A California Democrat was restrained by his fellow lawmakers when he stood up and began moving toward a Republican member during debate over a bill about schools informing parents when children announce new gender identities.

According to video of the Thursday incident, Assemblyman Dr. Corey Jackson, a Democrat, reacted to something inaudible said by Assemblyman Bill Essayli, a Republican. Both assemblymen represent neighboring districts in the southern part of the state, southwest of Los Angeles.  

“You’d better watch yourself,” Jackson can be heard saying several times.

“He’s not going to smack his gums over here today,” Jackson said.

Jackson then got up from his chair and began physically pushing against lawmakers who were trying to restrain him.

“I went blank. I lost it,” Jackson later told the Los Angeles Times.

Debate on AB 1955 in the CA Assembly just went off the rails.

Bill would prohibit California schools from having parental notification policies if a student is transgender. @billessayli had his mic cut for discussing bill from last year, lawmakers raise numerous points of… pic.twitter.com/mcxVkBKnJ7

— Ashley Zavala (@ZavalaA) June 27, 2024

Now getting very chaotic in the Assembly. Multiple members hold back @AsmCoreyJackson as he shouts at @billessayli. pic.twitter.com/BILPHalCFJ

— Alexei Koseff (@akoseff) June 27, 2024

The bill at the center of the incident, Assembly Bill 1955, would prohibit school districts from having policies that require schools to tell parents when their child expresses a new gender identity. It would also shield teachers who supported children’s new gender identities from retaliation.

“LGBTQ+ pupils have the right to express themselves freely at school without fear, punishment, or retaliation, including that teachers or administrators might ‘out’ them without their permission,” the bill reads. “Policies that require outing pupils without their consent violate pupils’ rights to privacy and self-determination.”

The Assembly ultimately voted 61-16 in favor of the bill, which goes to Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk for consideration. Newsom has not yet signed it.

Before the situation on the floor spiraled, Assembly Speaker Jim Wood (D) had interrupted Essayli, the Republican.

“I am tired of being interrupted by you,” Essayli told the speaker, prompting Wood to cut his microphone.

A vote to allow Essayli to continue with the floor debate failed. Then Assemblyman Rick Chavez Zbur, a Democrat from Hollywood, took the floor and began speaking about his personal coming out as LGBT. Essayli raised a point of order over Zbur talking about his personal life, and the situation deteriorated from there.

At one point, Essayli compared the Democrat leadership to “the Chinese Communist Party.”

When he was eventually allowed to speak, Essayli told his fellow lawmakers, “We stand with you. We do not want anyone to be bullied or hurt or erased or any of this stuff.”

“When a child is going through this, it’s a very difficult and emotional time,” Essayli said. “We do not believe that the government — the schools — have any authority to withhold information from parents at all, period.”

The bill comes in the wake of parental notification policies in several major school districts in California, which have been challenged by the state attorney general.

Celebrities are no strangers to wanting to have a family and kids, but just like the rest of us, the path to having children can look different for everyone. 

As we look forward to the July 4th weekend release of “Sound of Hope,” we want to celebrate adoption — from the perspectives of those who were adopted and those who chose to adopt. 

“Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot” tells the true story of how 77 children found homes after being adopted out of the foster care system in East Texas by 22 families. DailyWire+ and Angel Studios announced earlier this month that they have entered into a partnership to release the Peacetree Productions’ film. 

GET SHOWTIMES HERE FOR ‘SOUND OF HOPE’

For these five celebrities, their families became a reality thanks to adoption and each one has said that it was the best thing they ever did.

Sheryl Crow

Superstar singer Sheryl Crow found her way to motherhood after deciding to adopt not one but two sons, one in 2007 and another in 2010.

Speaking on the “Making Space with Hoda Kotb” podcast in 2021, the 62-year-old singer said she “just never didn’t think I would have kids.” She admitted her dream of being a mom didn’t include adoption until her mom threw her a “life raft” and told her she could be one even if she wasn’t married.

“You have a family around you who will stand at the altar with you at baptism and say, ‘We are his community, or her community,’” Crow said of the conversation she had with her mom.

“The story I was telling myself limited what I thought I could have, until somebody stepped in and said, ‘Wait a minute, your story doesn’t have to look like your mom and dad’s story,'” she added. “Families look like all different things.”

Kirk Cameron

“Growing Pains” and “Lifemark” star Kirk Cameron is one of the most vocal stars about the power of adoption. The 53-year-old actor and his wife Chelsea Noble not only adopted the first four of their six kids, but also credits adoption with bringing him his wife, who was also adopted by her parents.

During an interview in 2022 with The Daily Wire, Cameron told us he and his wife wanted to have kids and thought it was a “beautiful way to have a family.”

Cameron told The Daily Wire that his wife and four children “were one doctor appointment away from not being here.” 

“The adoption option, I think, is such a loving, beautiful place, and I’ve experienced the result of that choice myself,” the actor told Fox News previously. “Like I said, with our four kids, my wife is adopted, and if my wife had not been adopted, we likely would not have our two natural-born children either.” 

“I think it’s incredible that God brings families together in all kinds of ways,” he added. “And I’m just so thankful for those ladies out there who make the loving choice of adoption.”

Steven Curtis Chapman

Christian superstar Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife Mary Beth discovered adoption as a way to grow their family after Mary Beth and their daughter Emily traveled to Haiti and met a young girl age 11, according to the website of their non-profit Show Hope.

Learning about the orphaned girl’s needs and after praying for guidance, the Chapmans knew that adoption was what they needed to do.

So, the couple set out not once but three times to adopt kids who could use a loving home and over the next few years grew their family after adopting Shaohannah Hope, Stevey Joy, and Maria.

It was this experience that inspired them to create Show Hope, a non-profit organization in Tennessee in 2003 for those families who had the heart but not the means to adopt a child.

“Show Hope exists to care for orphans by engaging the Church and reducing barriers to adoption,” a message on their organization’s website read. Through the group’s Adoption Aid, “Show Hope has impacted more than 8,600 children from more than 60 countries, including the U.S., by awarding financial grants to families who are on the adoption journey.”

Michelle Pfeiffer

Actress Michelle Pfeiffer was still searching for the love of her life when she decided to adopt her newborn daughter. Later that year, she met the man who would become her husband, TV producer David Kelley. Less than a year later, the couple welcomed a son.

Speaking to Good Housekeeping in 2007, Pfeiffer said the “adoption process was already in motion when he and I met.”

“So when she came, he and I had only been together for about two months. So we had this child with us right away, and most people don’t have that. But I really got to see him in a situation that certainly would separate the boys from the men,” the actress said. “Obviously, he really rose to the occasion.”

In an interview for the Independent in 2007,  the “Scarface” star said, “As mother of both an adopted child and my own birth-child, there is absolutely no difference in the huge amount of love I feel for both my children. I always knew I wanted to adopt a child and also have one of my own. There is no difference at all.”

Sandra Bullock

Superstar actress Sandra Bullock found her family through adoption amid her divorce from husband Jesse James after five years of marriage.

The 59-year-old actress adopted her son when he was just a newborn and five years later adopted her daughter who was three and had been run through the foster care system, “Today” reported.

During an interview in 2021, Bullock was talking about her movie “The Unforgivable” and reflected on how adoption changed her life.

“If it wasn’t for adoption and foster care, I wouldn’t have my family, so this film really struck a chord in that there are millions upon millions of babies and children on this planet that have no one to love,” Bullock explained at the time.

“They have no one to let them know they are the most amazing thing when they walk in a room,” she added.“There are millions upon millions of adults that wish they could be a parent.”

“Love is love,” Bullock continued. “And if we stop defining that narrative, it’s just one avenue, the amazing impact would be love and families. And health and mental health and beyond.”