A California judge has made a commendable decision by temporarily blocking a new state rule that requires police officers to disclose their gender identities when reporting the traffic stops they made to the state’s antidiscrimination board. This rule could have potentially infringed on their privacy rights, and the judge’s intervention is a step in the right direction toward protecting their rights. The decision sends a strong message that the judiciary system is committed to protecting the privacy rights of all individuals, including law enforcement officers.
As per the Racial and Identity Profiling Act of the state, officers are obligated to report the demographic details of the individuals they stop. From January 1 onwards, Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) has introduced a new requirement mandating police officers to disclose their gender identities along with other details.
The information would also be accessible by coworkers and supervisors, which would inevitably lead to the forced outing of officers. The Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC) told the San Francisco Chronicle that under the new rule, officers could be fired if they refuse to share their gender identity and could lose their license if they lie about it. The reasons for the rule are not immediately clear.
PORAC president Brian Marvel has released a statement expressing the organization’s commitment to protecting the rights of all its members to live their lives as they wish, identify themselves as they see fit, and share their identity on their own terms. The organization is concerned that the newly proposed rule may discourage trans and nonbinary individuals from pursuing careers in law enforcement.
PORAC, the California Association of Highway Patrolmen, and other organizations have filed a lawsuit against the state to overturn the rule. Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Christopher Krueger issued a temporary injunction while the case is ongoing.
A lawyer involved in the suit, David Mastagni, pointed out the contradictory stances Bonta has taken on the forced outing of trans folks. He has been against forced outing policies of students in schools, claiming they violate state law and challenging them in court.
In August, Bonta filed a lawsuit against the Chino Valley Unified School District on Monday over its policy requiring schools to out transgender and nonbinary students to their possibly unsupportive parents. The suit claimed the policy violated the California Constitution’s protections of equal rights, privacy, and freedom from gender-based discrimination.
At the time, Bonta criticized the school for intentionally violating the rights of students despite prior warnings about its illegality.
Mastagni called it paradoxical that his office has “refused to afford peace officers these same privacy rights.”