SACRAMENTO, May 3, 2022 – Equality California, Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), LGBTQ Victory Institute and Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California today announced the national, queer-led rollout of trans refuge state legislation in 16 states. In response to recent executive and legislative action in states like Alabama and Texas, these trans refuge laws will shield […]
Equality California
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EQCA and CA Legislative LGBTQ Caucus’s Statement on TX Gov. Abbott’s Attack on Trans and Nonbinary Children & their Families
SACRAMENTO, Calif. Feb. 23, 2022 — The California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus and Equality California categorically rebuked Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s vile and transphobic attack on transgender children and their families Wednesday. Weaponizing the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services against parents who simply seek to allow their children to live their authentic lives is the […]
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Equality California Endorses Secretary of State Dr. Shirley N. Weber
LOS ANGELES, January 11, 2022 — As President Biden, Vice President Harris and advocates across the country continue to push for federal action to safeguard the freedom to vote, Equality California announced its endorsement of California Secretary of State Dr. Shirley N. Weber on Tuesday. Secretary Weber is running for a full four-year term in […]
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13-Year-Old Transgender Student Athlete Tells Lawmakers: “We just want the same rights as everyone else.”
SAN FRANCISCO, June 28, 2021 — Thirteen-year-old Ryland Whittington of San Diego joined California Attorney General Rob Bonta, Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), Assemblymember Evan Low (D-Silicon Valley) and Equality California Executive Director-designate Tony Hoang at a press conference in San Francisco on Monday regarding new additions to California’s state-funded travel restrictions list on Monday. […]
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HHS Takes Initial Steps to Reverse Anti-LGBTQ+ Healthcare Policy After Equality California Sued Trump Administration
WASHINGTON, May 10, 2021 — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Monday morning that the Biden-Harris Administration will interpret and enforce Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and Title IX’s prohibitions on discrimination based on sex to include discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The announcement […]
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Equality California Applauds Newsom’s Appointment of Martin Jenkins as State’s First Openly LGBTQ+ Supreme Court Justice
SACRAMENTO, Calif. October 5, 2020 — Equality California, the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization, relased the following statement from Executive Director Rick Chavez Zbur on Monday, after Governor Newsom announced his appointment of Justice Martin Jenkins to serve on the California Supreme Court: “Governor Newsom’s appointment of California’s first openly gay supreme court justice is a […]
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Governor Newsom Signs “The Equal Insurance HIV Act” Enacting Anti-discrimination Protections in State Law
SACRAMENTO, Calif. September 26, 2020 — Today, Governor Newsom signed SB 1255 – The Equal Insurance HIV Act by Senator Lena Gonzalez (D- Long Beach) and the Senate Committee on Insurance. The Equal Insurance HIV Act will end the unjust practice of insurance companies discriminating against HIV-positive individuals. For more than thirty years insurers have been […]
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California Begins Collecting, Reporting LGBTQ+ COVID-19 Data
SACRAMENTO, Calif. July 28, 2020 — California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly announced new emergency regulations from the California Department of Public Health on Tuesday immediately requiring healthcare providers and local health departments to collect and report voluntary data on the gender identity and sexual orientation of patients to understand how the […]
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Newsom Signs Historic Bill Expanding Access to HIV Prevention Medication
SACRAMENTO, Calif. Oct. 8, 2019 — California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Asm. Todd Gloria’s (D-San Diego) SB 159 — co-sponsored by Equality California — on Monday, expanding access to life-saving HIV prevention medication. When SB 159 goes into effect on January 1, 2020, California will become the first state […]
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Assembly Appropriations Committee Blocks LGBTQ Nondiscrimination Bill
SACRAMENTO, Calif. Aug. 30, 2019 — The California Assembly Appropriations Committees blocked bipartisan legislation that would have prevented the unjust and discriminatory treatment of LGBTQ young people during Friday’s suspense file hearing. Supported by law enforcement and civil rights organizations, Senator Scott Wiener’s (D-San Francisco) SB 145 would have addressed the state’s discriminatory practice of […]
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Senator Wiener’s Legislation to Prohibit Medically Unnecessary Genital Surgery on Intersex Babies to Continue into 2020
SACRAMENTO, Calif. April 8, 2019 — Today, Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) announced that legislation to ensure intersex individuals—a term used often used by people born with variations in their sex characteristics, including genitalia—can provide informed consent before any medical treatments or interventions that could irreversibly affect their fertility or sexual function, will be pulled […]
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U.S. District Court Denies Motion to Dissolve Nationwide Injunction Blocking Transgender Military Ban in Stockman v. Trump
RIVERSIDE, Calif. Sept. 18, 2018 — The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California rejected the Trump-Pence Administration’s latest attempt to implement its discriminatory transgender military ban Tuesday, denying a motion to dissolve the nationwide preliminary injunction previously issued in a lawsuit filed by Equality California and seven active duty service members and […]
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California Senate, Assembly Appropriations Committees Advance Pro-Equality Legislation
SACRAMENTO, Calif. Aug. 17, 2018 – The California Senate and Assembly Appropriations Committees advanced key pro-equality legislation sponsored by Equality California, the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization, Thursday afternoon. The bills include legislation to combat California’s homelessness crisis, to provide California teachers and school staff with the resources they need to support LGBTQ […]
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Equality California Urges Homophobic Vice Mayor of Dixon to Resign Following Anti-LGBTQ Weekly Column
DIXON, Calif. July 2, 2018— After a local independent newspaper published a column written by Dixon, California’s Vice Mayor Ted Hickman that declares July “Straight Pride American Month” and makes numerous derogatory references to the LGBTQ community, Equality California, the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization, released the following statement from Executive Director Rick Zbur urging […]
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Equality California: Pompeo’s Anti-LGBTQ Record Would Be a Disaster for the Global LGBTQ Community
WASHINGTON, April 17, 2018 — Equality California, the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization, sent a letter to members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Monday urging them to oppose the nomination of Director Mike Pompeo to serve as U.S. Secretary of State. Throughout his career, Pompeo has been a staunch opponent of […]