California judge blocks rule requiring police to disclose their gender identity

A California judge on Tuesday temporarily suspended a recently enacted rule mandating police officers to disclose their gender identity when they report traffic stops.

The decision stems from a lawsuit filed by the Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC) and other law enforcement groups, challenging the requirement under the state’s Racial and Identity Profiling Act, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

The contested requirement, implemented by Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office, was part of a broader initiative to gather detailed data on traffic stops. It required officers to classify their gender identity as cisgender, transgender, or nonbinary.

However, PORAC, with a membership of over 78,000, raised privacy concerns. The organization argued that the mandate infringed upon officers’ rights to privacy and autonomy in their identity. PORAC and the other groups argued there was a perceived inconsistency in privacy norms, contrasting with the protection afforded to students in schools, where teachers are not compelled to disclose a student’s gender identity to parents without the student’s consent.

“PORAC remains committed to protecting the rights of all our members to live as they wish, identify as they see fit, and to share that identity on their own terms,” the group’s president, Brian Marvel, said in a statement, according to the Chronicle.

David Mastagni, representing the police groups, contended that this requirement was at odds with California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act, which aims to prevent discrimination based on gender, among other categories. PORAC expressed apprehensions that such a requirement could potentially discourage individuals who identify as nonbinary or transgender from pursuing or continuing careers in law enforcement.

A preliminary injunction hearing is set for March 19, which could extend the suspension of this requirement while the legal challenge is addressed. The Racial and Identity Profiling Act of 2015, was initially passed to collect and analyze data on police stops to identify and prevent racial and identity profiling. The addition of gender identity to this data collection, effective January 1, was a recent amendment to enhance the law’s scope in addressing discrimination concerns.