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Amy Bohn is president and co-founder of California PERK (Protect the Educational Rights of Children), a group that advocates for parental rights at the local and state levels and has been a thorn in the side of the Democratic Party. Governor Gavin Newsom.
Bohn spoke with Fox News Digital to discuss California’s recently passed AB 1955, which prohibits educators from telling parents when their children change pronouns, names or gender identity in school.
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Bohn believes the legislation infringes on parental rights.
“So I think AB 1955 in California is one of the worst bills that we’ve ever seen, which prohibits parents from being informed or being informed at school of their child’s changes, changes in their gender identity or anything like that,” she said. “So it completely prohibits educators, teachers and schools from letting parents know about any changes in their child. It also promotes confidentiality… removing all of this information from parents and creating a file on parents at the school level, a secret file.”
Amy Bohn, co-founder and president of PERK. (Fox News Digital)
Supporters of the bill say students have a right to privacy. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Chris Ward, D-N.Y., is a Democrat who represents San DiegoThe district argues that this gives students “the dignity to decide when they are willing to share some of the most intimate information about themselves.”
Bohn said minors are not legally qualified to consent to such decisions.
“I would say the crux of the issue is that children don’t have the capacity to consent. So every minor has to grow up and develop, the brain doesn’t fully develop until the age of 25. That’s the science. So to even think that a child has the capacity to consent to something like this without a parent… that’s why there are consent laws,” she said. “The job of a parent is to guide, to protect, to make sure their child is not being exploited or taken advantage of. I think what he’s saying is complete and utter nonsense.”
Bohn said she believes the bill received Newsom’s support out of political expediency.
California Governor Gavin Newsom.
“I think he wants this bill to become law because I think it’s a political move, honestly. One of the problems with this bill is they’re using children for political games and political agendas,” she said. “I don’t think he cares or is concerned about children. I think in California, we’ve seen that Newsom is eroding parental rights.”
While AB 1955 is a major issue facing PERK this year, the organization is also active in other public policy fights, particularly with Education policy during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bohn has been a vocal opponent of mandatory vaccinations in school districts.
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“I don’t think schools should mandate vaccinations because it’s a medical procedure. Parents and doctors should be responsible for that,” she said. “We’ve actually seen vaccine mandates all over California, including for COVID-19, and they’ve done it illegally. They’ve bypassed the legislative process and the (state) Department of Health.”
PERK has been involved in lawsuits challenging such policies.
“We fought back against it. We filed lawsuits. And we won those lawsuits, by the way,” Bohn said. “I just don’t think that injunctions belong anywhere in our society because if we’re supposed to be free, and we are, then injunctions are completely contrary to the purpose of the Constitution.”
Bohn and PERK also battled Newsom and the teachers union over the coronavirus lockdown.
The California State Capitol in Sacramento. (Arturo Holmes/National Urban League via Getty Images)
“So from the beginning, when we heard Governor Newsom say it would take two weeks to slow the spread of the virus and close the schools, we looked at each other in the face, (we knew) it would be a year or more,” she said. “Within two weeks, we immediately sent a letter to Governor Newsom and legislators saying, ‘This is bad policy. We can already tell you how this is going to hurt your children.’”
Bohn added: “You shouldn’t implement this Lockdown measuresespecially to children. So we immediately started fighting back at the highest level. And then we told parents, ‘This is what’s happening. This is going to hurt your families, your children, their education and their academics, and cause the academic losses we expect,’ and engaged parents in the fight back.”
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PERK is credited with facilitating activism at local protests and school board meetings following long-term school closures.
“So we’ve had a lot of parents and others come to school board meetings to encourage schools to reopen as quickly as possible. We’ve put out surveys. We’ve filed lawsuits. We’ve done a lot of work in this area to try to help schools reopen,” Bohn said. “We’re very active in representing the thousands of families and kids who need schools to open.”
Newsom’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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