Jorge Reyes Salinas

Equality California, the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization, released the following statement from Executive Director Tony Hoang after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services finalized a rule ending federal Medicaid funding for both medically necessary care for transgender youth under 18 and federal Children’s Health Insurance Program funding for youth under 19. The rule is scheduled to take effect October 13, 2026: “Today, the Trump administration finalized a cruel and discriminatory rule that blocks federal Medicaid and CHIP payments to providers for medically necessary healthcare for transgender young people, putting their access to care at risk. This is a […]

Equality California, the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization, released the following statement from Executive Director Tony Hoang in response to a federal court ruling in Mirabelli v. Olson, which blocked enforcement of multiple California laws that protect transgender and gender-nonconforming students from forced outing at school and allow educators to respect a student’s name and pronouns. The state has asked to pause the ruling pending appeal. “Parents should be involved in their children’s lives, and in the vast majority of cases, parents and families are directly involved in conversations about sexual orientation and gender identity. That is why we passed […]

After the U.S. House joined the Senate in passing an extremist and deeply harmful reconciliation bill, Equality California—the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization—issued the following statement from Executive Director Tony Hoang: ### Equality California is the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization. We bring the voices of LGBTQ people and allies to institutions of power in California and across the United States, striving to create a world that is healthy, just, and fully equal for all LGBTQ people. We advance civil rights and social justice by inspiring, advocating and mobilizing through an inclusive movement that works tirelessly on […]

A broad coalition of leading LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations including Equality California, the Los Angeles LGBT Center, the California LGBTQ+ Health and Human Services Network, TransLatin@ Coalition, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, and more are calling on the Legislature to restore more than $31 million in proposed budget cuts to the California Department of Public Health’s Office of Health Equity (CDPH-OHE), which would eliminate dozens of programs serving LGBTQ+ communities across the state. The Governor’s May Revise for the 2025-26 State Budget proposes to eliminate two major CDPH-OHE initiatives: the California Reducing Disparities Project (CRDP) and the Gender Health Equity Section […]

Equality California released the following statement from Executive Director Tony Hoang in response to two anti-transgender bills—AB 89 by Assemblymember Kate Sanchez (R-Rancho Santa Margarita) and AB 844 by Assemblymember Bill Essayli (R-Riverside)—failing to advance out of the Arts, Entertainment, Sports and Tourism Committee on Tuesday by a 2-6 vote on each: “Instead of tackling the real problems in our state like high inflation and rising healthcare costs, Assemblymembers Sanchez and Essayli continue to waste time and taxpayer money using transgender youth as political pawns in a shameful display of divisive politics and a thirst for attention. AB 89 and AB 844 […]

Equality California released the following statement from Executive Director Tony Hoang in response to President Trump issuing an executive order attempting to stop LGBTQ+ youth—specifically transgender youth—and their families from accessing medical care: “Decisions about medical care for young people should be made between doctors and families—not by politicians like Donald Trump. This attack on transgender youth, their families, and trusted medical professionals from the Trump Administration is brazen, cynical, and dangerous. This executive order attempts to punish parents for making decisions that are in the best interest of their children, stop doctors from providing medically necessary care, and undermine the irrefutable […]

 Equality California released the following statement from Executive Director Tony Hoang in response to Trump’s executive order directing the Department of Education to withhold federal funding from schools that support LGBTQ+ students: “Donald Trump’s directive to punish schools that provide basic dignity and respect for transgender and non-binary students and censor accurate histories of racism in America is unconscionable. This is a flagrant attempt to intimidate educators, ban curriculum, and discriminate against LGBTQ+ communities and communities of color. All students—including LGBTQ+ students—deserve to feel safe at school and be given the freedom to learn. This latest action by Donald Trump does the opposite […]