California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a new bill into law requiring public schools to connect students with an “LGBT+” suicide hotline and dangerous online chatroom.
The Bill
California AB 727 (Public and student safety: identification cards) requires “public schools that serve pupils in any of grades 7 to 12, inclusive, and public institutions of higher education that issue pupil identification cards” to print the number of the Trever Project’s LGBT+ suicide hotline on those ID cards.
Gov. Newsom signed the bill into law on October 10. “Every student deserves to feel safe, supported, and seen for who they are,” the governor said in a statement.
“While some in Washington turn their backs on LGBTQ youth, California is choosing compassion over cruelty,” Newsom added. “AB 727 makes it clear: your identity doesn’t disqualify you from care and community – it’s exactly why we are fighting to make it easier to reach.”
The Trevor Project
The California Family Counsel (CFC), a Focus on the Family-allied organization, has raised the alarm about AB 727 and its promotion of the activist group The Trevor Project. CFC explains:
The Trevor Project is an influential, politically active organization with a budget of over 100-million-dollars that pushes vulnerable minors with thoughts of suicide to embrace LGBTQ identities and behaviors.
The organization publishes various LGBT-affirming resources and guides for teens and young adults, including:
- The Coming Out Handbook: Explore what coming out means to you with tools and guiding questions
- The Journey of Self-Acceptance; Understanding and Overcoming Internalized Homophobia
- How to Support Bisexual Young People
- Understanding Bisexuality
- Understanding Asexuality
- Understanding Gender Identity & Pronouns
- Guide to Being an Ally to Transgender and Nonbinary Young People
Raising Concerns About AB 727
CFC reveals that behind the language of compassion for youth at risk of suicide “lies deep concern for what this legislation actually does.”
According to CFC, The Trevor Project’s suicide hotline counselors direct minors to TrevorSpace:
Trevor Space [is] an online community to connect vulnerable teens with unverified adults in online chat rooms that encourage them to reject their families and find affirming friends in clubs that explore various gender identities and sexual orientations.
TrevorSpace is billed as a “safe space” for teens who identify as homosexual, transgender, bisexual, queer or any other newly created sexual identity.
However, CFC warns that adults can easily access TrevorSpace and “create accounts, bypass age verification, and immediately begin private conservations with minors in chat-room clubs organized around sexually charged topics, without any real-time monitoring or oversight.”
Greg Burt, Vice President of CFC, said in a statement AB 727 demonstrates how misguided compassion can put children in danger.
“True compassion never exposes children to harm,” Burt said. “Our government is telling hurting kids that their feelings define reality, while sending them into online spaces where predators are waiting.”
Earlier this year, the Daily Citizen spoke with Burt about the legislation:
Sheriff Chad Bianco of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office warned that TrevorSpace creates an online space that is ripe for abuse and exploitation.
“A member of our department in his 40s was able to register on TrevorSpace simply by posing as a 13-year-old,” Bianco said. “Once he logged in, he was able to initiate private chats with other users immediately, without restriction or review. He also had access to profile photos and chat images posted by users.”
The sheriff warned, “[TrevorSpace creates] a classic setup for grooming or trafficking.”
Even absent the danger of exploitation, TrevorSpace is itself inherently problematic, designed to push teens and young adults to embrace an LGBT identity and sexual experimentation.
What’s Next?
Now, AB 727 has become law. It’s provision requiring The Trevor Project’s suicide hotline on school ID cards takes effect on July 1, 2026.
CFC is calling on parents, school leaders and church members to:
- Educate others about the dangers of AB 727 and TrevorSpace.
- Demand accountability from legislators who supported the bill.
- Pray and advocate for Christ-centered ministries that speak life and truth to youth in crisis.
“Young people don’t need adults to affirm their confusion,” Burt said. “They need adults who will protect them, point them to truth, and remind them that their lives are precious because they are made in the image of God.”
Burt continued,
Parents, pastors, and policymakers must stand together to defend children from systems that exploit their pain for ideological purposes. California is not showing love by approving AB 727. It is abandoning its duty to safeguard its most vulnerable.
Adolescents and teenagers should be protected at school. Directing minors to an activist LGBT-organization, and online chatroom ripe for abuse, in no way protects kids or makes them safer.
Related articles and resources:
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Responding to Teen Child Who Says He’s Gay
Talking to Your Kids About Sexuality and Gender
How to Talk to Your Children About Homosexuality
California Legislature Passes ‘License to Kidnap’ Act, Other Horrible Legislation
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