Breakpoint: 'Age of Consent in an Age of Discontent'

 By John Stonestreet and Jared Eckert

In a win for LGBTQ, new bill places agents of the state between parents and children as young as 12 years old.

Published October 27, 2023

A new California law signed by Governor Newsom on October 7 will enable strangers to lead children 12 and older on matters of mental health and their home life without requiring any parental consent. It’s a bizarre irony for a state that’s also suing the corporation Meta for harming children under age 13 through its social media platforms, based on the assumption that children are too vulnerable to resist the effects of social media. Evidently, children can’t resist their phones, but they should be able to make massive decisions about their minds, bodies, and family relationships without their parents’ consent.

The new law, Assembly Bill 665, expands an existing law that only applied to minors aged 12 and older with private health insurance. The new law includes minors aged 12 and older who are covered by publicly funded health insurance. Additionally, this new law broadens the list of professionals able to treat such minors from not only mental health professionals, clinical psychologists, and other licensed counselors, but also a “registered psychological assistant, a psychological trainee, an associate clinical social worker, a social work intern,” and more. The law also permits minors to pursue mental health services and residential shelter services without having to “present a danger of serious physical or mental harm to themselves or to others, or be the alleged victim of incest or child abuse.”

LGBTQ activists are celebrating the law as a huge victory for empowering at-risk “queer” youth. Director of California Policy Kim Lewis commended Governor Newsom for signing the new law, which will address “disparities” and provide “critical mental health services” for youth, “especially youth of color and LGBTQIA+ youth.”

Read more here.