California Family Harassed After Trying to Opt-Out of Activities Teaching Gender Ideology
Carlos and Jenny Encinas taught their son well. When his class read a children’s book about a boy discovering his “gender identity,” the 11-year-old could smell the lie from a mile away.
My Shadow is Pink follows a little boy who discovers his shadow — a metaphor for his “innermost self” — is pink, not blue. The book ends with the boy and his father dressing as women.
Books like these sow seeds of confusion that can plague children for the rest of their lives. Happily, the Encinas’ son knew the truth. He had gone over the Bible’s teaching about male and female with his parents a year earlier, after La Costa Heights Elementary had promoted a drag show.
But the fifth grader wasn’t worried about himself. Once he finished reading My Shadow is Pink in his own classroom, he had to listen the audio version with his kindergarten buddy. He was subsequently instructed to help his buddy identify the color shadow that “best represented him.”
“[My son] could kind of filter out [the book’s message],” Carlos told the Daily Citizen in an interview. “I think what really upset him was the fact that he was forced to [share that message] with a five-year-old.”
The distressed 11-year-old confided in his parents, who began researching the book. They quickly decided to opt their sons out of similar activities in the future.
The couple filled out two opt-out requests, one with La Costa Heights and another with Encinitas Union School District, explaining books like My Shadow is Pink violated their Christian beliefs.
The district denied both requests, claiming California state law requires schools to allow teachers to choose which books they read in class.
But Kayla Toney, an attorney at First Liberty, says nothing in California law prevents schools from allowing parents to opt their kids out of certain activities — quite the opposite.
“[California] law requires schools to provide parents notice of sexual education and [allow them] to opt out,” Toney told the Daily Citizen. “[Encinitas Union School District] has tried to limit that opt out to only apply to the traditional sex ed unit taught in fifth grade.”
But opt-outs for lessons on sex and gender should depend on the material being taught, not the curriculum it’s baked into.
The district didn’t just encroach on Encinas’ parental rights by refusing the couple’s opt-out requests — it also violated their right to freely exercise their religion. Toney explains:
Notably, Encinitas Union School District provides opt-outs for activities ranging from gym class to dissecting animals.
Toney became the Encinas’ lawyer in September 2024, when the family made the difficult decision to sue Encinitas Union School District. By then, the they were fielding near constant attacks from parents and students who deemed them “hateful.”
“I still don’t know how they brought [“hate”] into it,” Carlos told us, ruefully. “It still blows my mind that us wanting to abstain somehow means we’re hateful.”
The Encinas’ spirits reached a new low when La Costa Height’s PTA staged a “Pink Out the Hate” event, instructing teachers, students and parents to wear pink if they supported gender ideology.
The event had a profound effect on the Encinas’ sons, who quickly became targets for bullying. Carlos remembers:
He continued:
Eventually, the Encinases decided to move their sons to a different school entirely.
Despite the relentless bullying, Carlos and Jenny remain, almost exactly one year later, determined to see the suit through. The Daily Citizen asked what had sustained the family through so much upheaval.
“What inspires me, first and foremost, is I believe God’s got a plan for this,” Carlos started. “He chose my son and our family for a reason and I have absolute faith that we are part of a spiritual battle that will be part of an ultimate renewal.”
He’s also heartened by the number of parents speaking up about similar experiences.
Carlos and Jenny received their first big break just days after the Daily Citizen interviewed them. You can read more about that breakthrough — and the Encinas’ hope for the future — in Part 2 (coming soon).
Additional Articles and Resources
Supreme Court Sympathetic to Opt-Outs for LGBT Curriculum
Common Spirit Denied Teen Body Medical Care After Parents Objected to Doctor’s Bizarre Questions
Three Ways the Media Supports Sexually Explicit, Inappropriate Books for Children
Sexualizing Schoolchildren: Classroom and Library Books
