California Bill Defines Non-Affirmation as Child Abuse in Custody Disputes

California’s AB 957 bill, which has already passed the state assembly, would require family courts in custody disputes to interpret a child’s “health, safety, and welfare” to “include a parent’s affirmation of the child’s gender identity.” The bill was sponsored by Assemblymember Lori Wilson, who is a proponent of gender transition and would like to see similar laws enacted in every state. This bill is part of a larger trend of gender ideology infiltrating family law, with activist-minded judges penalizing parents who do not accept the claims of trans activists. In some cases, judges have received “training” on these matters from transgender activists. AB 957 goes even further by defining non-affirmation as abuse, creating a precedent for much broader applications. This could lead to the state removing children from happily married or even single parents. Laws like AB 957 would make stories like that of Abigail Martinez, a single mother who lost custody of her trans-identifying teenager, less of an outlier and closer to the new legal norm. The bill sets no requirements for clinical evaluations and includes no mention of mental-health comorbidities. This could lead to schools, churches, and other organizations being obliged to “affirm” under such a broad definition of child abuse. Meanwhile, the global credibility of the “gender-affirming” model is crumbling.