A student rights group in California is looking to bridge the gap between parents and children as it relates to school policy with the proposal of three statewide ballot measures, which tackle cultural issues like fairness in female sports and the elimination of puberty blockers for minors.
Protect Kids California, the group behind the effort, notes on its website that it advocates “for policies that promote all children’s rights and well-being.”
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Jonathan Zachreson, a co-founder of Students First California, a group that led the charge against lockdowns and vaccine mandates in the state during the COVID-19 pandemic, outlined the proposed ballot measures and explained their importance.
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Larry McKinney, fills in his ballot in a booth at the polling place at Boba Guys on Fillmore Street on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020 in San Francisco. (Lea Suzuki/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
“The first one is to require schools notify parents if their child requests to be treated as transgender in school. So it’s to stop some of the secrets that are happening in California and to really build trust with parents again, to know that, hey, you’ll know that your school isn’t one of those schools that’s keeping secrets for parents,” said Zachreson.
“The second one would protect girls sports and spaces by ensuring that in competitive sports at school that girls will only be playing against other girls and that when it comes to spaces they’re not going to be changing in front of boys or showering in front of boys in the locker room,” he added. “The third one would prevent the sterilization of kids by prohibiting puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, genital surgeries and mastectomies for minors.”
The proposed ballot initiatives, set to be submitted by the group to the Golden State’s attorney general Monday afternoon, will require a total of 550,000 petition signatures each to make it to the ballot in the fall of 2024. The group will have six months to collect the total required signatures.
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Students walk to class at Robert M. Pyles STEM Academy in Stanton, California, on Jan. 13, 2022. (Paul Bersebach/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images)
Zachreson, who was recently elected to serve on the Roseville City School Board, described the effort as a “defining moment” for California, as well as America.
“You know, this issue is prevalent. We’ve seen it across other states where there’s legislation [and] legislators are able to enact similar laws. In places like California, the legislature is just dominated by a very radical, progressive arm of the Democrat Party. So that can’t happen here,” he said.
If successful, Zachreson said the group is hoping to help “change the conversation to a more rational discussion on how we treat these issues with children.”
The group’s focus for now, Zachreson said, is to focus on “building our volunteer base and getting donations.”
“That’s going to be our strategy over the next two months because it’s going to take about two months before we start collecting signatures,” he explained. “We’re going to be talking in front of any and all groups. We have ambassadors across the state that can be relocated to any part of California, and [will have] a speaker come talk about these initiatives.”
Teacher Angela De Alday greets her students on the first day of class at Roosevelt Elementary School in Anaheim, California, on Thursday, Aug 10, 2023. (Paul Bersebach/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images)
Zachreson said he is expecting there to be “tons of arrows thrown” toward the group after its Monday evening press conference outlining the effort to have the measures make it to the ballot next year.
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“That’s not going to deter us,” he said. “Really, that’s the only thing they can do. They can’t fight us on the issues, so they’re going to have to attack us through other means. We’re prepared for that, but that’s not going to stop us.”