Assembly Bill 1266 Breakdown
By Joe

This California law, passed in August of 2013, allows transgender-children in public school to use the restrooms and join the athletic programs that correspond with their self-identified gender. It took effect January 1st of this year, and as of February 26th, 2014, AB 1266 has survived an attempted repeal by Anti-LGBT interest groups. 
Out in front of this discriminatory campaign to overturn AB 1266 was Frank Schubert. He was instrumental in the passage of Proposition 8, which took marriage rights away from same-sex California couples in 2008. 
Schubert submitted 619,381 names of people opposed to AB 1266, because, as they believe, it forces children to use restrooms and locker-rooms with fellow children of the "opposite sex".
131,897 of the names could not legitimately submitted, making Schubert's petition more than 17,000 signatures short of 504,760, the number required before AB 1266 could be included on California's 2014's November ballot.
Thus AB 1266 stands as California law and may serve as an example for other states where gender identity is not considered grounds for protection from discrimination in public school.

It was Tom Ammiano who first introduced AB 1266 (a.k.a. the School Success and Opportunity Act). 
And it was the activism of LGBT advocate group like Equality California (EQ CA), GSA Network, National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), Transgender Law Center, and the ACLU that spurred action by California legislators and Governor Jerry Brown to pass and ratify the bill.

Among the activist organizations to gather and then deliver petitions in favor of AB 1266 to the Governor's office in Sacramento was, C-FAC, Canvass for a Cause (motto: Strictly Progressive, occasionally queer.)
My sister Rachel Scoma, attorney at law, was field director of C-FAC when I joined the campaign to promote passage of the controversial bill.

Kegan, a C-FAC activist and trans man, personally delivered over 6,000 signed petitions of support to Governor Brown's secretary, immediately after being hassled by State House security guards for wearing a whistle around his neck. Kegan's singular treatment by security on that auspicious day turned ironic when they referred to him with female pronouns (e.g. "she says" and "her whistle").

Having stated our purpose was to hand signed petitions promoting transgender rights to the Governor, it didn't even dawn on the burly, stoic, security guards protecting the Capitol that some of the gender-non-conforming members of our group might be trans themselves.

This incident merely showed us how important it is that provisions, policies and laws be passed that acknowledge the existence of trans-people who are regularly marginalized by our communities and governments. 
Only through education will cisgender (non-trans) people come to understand that there are thousands, even millions of people who do not identify with the gender they were assigned at birth. 
And it is only through equitable legislation that we can assure all people receive their full human dignity under the law.