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

Year: 2019

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.

19 – SB 145 – LGBTQ Young People Nondiscrimination

Year: 2019

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.

19 – AB 785 – Gamete Banks Donor Information

Year: 2019

Category: Medical, Family, Social/Political

Bill Description:

AB 785 will streamline the transfer of important donor medical history information for families and donor-conceived individuals. This legislation also aligns the existing state codes to match the federal Food and Drug Administration’s regulations for tissue transfers.

19 – AB 711 – Updating Transgender Students’ Academic Records

Year: 2019

Category: Social/Political, Educational

Bill Description:

AB 711 will ensure that local educational agencies in California update the records of former students who identify as transgender, making certain that their legal name and gender are accurately reflected on critical documents like high school diplomas and school transcripts. This includes reissuing high school diplomas and high school equivalency certificates, as needed. This bill seeks to close a gap in current law to ensure that all transgender people who have attended California educational institutions have the same rights and protections.

19 – SB 495 – Bias-Free Child Custody Determinations

Year: 2019

Category: Social/Political, Family

Bill Description:

SB 495 will add language to the California Family Code to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity of a parent, legal guardian or relative when granting custody of a child. While there are examples of California case law to the effect that “sexual preference” should not affect child custody determinations, this language is outdated, unclear and has not been codified within the California Family Code. This lack of clear and comprehensive policy allows local Family Court mediators, investigators, and judges to make recommendations and rulings based on their own biases about how sexuality and gender may impact the “well-being of the child.” All parents deserve the right to be considered in matters of custody without their sexual orientation or gender identity being used against them.

19 – SB 159 – PrEP and PEP Access Expansion

Year: 2019

Category: Medical, Social/Political

Bill Description:

SB 159 will reduce barriers to accessing HIV preventative medications. This legislation will authorize pharmacists to furnish pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) to patients without a prescription. Pharmacists are already authorized to furnish birth control pills without a prescription. The legislation will also prohibit insurance companies from requiring patients to obtain prior authorization before using their insurance benefits to obtain PrEP or PEP.

19 – AB 493 – Safe and Supportive Schools Act

Year: 2019

Category: Educational, Social/Political, Workplace

Bill Description:

AB 493 will require the California Department of Education to develop resources and a model training for school districts to provide teachers and staff with the tools they need — and want — to support LGBTQ students who may be facing harassment or lack of acceptance at school, rejection at home or discrimination in the broader community. LGBTQ students have higher dropout rates than their non-LGBTQ peers and continue to report missing school because of safety concerns at higher rates than non-LGBTQ students. Public school teachers and staff are on the front lines of providing a safety net against the effects of discrimination and lack of acceptance for the LGBTQ community, which can result in higher dropout rates, lower economic success and a number of other disparities in health and well-being that LGBTQ people continue to face. If LGBTQ students have support in school, their likelihood of overcoming these disparities and succeeding in school and life increases significantly.

18 – SCR 137 – Recognizing Foster Care Month

Year: 2018

Category: Social/Political, Family

Bill Description:

This resolution designates the month of May as National Foster Care Month in the State of California and calls on all Californians to observe the month by recognizing the extraordinary role that LGBTQ parents play in the foster care system, as well as the unique challenges confronting LGBTQ foster youth.

18 – ACR 258 – PrEP & PEP Awareness Day

Year: 2018

Category: Medical, Social/Political

Bill Description:

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is an antiretroviral medication that has been shown to be safe and effective in reducing the risk of acquiring HIV among people who are at high risk of acquiring the virus. PrEP is estimated to be over 90 percent effective at preventing HIV infection, but only about 12 percent of the 1.2 million Americans at high risk for HIV exposure are using PrEP. This resolution recognizes August 16, 2018, as Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis and Post-Exposure Prophylaxis Awareness Day in California to enhance public awareness of PrEP and PEP.

18 – SCR 110 – Celebrating Intersex Infants and Families

Year: 2018

Category: Social/Political, Medical

Bill Description:

This resolution calls upon the medical community to discontinue medically unnecessary, nonconsensual, and often irreparably harmful sex assignment and genital “normalization” surgeries on intersex infants at birth. Instead, an intersex individual should decide for themselves whether to pursue surgery at all, at an age when informed consent is possible.