Many California laws that are supposed to protect K-12 students who identify as LGBTQ+ are placing them at higher risk of exploitation by adults. Some red flags of sexual predation are: targeting the vulnerable, building trust, isolation from parents, desensitization, secrecy and control. This is often done through befriending online, moving chats to unmonitored platforms, normalizing sexual talk and behaviors, and manipulating through shame and guilt.
Trevor Space, a virtual online platform recommended by Trevor Project, exhibits these red flags. In October 2025, Governor Newsom signed AB 727, which mandates the Trevor Project, a LGBTQ Suicide Hotline, on the back of all student ID cards for grades 7 and up by July 2026. This sounds life-saving, and in many cases, it is, however, when Trevor Project counselors determine the caller is not suicidal but needs support, they refer minors to Trevor Space. TrevorSpace.org mixes minors with unvetted random adults on a virtual international platform to explore their genders and sexualities. Their website says it’s for 13–24-year-olds, which admits the mixing of minors with young adults, however, in reality, Trevor Space users can be any age because there is no age verification. I know this because I tested it myself.
I went into Trevor Space, posing as a child, because it was posted in my school district’s elementary students’ restrooms K-5. I saw alarming titled Chat Clubs such as “Gay Men’s Club” with the tagline – “Let’s talk about boys!”, “Guilt and Secret’s Club”, clubs that demeaned parents such as: “Moms are Overrated”, “Dads Suck”, and clubs that sought to usurp the role of parents such as “Chosen Family” and “My Children”. It also had clubs where people could pretend to be younger than one’s true age such as “Regressors’ Space”. I took this information to a Law Firm and brought the evidence to my Superintendent as a liability issue. Multiple gay constituents, an educator / minister, lawyer, and community leader warned my school district board (SAUSD) about the dangers of Trevor Space on February 28, 2023. As a result, my Superintendent removed all Trevor Project numbers from the elementary student restrooms in April 2023.
When AB 727 was proposed, I asked a retired police SWAT sergeant to investigate the site. He was shocked by what he discovered. He saw naïve kids being “love bombed” and lured off platform to Discord, an unmonitored site known for the victimization of minors according to The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC). Sergeant Brown and myself both testified in Sacramento in summer 2025, asking the Education Senate Committee to oppose AB 727. However, in spite of the warnings, they approved it 5-2. I met with the Orange County Superintendent and asked him and his team to check out Trevor Space. They did, and due to what they found, the Orange County Department of Education wrote a letter to Governor Newsom, asking him to oppose AB 727.
Another law that places LGBTQ+ students at higher risk of exploitation is SB 1078. This bill makes it very difficult to remove sexually explicit books from schools, promoted by the California Teachers Union, as inclusive and diverse. Due to this law signed by Newsom in 2023, we have books in our schools that instruct minors how to use adult sex apps. It tells them to upload a picture of themself on the app while the app can access their location. The name of the book is This Books Is Gay. It recommends the App – Grindr, which has no age verification and, according to NPR, enables predatory behaviors where minors can be stalked, victimized, and trafficked. Many sexually explicit books have entered our schools under the guise of inclusion and diversity in early elementary grades, late elementary grades, middle school grades and high school grades. The International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children says providing sexual content/material to minors to desensitize them and normalize sexual talk or behavior is a typical technique for grooming.
Newsom signed AB 1955 which says kids can change their gender category, name, and pronouns in school, at any age, without parent knowledge or consent. This is called the Safety Act. However, if a child changes his/her identity in school without parent knowledge and that child comes up missing, when the parents report this to the police, they would unknowingly give a wrong description of the child. This lack of knowledge could stall the process of finding the missing child.
The titles of these laws communicate good intent and preferable outcomes, but the realities, especially for LGBTQ+ students, are the exact opposite. It’s time Californians prioritize protecting our most vulnerable in society and challenge this breech of public trust.
Originally published at The Washington Times.
Brenda Lebsack is a school board member in Santa Ana Unified and founder of Interfaith Statewide Coalition