California Democratic politicians proposed AB 727, which has sparked widespread attention and controversy. The proposal requires that LGBTQ suicide prevention hotline numbers be printed on the student IDs of all public schools in grades 7 to 12. Lee Shaomin stated that this move is suspected of being unconstitutional and, under the guise of suicide prevention, implementing LGBTQ advocacy in schools could pose significant safety risks to underage students.
AB 727 was proposed by Southern California Assemblyman and LGBTQ Caucus member Mark Gonzalez on February 18. Originally, the proposal required that starting from July 1, 2026, all public and private schools admitting students in grades 7 to 12 and issuing student IDs must print the year-round suicide prevention hotline provided by the LGBTQ organization The Trevor Project on both sides of the student IDs. After facing strong opposition, the part concerning private schools has been removed, and the requirement now only applies to public schools.
Frank Lee, the Bay Area chair of the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI), told Epoch Times that while suicide prevention hotlines are already listed on student IDs, AB 727 is forcing the addition of information from a specific ideological group, violating the equal protection principle protected by the 14th Amendment. The proposal only includes LGBTQ+ hotlines and excludes hotlines from other faith groups such as Christianity and Buddhism, leading to unfair treatment and bias towards different value systems.
Dean Broyles, the president of the National Center for Law and Policy, pointed out during a hearing on the proposal that The Trevor Project operates numerous unsupervised chat rooms where adults posing as children engage minors in discussions on sexual topics without any protective mechanisms. This situation is akin to a “predator’s paradise,” severely violating parental rights and being unacceptable to civilized society.
“Neither the state government nor the Trevor Project has the authority to bypass, question, or undermine parental custody rights over their underage children,” he emphasized. “Children belong to families, not the state.”
Lee Shaomin further noted that the platform recommended by The Trevor Project, Trevor Space, poses serious risks. Greg Burt, vice president of the California Family Council, logged in as a 13-year-old boy and found that the platform provides easy access to various unsupervised chat rooms where interactions with unidentified adults take place.
What is even more concerning is that Burt found hundreds of groups on Trevor Space covering content such as “Dads are Terrible Club,” “Moms are Awful Club,” “Chosen Family Club,” “Lesbian Love Club,” as well as groups related to Satanism, witchcraft, anarchism, furry culture, threesomes, Otherkin, and a plethora of groups relating to sexual orientations and gender identities.
Lee Shaomin bluntly stated that while AB 727 appears to require the printing of suicide prevention hotlines on student IDs, it actually guides students towards a highly ideological and potentially dangerous website. Students may be led into sexualized communities, encouraged to cut ties with their parents, or even establish contact with unidentified adults, potentially involving the inducement of minors into sexual activities, an action that is already deemed illegal, thus being extremely heinous.
According to the Orange County Register, the FBI has recently issued a special warning about the escalating prevalence of “sextortion” crimes. Many teenagers mistakenly believe they are making friends their age online, only to be extorted with nude photos, leading to severe consequences, including suicide.
Lee Shaomin expressed that Trevor Space aligns with the high-risk characteristics outlined in the FBI warning. Printing the organization’s information on student IDs is akin to directly pushing children into a dangerous online environment, contradicting the principle of safeguarding children’s safety.
Currently, AB 727 has passed through the California State Assembly Education Committee and is on its way to the Appropriations Committee for review.
Lee Shaomin urges the public to take immediate action by contacting their local representatives, expressing opposition, and demanding a reevaluation of the potential harm the bill poses to underage students and family rights.
He emphasizes that it is not about discriminating against any group but ensuring that all children are treated fairly, and parental rights should not be deprived by the government or specific ideological groups.
You can directly call the Assemblyman’s office at (916) 319-2054 or (213) 620-4646 and simply say “I oppose AB 727.” You can also email the members of the Appropriations Committee directly (contact information can be found at: https://apro.assembly.ca.gov/members).
You can write the email with a subject: Strong Opposition to AB 727. Content: This bill is dangerous to students and parents. Please vote NO on AB 727. ◇