Safety Act (California law)

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Safety Act
Seal of California.svg
Citation
PassedJuly 15, 2024
Signed byGovernor Gavin Newsom
SignedJuly 15, 2024
Bill citation
Amended by
Status: In force

The Support Academic Futures and Educators for Today's Youth Act, also known as the AB1955 bill, Safety Act or SAFETY Act, [1] [2] [3] is a first-in-nation act signed and activated by California Governor Gavin Newsom on July 15, 2024. [4] [5] The state law allows educators discretion in informing parents of a child's LGBTQ+ identity, but bars disclosure being a requirement. [4] [6] [7]

Contents

The law has become a controversial topic, with many parents and people protesting and proposing to repeal it. Elon Musk, CEO of X (Twitter), as well as co-founder of SpaceX, said in July 2024 that he would move SpaceX and X headquarters (X Corp.) to Starbase, Texas (Brownsville, Texas) and Austin, Texas. [8] [9] [10] By August 2024, Musk had committed to moving SpaceX to Starbase and X Corp. to Bastrop, Texas. [11] [12] [13]

Law

According to the Northern California ACLU, the SAFETY act, in addition to preventing forced disclosure of LGBTQ+ identity, would also provide information for parents and education personnel on acceptance and the creation of spaces safe for LGBTQ+ students. [5]

Reactions

Elon Musk

On July 16, 2024, in a statement released on his X post, Elon Musk, CEO of X (Twitter) and founder of SpaceX, said that he would move SpaceX from Hawthorne, California, to Starbase, Texas (or Brownsville, Texas). [8] This statement was seen as largely symbolic, as they had already been moved. [16] [17] Musk added in a reply that he would also move the X headquarters (X Corp.; in San Francisco) to Austin, Texas [9] by September 13; [18] [19] he instead moved it to Bastrop, Texas. [13] [20] Musk claimed this was because the recently passed California AB1955 bill "and the many others that preceded it, attacking both families and companies" was a "final straw". [14] [21] However, most of the buildings and workers will remain in Hawthorne until the Falcon program is finished. [22] [10] [4] [23]

Musk also said, "I did make it clear to Governor Newsom about a year ago that laws of this nature would force families and companies to leave California to protect their children". [17] [14]

Governor Newsom

Following Musk's move, Governor Newsom criticized Musk on X, with him posting on X with the caption "You bent the knee" along with a screenshot on X of a 2022 Truth Social post by former President Donald Trump criticizing Musk. [21] [24] [25]

Other reactions

Many people, mostly parents, oppose the law and are upset by it, saying it restricts parental rights, and plan to move their children to other states. However, many supporters and advocates have praised the bill for protecting LGBTQ youth, [4] [6] [26] [27] including California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus Chair Susan Eggman. Other supporters, like CTA President David Goldberg, have praised the legislation: "This historic legislation will strengthen existing protections against forced outings and allow educators to continue creating safe learning environments where every student feels accepted, nurtured, and encouraged to pursue their dreams." [7] [28]

Mirabelli v. Olson

A lawsuit was filed in April 2023, Mirabelli v. Olson, by two middle school teachers in Escondido challenging California state guidance and policies on schools withholding information about students' gender identity from parents. The complaint stated that "teachers are required to use 'any pronouns or a gender-specific name requested by the student during school, while reverting to biological pronouns and legal names when speaking with parents in order to actively hide information about their child's gender identity from [the parents].'", and that such a prohibition on teachers was unconstitutional. The Escondido school district countered that the district was observing Federal and state law, and that "The right of transgender students to keep their transgender status private is grounded in California's antidiscrimination laws as well as federal and state laws. Disclosing that a student is transgender without the student's permission may violate California's antidiscrimination law by increasing the student's vulnerability to harassment and may violate the student's right to privacy." [29]

In 2024, the court expanded Mirabelli v. Olson into a class action lawsuit, where damages and remedies could potentially be applied across the state of California to similarly situated parents, teachers, and school districts. [30]

In December 2025, the US district court issued a final ruling on the merits, with a permanent injunction against the "California Attorney General Rob Bonta, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, and members of the California State Board of Education. The ruling halts California’s state-sanctioned 'Parental Exclusion Policies' that order teachers to hide a child's gender transition at school from their own parents." [31] The ruling strikes down gender secrecy policies in schools statewide. [32] [31] The California Attorney General's office has filed an application to stay the injunction, and will appeal the ruling to the Federal appeals court. [33]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "AB 1955: Support Academic Futures and Educators for Today's Youth Act. | Digital Democracy". digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  2. ↑ "California AB1955 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session". LegiScan. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  3. ↑ "New SAFETY Act Signed into Law to Protect LGBTQ+ Students in California | Official Website - Assemblymember Christopher M. Ward Representing the 78th California Assembly District". a78.asmdc.org. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Knutsen, Max (2024-07-17). "California AB 1955: What Is the SAFETY Act?". Plural Policy. Retrieved 2024-08-31.
  5. 1 2 "Protecting the Rights of Trans and Nonbinary Youth in California | ACLU of Northern CA". www.aclunc.org. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  6. 1 2 "Newsom Signs AB 1955 and Okays Schools Lying to Parents, Opening the Door to Lawsuits and Child Exploitation". California Policy Center. 2024-07-16. Retrieved 2024-08-31.
  7. 1 2 "Gov. Newsom signs first-in-nation bill banning schools' transgender notification policies". The Mercury News. 2024-07-15. Retrieved 2024-08-31.
  8. 1 2 "Elon Musk says SpaceX and X headquarters moving to Texas, blames new California transgender law". NBC News. 2024-07-16. Retrieved 2024-08-31.
  9. 1 2 Press • •, The Associated (2024-07-16). "Elon Musk says he's moving SpaceX, X HQs to Texas". NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth. Retrieved 2024-08-31.
  10. 1 2 Kolodny, Lora (2024-07-16). "Elon Musk says SpaceX and X headquarters moving to Texas, blames California trans student privacy law". CNBC. Retrieved 2024-08-31.
  11. ↑ "Elon Musk to move SpaceX and X HQ over gender identity law". BBC News . 17 July 2024. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  12. ↑ Elizabeth Howell (2024-07-17). "Elon Musk says he'll move SpaceX headquarters to Texas over new California LGBTQ+ law". Space.com. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  13. 1 2 "X officially kills its San Francisco HQ, will relocate to South Bay". The San Francisco Standard. 2024-08-05. Retrieved 2024-09-22.
  14. 1 2 3 Musk, Elon [@elonmusk] (2024-07-16). "This is the final straw.

    Because of this law and the many others that preceded it, attacking both families and companies, SpaceX will now move its HQ from Hawthorne, California, to Starbase, Texas"    . X . Retrieved 2024-08-31.
  15. ↑ Musk, Elon [@elonmusk] (2024-07-16). "And 𝕏 HQ will move to Austin". X . Retrieved 2024-08-31.
  16. ↑ "Musk to Move X, SpaceX to Texas in Deepening Rightward Shift". Bloomberg.com. 2024-07-16. Retrieved 2024-08-31.
  17. 1 2 Clark, Stephen (2024-07-17). "Elon Musk says SpaceX and X will relocate their headquarters to Texas". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2024-08-31.
  18. ↑ "X, formerly Twitter, to shutter its San Francisco headquarters on Sept. 13 - CBS News". CBS News . 2024-08-29. Retrieved 2024-08-31.
  19. ↑ "Elon Musk's X cites exactly when they are shutting down San Francisco HQ". Hindustan Times . 2024-08-30. Archived from the original on 2024-08-30. Retrieved 2024-08-31.
  20. ↑ Emerson, Sarah. "Elon Musk Has Officially Moved X To Texas". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-09-22.
  21. 1 2 Barrabi, Thomas (2024-07-17). "How Elon Musk fired back after Gavin Newsom said tech giant 'bent the knee' to Trump". New York Post . Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  22. ↑ Kurkowski, Seth (2024-07-19). "Elon Musk plans to move SpaceX HQ to Starbase over new California law". Space Explored. Archived from the original on 2024-07-25. Retrieved 2024-08-31.
  23. ↑ Jeong, Helen; Service, City News (2024-07-16). "Space X headquarters to move from Southern California to Texas". NBC Los Angeles. Retrieved 2024-08-31.
  24. ↑ Irwin, Lauren (2024-07-17). "Newsom to Musk after HQs move announcement: 'You bent the knee'". The Hill. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  25. ↑ Newsom, Gavin [@GavinNewsom] (July 17, 2024). "You bent the knee". X . Retrieved September 1, 2024.
  26. ↑ Schermele, Zachary. "California becomes first state to ban forced outing of LGBTQ+ students". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2024-08-31.
  27. ↑ "What the new California law on LGBTQ+ student privacy means for San Diego schools". Fox 5 San Diego. 16 July 2024. Archived from the original on 16 July 2024. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
  28. ↑ "AB 1955 – Support Academic Futures & Educators for Today's Youth (SAFETY) Act" (PDF). California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus . 2024-05-22. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  29. ↑ "Escondido Middle School Teachers Sue Over District's Transgender Pronoun Policy". NBC News 7 San Diego. 28 April 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
  30. ↑ Payne, Daniel (17 October 2025). "'Watershed moment': Judge allows class action suit over school's gender policies". Catholic News Agency. Retrieved 24 December 2025.
  31. 1 2 "Federal Judge Issues Permanent Injunction Against Parental Exclusion Policies in California Schools". California Policy Center. 23 December 2025. Retrieved 24 December 2025.
  32. ↑ Case: Mirabelli v. Olson — 3:23-cv-00768 | U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, retrieved 24 December 2025
  33. ↑ California AG appeals after judge rules transgender-secrecy policies unconstitutional, ABC7, KATV.com, 23 December 2025.
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