California Records Show How Attorney General Skewed Transgender Ballot Measure

While gathering signatures for a proposed California ballot measure, Korey Wells found people who had opposed allowing boys to play girls scholastic sports, but nevertheless “refused to sign and/or donate” to an initiative that would prevent it. 

The reason was “because they do not believe the substance of the Initiative could be so different than a plain-reading of the title and summary,” Wells said, according to a brief filed last week in the California Third District Court of Appeals.

Advocates are taking another shot at a 2026 ballot measure—which would ensure female athletes compete only against other female athletes in middle and high school sports—after falling short on signatures for 2024. 

Proponents of “Protect Kids of California Act of 2024,” are suing California Attorney General Robert Bonta, for giving the measure the title, “Restricts Rights of Transgender Youth Initiative,” alleging the negative characterization short-circuited the signature-gathering effort. 

The litigation stems from the attempt at the 2024 ballot initiative, but a ruling would likely impact how far the attorney general’s office could go in selecting a title and summary for the initiative. 

Supporters of the measure submitted a “Protect Women’s Sports and Spaces Act” to the attorney general’s office for review, which is required by California law, on Oct. 2, 2023.

Bonta’s office altered the language to characterize the measure in all caps as “ELIMINATES STUDENTS RIGHTS TO PARTICIPATE IN SCHOOL ACTIVITIES CONSISTENT WITH THEIR GENDER IDENTITY,” according to documents obtained by The Daily Signal through a public records request from the state attorney general’s office. 

The proposed ballot measure in 2024 included language defining male and female, and limits on sex changes on minors. The next try is more tightly focused on keeping people born as males from playing in female sports in grades 7-12, said Erin Friday, a lawyer for Protect Kids California. 

“The attorney general can spin the language again, but even if he does, people understand this issue, and the language won’t matter as much,” Friday told The Daily Signal.

A New York Times poll in January found 79% nationally support preventing biological males from playing in female sports. 

“Support is pretty high in California too. The state is not that crazy, we just have bad politicians,” Friday added.

The Protect Kids California lawsuit accuses Bonta of contorting the language in an inaccurate and prejudicial way to make it more difficult to collect signatures for placing the measure on the ballot. After losing in the lower court, the group appealed. 

Briefs were filed last week in the California Third District Court of Appeals and the parties are awaiting an oral argument date from the court.  

“Under the California Elections Code, Attorney General Bonta had a duty to prepare a circulating title and summary for the Initiative that was true, impartial, and unlikely to create prejudice,” Emily Rae, senior counsel at Liberty Justice Center, which is also representing Protect Kids California, told The Daily Signal. “Attorney General Bonta shirked his duty and instead drafted a title and summary that was wholly prejudicial and outright false in some instances.”

A spokesperson for Bonta’s office said the title and summary of ballot language is a serious responsibility.  

“Under Elections Code Section 9050, the attorney general’s office is responsible for issuing official titles and summaries describing the chief purpose and points of every proposed initiative submitted in compliance with procedural requirementsm,” the spokesperson told The Daily Signal in an email statement. 

“We take that responsibility seriously. In crafting a title and summary, our office considers a variety of materials and factors, including the complete text of the measure itself and any suggested title, how the measure would change existing law, the fiscal analysis prepared by the Department of Finance and Legislative Analyst, and public comments,” the Bonta spokesperson continued. “As you note, the title and summary for the measure is currently being litigated. The trial court ruled in our favor, and it is fully briefed on appeal. We look forward to the Court of Appeal’s decision.”

On Oct. 2, 2023, Jonathan Zachreson with Protect Kids California sent a letter with amendment to the ballot measure to Anabel Renteria, initiative coordinator for the attorney general’s office, according to the documents obtained by The Daily Signal. 

Section 1 said, “This measure shall be known as the ‘Protect Girls’ Sports and Spaces Act.’” Section 2 stated that biological boys have an unfair advantage over biological girls in sports. 

The proposed Section 3 said: “It is the intent of the people of California in enacting this measure to: 1. Maintain fairness in girls’ and women’s athletic programs and protect equal opportunities for female athletes by ensuring female athletes compete only against other female athletes in athletic programs reserved for girls and women. 2. Protect the privacy and safety of both female and male students, by ensuring any sex-segregated facilities are segregated based on biological sex.”

The proposal went on to clarify, “A statement of a student’s biological sex on the student’s official birth certificate is considered to have correctly stated the students biological sex only if the statement was: (A) entered at or near the time of the students birth; or (B) modified to correct any type of clerical error of the students biological sex.”

On Nov. 1, 2023, Renteria of the state attorney general’s office, wrote Zachreson to say, “The attorney general has prepared the title and summary of the chief purpose and points for following the proposed initiative.”

The attached statement said in all capital letters, the measure, “ELIMINATES STUDENTS RIGHTS TO PARTICIPATE IN SCHOOL ACTIVITIES CONSISTENT WITH THEIR GENDER IDENTITY.”

It went on to tweak language to say, “Prohibit transgender female students in grades 7 and higher from participating in female sports,” and said it would restrict bathrooms and locker rooms “to gender assigned at birth.” 

The description went on to state the proposal “defines ‘male’ and ‘female’ exclusively by reference to certain reproductive traits.”

To qualify for the ballot, a proposed change in state law must have 5% of the number of votes cast in the most recent gubernatorial election, according to Ballotpedia. In the 2022 governor’s race, 10.9 million Californians voted, meaning more than 546,000 signatures would be needed. For a proposed state constitutional amendment, the threshold is 8% of voters in the last governor’s race.