Conservatives tried to force all schools in California to out trans kids. They just failed.

California conservative activists are disappointed that their measure that would have required schools to out transgender students failed to get enough signatures to appear on November’s ballot.

“If we had a little more time and a little more money, we would have easily qualified for the ballot,” the leader of the initiative, Roseville school board member Jonathan Zachreson, told the LA Times.

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You don’t learn this in history class.

If passed, the measure would have required schools to tell parents if a student goes by a nickname or new pronouns while at school or asks to use facilities that aren’t associated with their sex as it appears on official records. The measure also would have banned gender-affirming care for minors in the state.

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While other states have already passed such measures, California has generally been supportive of transgender youth. In 2022, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed a law making the state a sanctuary for trans youth and their families.

Zachreson said that his campaign for the measure had raised $200,000 to help it get the 546,651 signatures necessary to go on the ballot. But by the deadline—which was yesterday—the campaign had only gotten 400,000 signatures.

Earlier this year, the campaigners sued California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) for naming their ballot measure the “Restricts Rights of Transgender Youth Initiative.” Campaigners wanted the name “Protect Kids of California Act of 2024,” despite the fact that their initiative would have undermined the safety of trans kids with unsupportive parents who may kick them out or abuse their children if they find out they have not been conforming to their sex assigned at birth while at school.

A judge initially sided with Bonta, agreeing that the name “Restrict Rights of Transgender Youth Initiative” is a fair description of the measure, but now the argument is moot.

Meanwhile, LGBTQ+ advocates celebrated the measure’s failure.

“We are relieved that anti-LGBTQ+ extremists have failed to reach the required signature threshold to qualify their anti-transgender ballot initiatives to the November 2024 ballot,” Equality California Executive Director Tony Hoang said in a statement. “Equality California will continue to advocate for the rights of LGBTQ+ youth everywhere, and push back against any and all efforts by extremist groups who seek to discriminate against them.”

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