Dear Editor,
On Feb. 22, Assembly Bill 1266 was introduced in the California Legislature by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco). This bill seeks to impose radical “gender identity” mandates on K-12 public schools to a degree that most parents would find shocking.
AB 1266 requires that elementary, middle and high school students be allowed to fully participate on sports teams of the opposite sex, and access opposite-sex bathrooms, locker rooms, and other “facilities,” based solely on the student’s self-proclaimed “gender identity” – not their biological sex.
Please notify your readers to take action within the next 24 hours to oppose AB 1266, a bill that threatens the future of our children.
AB 1266 is an almost-unbelievable proposal in the California Legislature that would take “transgender rights” to such an extreme in our public schools that boys and girls could use any bathroom or locker room they wish, based only on their self-proclaimed “gender identity.” Perhaps the most shocking thing about this bill is that one half of the Legislature (the Assembly) has already voted to approve it! The bill is now in the Senate, and that’s where we need your immediate action.
It is astounding that some legislators are so beholden to Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender special interests that they will sacrifice our children’s safety on the altar of political correctness. It is absurd to mandate – as AB 1266 would do – that any child or teenager can impose their own gender confusion on everyone else by accessing the bathrooms, locker rooms, and sports teams of the opposite biological sex in our public schools. There are absolutely no safeguards in the bill that would allow responsible teachers, coaches, administrators or parents to act in the best interests of the vast majority of children who are not gender confused. This type of mindless mandate demonstrates just how out of touch some legislators are with ordinary Californians.
The Senate Education Committee is scheduled to consider and vote on AB 1266 on Wednesday, June 12. Please call and fax the Committee members at the numbers below to voice your concerns about this bill. The hearing starts at 9:00 a.m. in Room 2083 of the State Capitol.
Contact the Senate Education Committee Members:
Senator Carol Liu (Chair) – Phone: 916-651-4025, Fax: 916-324-7543
Senator Mark Wyland (Vice Chair) – Phone: 916-651-4038, Fax: 916-446-7382
Senator Marty Block – Phone: 916-651-4039
Senator Lou Correa – Phone: 916-651-4034
Senator Loni Hancock – Phone: 916-651-4009, Fax: 916-327-1997
Senator Ben Hueso – Phone: 916-651-4040, Fax: 916-327-3522
Senator Bob Huff – Phone: 916-651-4029, Fax: 916-324-0922
Senator Bill Monning – Phone: 916-651-4017, Fax: 916-445-8081
Senator Norma J. Torres – Phone: 916-651-4032, Fax: 916-651-4932
If you’ve already called legislators about AB 1266, thank you and keep it up! It only takes a few hundred calls—out of the nearly 40 million California residents—to make a difference, so the effect of each one is multiplied many times over.
John Houghton, Gilroy
