024, applies statewide and permanently blocks these secrecy rules.

Two brave teachers made this victory possible.

Elizabeth Mirabelli and Lori Ann West refused to lie to parents.

Their Escondido school district, backed by state officials, ordered staff to use new names and pronouns at school while deliberately hiding that information from moms and dads.

Benitez dismantled that scheme, affirming that parents have a fundamental 14th Amendment right to direct the upbringing of their children.

Teachers also have First Amendment rights protecting them from being forced to deceive families.

In plain English, the court said what common sense has been telling us all along: The government does not get to replace parents.

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Source:  https://nypost.com/2026/01/01/opinion/one-brave-judge-saves-trans-kids-from-newsoms-meddling/

[mountaineer]

Who thought that it would come to this in the USA, that state agencies would attempt to impose dangerous drug therapies and life-altering surgeries on children without the parents' knowledge?

[PeteS in CA]

Benitez has been a thorn in Progs’ rumps for quite a few years. It might be that a bit of judge-shopping happened here, in the sense that a San Diego area parent was the plaintiff instead of a Berserkeley area parent, but parents all over CA would have been affected.