Opponents of California "transgender" bill sue state officials over tossed petition signatures

KIRSTEN ANDERSEN lifesitenews.com The backers of a failed statewide petition to place California’s controversial new transgender law on the ballot for a public vote have sued the secretary of state and a number of county officials demanding an explanation as to why more than 131,000 signatures were thrown out as “invalid” – including the signature of one of the petition’s sponsors. The law in question allows students at California’s public schools to use the bathroom, changing room and other gender-based facilities of their choice, regardless of physical sex.  It also allows boys to participate in girls’ sports and other activities and vice versa, as long as the student says he or she “identifies” as the opposite sex. Privacy for All Students (PFAS), a group based in Chino, collected more than 600,000 signatures on a petition to force the law on the ballot for a chance at repeal by voters.  Only 504,760 were required to force a referendum, but state officials threw out more than 131,000 signatures, claiming they were “invalid.” They threw out 14,000 in San Diego County and 13,000 in San Bernardino County alone.  As a result, the petition fell roughly 22,000 signatures short of the required goal – a loss so narrow that it triggered a mandatory recount, which narrowed the margin to roughly 17,000, but still below the required number. The petition’s backers are now demanding documentation of what they say is the “abuse of discretion” county and state officials displayed in rejecting such a large number of signatures. “We have served the Secretary of State with another legal action asking her to qualify the referendum and we have served county officials across the state with a demand for the documents to prove the abuse of discretion in rejecting more than 131,000 signatures,” wrote PFAS spokeswoman Gina Gleason in a statement. to read more: lifesitenews.com