On October 11, 2015, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a landmark bill that protects transgender children in the foster care system.

Authored by Senator Mark Leno, Senate Bill 731 gives critical guidance to child welfare workers regarding the placement of transgender youth in out-of-home care. The bill, co-authored by Senator Jim Beall, amends the Foster Care Bill of Rights to specify that foster youth have the right to be placed according to their gender identity, regardless of the sex listed in their court or child welfare records. SB 731, which went into effect on January 1, 2016, also requires the California Department of Social Services to issue regulations implementing this provision. By providing specific guidance to the child welfare field, the bill promotes the safety, permanency and well-being of transgender foster youth.

Many transgender youth face rejection, harassment, and abuse from their families, communities, and schools due to bias and stigma related to their gender identity or expression. These children are at extremely high risk for poor health and mental health outcomes. These risks are magnified for children in foster care, most of whom have experienced significant trauma. Placement of transgender youth consistent with their gender identity is necessary to protect them from further rejection, harassment, and abuse.

SB 731 was co-sponsored by NCLR, Equality California, and the Transgender Law Center, and supported by the California Alliance of Child and Family Services, the County Welfare Directors Association of California, Family Builders, the Gender Health Center, the Juvenile Court Judges of California, the Youth Law Center, the National Center for Youth Law, Legal Services for Children, the East Bay Children’s Law Offices, and Gender Spectrum.

When B.H. was in second grade, his peers began bullying and ostracizing him because he’s transgender. Worse, some parents organized a campaign to force the school district to stop treating B.H. as male, and to prohibit him from using the boys’ restroom. It didn’t take long before B.H. began showing significant psychological distress and his mom asked NCLR for help. NCLR worked with the school district to safeguard B.H.’s right to learn in a safe and welcoming environment.

The School Success and Opportunity Act‚ Assembly Bill 1266 (2013), authored by California Assemblymember Tom Ammiano, ensured that transgender students are treated with the dignity and respect they deserve. The law requires that school districts provide transgender students with access to restrooms, locker rooms, and other sex-separated activities based on their gender identity. By specifically spelling out those protections, transgender students throughout California can reach their full potential and focus on learning.

All students should have a fair chance to fully participate and succeed in school so that they can graduate with their classmates. Being singled out and treated differently than their peers is detrimental to a transgender student’s psychological, social, and academic well-being and development.

The law went into effect on January 1, 2014.

NCLR represents a transgender middle school student who transitioned from female to male. Although he lived as male and obtained a court-ordered name change, the school district still required that he use the nurse’s office for restroom access and to change in and out of his gym clothes. During an overnight field trip, the student was required to sleep in a separate cabin. In 2011, NCLR filed a complaint on the student’s behalf alleging that the school district’s treatment of the student constituted sex discrimination in violation of Title IX.