User:JG2027/LGBT rights in California


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LGBT and intersex rights
In March 2024, Sacramento passed a unanimous "transgender sanctuary zone" formal declaration and proclamation - similar to that of San Francisco's.

In California it is legal to change one's sex and name by self determination on documents and forms. Transgender people are permitted to change their legal gender on official documents, such as birth certificates, driver's licenses or IDs. The applicant needs to submit to the California Department of Public Health a certified copy of a court order that changes their sex or an affidavit attesting, under penalty of perjury, that the request for a change of sex is to reflect the applicant's gender identity and not for any fraudulent purposes. State law does not require that the applicant undergo sterilization, Gender-affirming surgery or any medical interventions, but the applicant may undergo such procedures if they wish. In addition, official documents have three sex descriptors, that is "M", "F" and "X".

In 2014, a new law was passed which requires any official responsible for completing a transgender person's death certificate to ensure it represents the deceased person's gender expression, as documented in other government-issued documents or evidenced by gender confirmation medical procedures.

In 2015, California became the first state to pay gender affirming surgeries for transgender prison inmates.

State law bans health insurance providers from discriminating against transgender patients and from excluding coverage for transgender-specific care. State Medicaid policy also explicitly includes medical transgender-related health care.

In February 2019, a bill was introduced to the California State Assembly to ban medical interventions for intersex babies, a first for the United States. The bill failed in a Senate committee in January 2020.

At a conference May 3, 2022, California Senator Scott Wiener announced a plan from a coalition of LGBTQ legislators, health care providers, and civil rights groups in the U.S. to introduce legislation providing refuge and support for transgender children fleeing persecution in other states such as Texas and Arizona. Wiener's proposal, Senate Bill 107, would "make it California policy to reject any out-of-state court judgments removing trans kids from their parents' custody for allowing them to receive gender-affirming health care" and "bar compliance in California with any out-of-state subpoena seeking health or other related information about people who come to California to receive gender-affirming care for the purpose of criminalizing such individuals or removing their children from their home".

Unisex public restrooms
In March 2017, California became the first state in the U.S. to require all single occupancy public restrooms to be marked as gender-neutral.

On September 29, 2022, California became the first state to allow cities to require multi-stall unisex restrooms in buildings which are either newly constructed or undergoing extensive renovation. This law was supported by the City Council of West Hollywood, California, which passed an ordinance to that effect on December 7, 2022.

In September 2023, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law that would ensure all state-run schools within California provide bathrooms that are "safe, clean, accessible, and gender identity inclusive". This bill will go into effect starting January 1, 2026.

Gender X and gender-neutral pronouns on official documents
In June 2021, two bills (AB439 and AB378) passed the California Legislature, the first to include "gender X" on death certificates - alongside male and female genders and the second to also explicitly include all gender-neutral pronouns for California government employees and office title holders. On July 12, 2021, the Governor of California signed the gender X death certificate bill into law and it became legally effective on January 1, 2022.

From January 1, 2023 California is repealing red tape involved in changing sex on official documents, such as passports. The legislation passed and was signed into law in 2021.

Transgender legal protections
In July 2022, the Governor of California signed a bill into law effective immediately - to formally repeal an archaic 1970s section on prostitution (unofficially referred to as the "walking while trans" law).

In September 2022, the Governor of California signed a bill into law that passed both houses of the California Legislature - that explicitly legally protects and defends the lives of transgender youth traveling to California (for example who are suicidal or are at risk from other US jurisdictions considered unsafe, discriminatory and/or violent for transgender individuals). The law went into effect immediately within California by an "emergency clause".

In September 2021, the California Legislature passed a bill to explicitly include both sexual orientation and gender identity - within tracking data of violent deaths of LGBT individuals. The Governor of California Gavin Newsom signed the bill into law and went into legal effect on January 1, 2022.

In 2014, a new law was passed, according to which doctors, nurses, and other healthcare providers are expected to meet cultural competency standards that include "understanding and applying cultural and ethnic data to the process of clinical care, including, as appropriate, information pertinent to the appropriate treatment of, and provision of care to, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex communities."

Conversion Therapy
In August 2012, the California State Assembly approved SB 1172 prohibiting mental health providers from engaging in sexual orientation change efforts(such as conversion therapy) with LGBT minors. It was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown on September 29, 2012. The law would have gone into effect January 1, 2013, but was being challenged in Pickup v. Brown and Welch v. Brown.

On August 29, 2013, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals suspended the injunction on SB 1172 and rejected the plaintiffs' claims against allowing the conversion therapy ban to go into effect. On June 26, 2014, the Supreme Court held a conference on whether or not to grant certiorari to Pickup v. Brown. Certiorari was denied by the Supreme Court on June 30, 2014. b

In October 2016, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a claim by a Christian minister that the conversion ban violated his free exercise of religion, and this ruling was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court on May 1, 2017.

On December 11, 2023 the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear a challenge to conversion therapy prohibitions in 22 states including California. The challenge was brought forth by licensed family counselor Brian Tingley with representation from the Alliance Defending Freedom.

AB 2943, was a bill drafted by Assemblyman Evan Low, that would have extended the ban to paid conversion therapy for adults. The bill was approved in 2018 but was later withdrawn by Low before final approval. If passed, the bill would have been the first statewide ban applying to adults.

HIV law reforms
On May 27, 2016, California Governor Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 1408 into law, effective immediately, that had recently unanimously passed the California State Legislature. The law protects organ donation and transplantation between HIV-positive people in the state of California. The law also protects surgeons who transplant organs from HIV-positive donors into HIV-positive patients from liability and from being penalized by the California Medical Board. This law is also in-line with the federal HIV Organ Policy Equity Act, which reversed the federal ban on this procedure back in 2013.

San Francisco bathhouse ban repeal
In February 2021, San Francisco repealed a 36-year-old law (during the time of HIV/AIDS) that banned bathhouses.

In July 2021, the Governor of California signed numerous bills into law regarding further HIV law reforms[which?] that became legally effective on January 1, 2022.

Transgender History Month
In August 2021, San Francisco became the first jurisdictional city in the world by proclamation and executive order to officially legally recognize Transgender History Month. Later, in 2023, the California State Assembly approved House Resolution 57, establishing August as Transgender History Month throughout California beginning in August 2024. The Resolution notes that the Compton's Cafeteria Riot occurred in August 1966 in San Francisco, making August a significant month for the trans community.

California Healthy Youth Act 2016
The California Healthy Youth Act 2016 regulates the sex education taught in California schools. Under the Act, the lessons must be "medically accurate" and "age-appropriate". The lessons cover a range of topics, including healthy relationships, how to avoid unintended pregnancies and infection by sexually transmitted diseases, domestic violence, contraceptives, and abstinence. Discussions on sexual orientation also take place in higher grades.

Bullying
California law prohibits "discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying based on actual or perceived characteristics including immigration status, disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics". The state's anti-bullying also includes a prohibition on "cyber sexual bullying", which encourages school districts to inform students about available information and resources regarding the dangers and consequences of bullying. Additionally, the law directs the Department of Education to develop an online help tool to assist all school staff, school administrators, parents, students, and community members in increasing their knowledge of the dynamics of bullying and cyberbullying.

FAIR Education Act
The FAIR Education Act is a California law which was signed into law on July 14, 2011. The law compels the inclusion of the political, economic, and social contributions of persons with disabilities and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people into educational textbooks and the social studies curricula in California public schools by amending the California Education Code. It also amended existing law by adding sexual orientation and religion along with race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, and disability that schools are prohibited from sponsoring negative activities about or teaching students about in an adverse way. The Act mandates that history and social studies classes explore LGBT history. This can include reading children's books with same-sex parents or learning about the LGBT rights movement, the White Night riots and the Moscone–Milk assassinations, depending on age and grade.

School Success and Opportunity Act
The School Success and Opportunity Act, also known as Assembly Bill 1266 or AB 1266, is a bill that was introduced by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano and signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown. The law extended gender identity and expression discrimination protection to transgender and gender-nonconforming students. The bill specifically mentions that classes and activities are to be conducted without regard to one's birth sex as well as allowing transgender students to use bathrooms, locker rooms, and participate in sports that are congruent to their gender identity without regard to the gender they were assigned at birth. The law took effect in January 2014.

The law received a lot of criticism and controversy soon after it was passed. Anti-LGBT groups such as the National Organization for Marriage, SaveCalifornia.com, and The Pacific Justice Institute have all supported a petition to have a ballot initiative to overturn the law. The petition was circulated by the Privacy for All Students Coalition which worked with the aforementioned groups. However, the effort to overturn the law failed after it fell "about 17,000 signatures short of the 504,760 valid names needed to go before voters."