California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus Condemns Judge Benitez’s Ruling Targeting LGBTQ+ Students While Inviting Broader Attacks on Existing Constitutional Rights and Nondiscrimination Laws

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus Condemns Judge Benitez’s Ruling Targeting LGBTQ+ Students While Inviting Broader Attacks on Existing Constitutional Rights and Nondiscrimination Laws

SACRAMENTO, CA —  The California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus released the following statement in response to Judge Roger Benitez’s ruling in Mirabelli v. Olson:

“The California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus strongly condemns the recent ruling by Judge Benitez in Mirabelli v. Olson. While the decision formally addresses a narrow Escondido Union School District policy, it deliberately injects confusion into the public understanding of the SAFETY Act (AB 1955) and signals an alarming willingness to undermine long-standing constitutional rights to privacy and nondiscrimination protections across California law.

All children, regardless of their gender identity and sexual orientation, deserve to be safe and feel a sense of belonging in their learning environment. The best way for students to succeed is for them to be able to focus on the basics like math, science and English without the risk of bullying and discrimination. The SAFETY Act was designed to ensure all students could come to school to learn and grow without fear. All this ruling does is inject more fear into our schools, an outcome that helps no one. 

This ruling does not just attack the rights of students to have a safe and supportive learning environment, it also seeks to remove the right of teachers to be able to teach in a safe environment. Our teachers play such a pivotal role in our communities as trusted mentors and educators to our children as they learn to navigate life. We should empower them to answer the call that drove them to this profession in the first place, teaching the next generation of leaders. Instead, this ruling burdens them with yet another unrelated and harmful task of policing children's gender – a task that ultimately strips families of the right to handle this issue when they are ready and willing. 

It is critical to be clear about what this ruling does and does not do. Judge Benitez ruled only on a local school board policy that prohibited teachers from forcibly outing students to their families. On the converse, the SAFETY Act ensures that teachers and school staff are not the gender police by stating they cannot be compelled to forcibly out a student. AB 1955, the SAFETY Act, remains the law in California. 

Judge Benitez’s ruling is a textbook example of retaliatory politics against LGBTQ+ rights. His decision goes further than the narrow facts before the court. In his opinion, he explicitly leaves the door open to future challenges targeting a host of California laws and constitutional rights involving nondiscrimination protections and privacy rights. This is not judicial restraint – it is an open invitation to dismantle decades of settled civil rights law and rights set forth in our constitution. 

This latest Judge Benitez ruling represents another in a long line of rulings from a judge who has not only consistently undermined the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals, but also worked to erode state law to support firearm safety, women’s rights to healthcare, and now struggling students and their families. We are appalled but not surprised by his ruling as this is a part of his clear MAGA philosophical agenda of making every Californian less safe in their communities. 

California students and their families, like all others, deserve to be supported in building towards family acceptance and deciding on their own terms when and how to have conversations about identity. The SAFETY Act ensures that outside actors cannot intrude in the parent-child relationship by preventing politicians and local governments from inappropriately intervening in family matters and attempting to control if, when, and how families have those deeply personal conversations. The SAFETY Act is designed to support parents, guardians, and families of LGBTQ+ students by providing them with critical supports and resources as they work towards acceptance on their own terms. It is crucial that students are able to talk with their families on their own terms and not at the whim of others.

Judge Benitez’s ruling is not about protecting anyone’s rights. It is part of a broader pattern of ideological decisions aimed at rolling back California law and constitutional rights of privacy and civil rights. His decision reinforces harmful narratives and promote harmful, unconstitutional forced outing policies that pit families against school officials all at the detriment of students’ mental health and academic success.

While this ruling creates confusion and uncertainty, it does not deter us. We remain steadfast in defending the SAFETY Act, our constitutional rights to privacy, civil rights, and the fundamental right of every Californian safe from harm, regardless of political agendas or the personal biases of conservative judges.

We are confident that this ruling will be appealed and we ask that the state file an emergency motion to stay the decision. 

Our California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus will not back down in our defense of LGBTQ+ students and their ability to live authentically and safely in their schools. We hold firm in our belief that every student deserves to learn in a safe and supportive environment, free from discrimination and harm.”

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About the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus

California’s Legislative LGBTQ Caucus was formed in 2002 to create a forum for California Legislators to discuss issues that affect LGBTQ Californians and to further the goal of equality and justice for all Californians. California became the first state in the United States to officially form a caucus of openly-LBGTQ state legislators and continues to be a leader of progress for all Americans. In 2025, our membership hit a new milestone of 14 members, maintaining its position as one of the largest LGBTQ Caucus in the Nation, and continues to remain strong. Despite tremendous progress and an unprecedented swell of support for the LGBTQ community worldwide, there is still much work to do to protect and uplift the most vulnerable in our community. The LGBTQ Caucus strives to advocate for diversity and inclusion of all people, including differently abled bodies. Our Caucus is working diligently to support LGBTQ leaders that represent our community at the local, state, and federal levels.

For more information on the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus, please visit https://lgbtqcaucus.legislature.ca.gov/