20 – SB 961 – Equal Insurance HIV Act

Year: 2020

Category: Medical, Social/Political

Bill Description:

The Equal Insurance HIV Act would stop insurance companies from denying life and disability income insurance coverage based solely on a customer’s HIV status. The bill would enact anti-discrimination protections in life and disability income insurance products for those living with HIV by banning HIV discrimination to ensure they have equal access to the coverage they deserve. Today, with the access to health care, advancement in HIV testing, and more effective treatment, a person who is HIV positive and undergoes and remains on treatment can live a long healthy life. HIV status is treated by medical professionals like any other treatable chronic condition. But California’s outdated insurance laws haven’t been updated. This bill would help to eliminate stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV, a key step toward ending the HIV epidemic.

20 – SB 132 – Transgender Respect, Agency, and Dignity Act

Year: 2020

Category: Social/Political

Bill Description:

SB 132 addresses a very real problem facing incarcerated transgender individuals, namely, transgender people being housed according to their birth-assigned gender, not their gender identity or perception of safety, resulting in significant risk of violence. Transgender women housed in male facilities face particular risk of rape and assault. SB 132 will change state law to require incarcerated transgender people in the custody of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation be classified and housed based on their gender identity, unless the incarcerated person’s evaluation of their own safety is that another housing placement is safest. SB 132 also requires that the preferred first name, gender pronoun and honorific of the incarcerated individual be used by facility staff in all written and verbal communications. By housing incarcerated transgender people based on their gender identity or perception of health and safety, transgender people will be housed in institutions that decrease their likelihood of experiencing targeting and violence, and they will have access to the programming and work opportunities that will best promote and support their health and safety.

20 – SB 145 – LGBTQ+ Young People Nondiscrimination

Year: 2020

Category: Social/Political

Bill Description:

SB 145 will address the state’s discriminatory practice of treating LGBTQ+ young people differently than their non-LGBTQ+ peers when engaging in voluntary sexual activity. Currently, for example, if an 18-year-old boy has voluntary sex with his 17-year-old girlfriend, he isn’t automatically required to register as a sex offender. But if an 18-year-old boy has voluntary sex with his 17-year-old boyfriend or an 18-year-old girl has voluntary sex with her 17-year-old girlfriend, they’re automatically required to register as sex offenders, no matter the circumstances. SB 145 only applies when a teenager age 14 or older has consensual sex with a partner who is within 10 years of age.

20 – SB 932 – COVID-19 Data Collection for LGBTQ+ Community

Year: 2020

Category: Social/Political, Medical

Bill Description:

SB 932 will mandate the collection and reporting of sexual orientation and gender identity data for all COVID-19 patients in the State of California. The bill was introduced in early May 2020 in response to the state’s failure to collect data about the crisis’s impacts on the LGBTQ+ community — depriving both the government and LGBTQ+ community leaders of invaluable information needed to protect LGBTQ+ Californians. Because rates of respiratory issues (from smoking), HIV/AIDS, cancer, and homelessness are higher in the LGBTQ community, LGBTQ+ people are likely experiencing greater health impacts from COVID-19. Additionally, LGBTQ+ people are more likely to work in the service industry and in front-line jobs. SB 932 will allow healthcare providers and public health officials to understand rates of COVID-19 in the LGTBQ+ community, and help LGBTQ+ people get the resources and support they need.

19 – HR 12 – Black HIV/AIDS Awareness

Year: 2019

Category: Medical, Social/Political

Bill Description:

Introduced by members of the Legislative LGBT Caucus and the Legislative Black Caucus, HR 12 and SR 15 proclaimed February 7, 2019 as Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day in California in order to encourage greater awareness, education, community engagement, and treatment.

19 – ACR 27 – Honoring Bayard Rustin

Year: 2019

Category: Social/Political

Bill Description:

ACR 27 honors the legacy of civil rights, labor and LGBTQ leader Bayard Rustin. Born on March 17, 1912 in West Chester, Pennsylvania, Rustin dedicated his entire life to advancing justice and dignity for all. He was a close advisor to Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., organized the historic 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and promoted equity through nonviolent protests. An openly gay African American, Rustin understood the intricate intersections of marginalized identities and fought tirelessly for progress and opportunity. His extraordinary efforts promoted unity and transformed the landscape of activism.

19 – AB 758 – Strengthening California’s Equal Pay Act

Year: 2019

Category: Workplace, Social/Political

Bill Description:

AB 758 will strengthen California’s equal pay laws by requiring that employees of all genders are paid equitably to their counterparts for substantially similar work. This bill will also address unjustified workplace pay differentials for employees who do not conform to the gender binary. California’s Equal Pay Act prohibits employers from paying an employee less than an employee of “the opposite sex” for substantially similar work. AB 758 will update the California Equal Pay Act’s outdated binary language to align with the Gender Recognition Act of 2017 (SB 179, Atkins), which enabled Californians to obtain state issued identity documents that reflect their gender identity by creating a third, nonbinary gender marker.

19 – AB 650 – LGBTQ Mortality Data

Year: 2019

Category: Social/Political

Bill Description:

AB 650 will enhance data available regarding the LGBTQ community. Research suggests that LGBTQ people are at much higher risk of becoming victims of violent crimes than non-LGBTQ people, and multiple studies — including studies by our cosponsor the Trevor Project — have shown that LGBTQ adolescents are at three times the risk of suicide as their non-LGBTQ peers. Accurate and comprehensive mortality statistics can inform policy to reduce preventable deaths and improve quality of life for all LGBTQ people.

19 – SB 741 – Affirming Records

Year: 2019

Category: Family, Social/Political

Bill Description:

SB 741 will update the law to allow transgender Californians to update their marriage certificates and the birth certificates of their children to accurately reflect their legal name and gender, while still protecting their privacy. Current state law allows transgender people to petition courts to change their legal name and gender to conform with their gender identity. The law then allows such a person’s old birth certificate to be sealed and a new one issued as an original to protect the person’s privacy and respect their identity. This legislation would simply align the process for updating transgender people’s marriage certificates and the birth certificates of their children with the process for updating their own birth certificate. This will help to prevent discrimination when a transgender person enrolls their child in school, applies for a loan or seeks to make medical decisions on behalf of an incapacitated spouse.

19 – AB 307 – Homeless Youth Grant Program

Year: 2019

Category: Social/Political, Housing, Medical, Workplace

Bill Description:

AB 307 will require the development and administration of a grant program that would, primarily, support nonprofit organizations or continuum of care administrative entities in serving youth experiencing homelessness. Funding will go toward an array of supportive services, including rental assistance, drug abuse prevention, health care and employment assistance. All programs funded under AB 307 will be required to have the cultural competence to serve youth who identify as LGBTQ.