PERK's Amy Bohn: Newsom 'using children in this political game' of gender identity in schools

Amy Bohn is president and co-founder of the California-based organization PERK (Protection of the Educational Rights of Kids). The organization advocates for parents' rights at the local and state level and has long been a thorn in the side of Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom.

Bohn spoke to Fox News Digital about California's recently passed law, AB 1955, which would prohibit educators from informing parents if their children change their pronouns, name or gender identity at school.

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Bohn argues that the legislation represents a usurpation of parental rights.

“I think California's AB 1955 is one of the worst bills we've seen to date. It prohibits parents from being informed of their child's gender identity change or anything like that at school,” she said. “It completely prohibits educators, teachers and the school from informing parents of any kind of change in their child. It also promotes secrecy … by taking all that information away from parents and creating a file on the parents at the school level as well, a secret file.”

Supporters of the law say students have a right to privacy. The law's sponsor, Representative Chris Ward, a Democrat who represents a district in San Diego, argues that it gives students “the dignity to decide for themselves when they are ready to reveal some of the most private information about themselves.”

Minors, Bohn said, do not have the legal authority to consent to such decisions.

“I would say the problem with that is that a child doesn't have the capacity to consent. So any minor has to grow up and develop, and a brain isn't fully developed until they're 25. That's scientifically proven. So if you even think that children are in any way capable of consenting to something like that without their parents… that's why consent laws exist,” she said. “And parents are there to guide, to protect, to make sure their children aren't exploited or taken advantage of. I think what he's saying is utter nonsense, frankly.”

California Governor Gavin Newsom signs bill banning schools from informing parents about their child's gender identity

Bohn said she believes the bill enjoys Newsom's support for political expediency.

“I think he wants it to become law because I think it's a political move, frankly. And that's one of the problems with this bill too: They're using children in this political game, this political agenda,” she said. “I don't think he cares or looks after the children. And I think we've seen Newsom in California undermine parental rights as a PERK.”

While AB 1955 was a major issue for PERK this year, the organization has also been active in other political struggles, particularly related to education policy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bohn has spoken out loudly against mandatory vaccinations in school districts.

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“I don't think schools should be allowed to mandate vaccinations because that is a medical treatment. That is something that parents and doctors should take responsibility for,” she said. “We have actually seen vaccination mandates across the state of California, including the COVID mandate, and it was illegal to do that. They bypassed the legislative process and [state] Ministry of Health.”

PERK was involved in litigation challenging these policies.

“We fought back. We filed lawsuits. We won those lawsuits, by the way,” said Bohn. “I simply do not believe that coercive measures belong anywhere in our society, because if we are to be free, which we are, then coercive measures are completely [the] Opposite of what the Constitution stands for.”

Bohn and PERK also fought Newsom and the teachers unions over the COVID lockdowns.

“So when we heard from the beginning how Governor Newsom said it would take two weeks to slow the spread and the schools were closed, we looked at and [we knew] this will take a year or more,” she said. “Immediately, within two weeks, we sent a letter to Governor Newsom and to the legislators saying, 'This is bad policy. We can tell you right now how this will hurt children.'”

Bohn added: “You shouldn't be implementing lockdown measures like this, especially with children. So we immediately started pushing back against it at the highest level. Then we informed parents, 'This is what's happening. This is how it's going to hurt your families, your children and their education and their academic learning and it's going to cause the academic losses that we expected,' and we got parents to push back against it.”

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PERK has been credited with contributing to local protests and activism at school board meetings following the lengthy school closures.

“So we've actually brought a lot of parents and people to school board meetings to encourage schools to reopen as soon as possible. We've done surveys. We've filed lawsuits. We've done a lot to help get schools reopened,” Bohn said. “And we're very actively representing hundreds of thousands of families and children who wanted those schools open.”

Newsom's office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.