Equality California, the largest statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender advocacy organization in California, announced today that its executive director, John O’Connor, will step down in July following a successful, 18-month tenure leading EQCA through a period of extensive organizational transition. EQCA also announced that board member Rick Zbur, a senior partner with the law firm of Latham & Watkins and an LGBT and environmental advocate, has been unanimously elected as the organization’s new executive director.

“John has been an incredibly effective leader and the boards of directors of both Equality California and Equality California Institute are extremely grateful for his exceptional service to the LGBT community in our state,” said Andreas Meyer and Joyce Rowland, board presidents of EQCA and EQCA Institute respectively. “John has successfully guided EQCA through a period of significant transition, leading this important organization to greater stability and improved financial condition.”

During his tenure, O’Connor’s major accomplishments include developing new funding sources, reorganizing EQCA staff and consolidating the organization’s presence across the state, leading numerous legislative victories, elevating the visibility and funding of the EQCA Candidate PAC, partnering with board members in robust new board recruitment efforts statewide, and initiating new programming that did more to directly enroll uninsured LGBT people under the Affordable Care Act rollout than any other LGBT organization nationwide.

“I’m very proud and grateful to have had the opportunity to lead Equality California through this critical period in its history,” said O’Connor. “Having accomplished the key objectives I was brought on to address at EQCA, the organization is well positioned to move into its next chapter. Rick Zbur is a dynamic leader who will continue our work and advance EQCA’s mission of securing full and lasting equality for LGBT Californians.”

“It was a difficult decision to leave EQCA at this time to handle personal affairs,” O’Connor continued, “but I’m thrilled to be handing off the organization to such a capable leader.”

Zbur will succeed O’Connor as executive director later this summer. A graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School, Zbur will retire from Latham & Watkins, one of the largest law firms in the world, and begin leading EQCA full-time on September 1.

“The boards are very pleased to welcome Rick, a respected and accomplished leader in the community, to the helm of EQCA,” said Meyer and Rowland. “Rick’s extensive experience working in advocacy and with nonprofit boards, coupled with his passion, intelligence and commitment to the work of achieving full equality for LGBT people, make him an excellent fit for the job. His appointment also ensures a smooth and effective transition for the organization.”

A father of three, Zbur grew up in a farming community in the Rio Grande Valley south of Albuquerque, New Mexico, where his mother, Erlinda Chavez Zbur and her family have lived for generations. A lifelong LGBT trailblazer, Zbur was Latham & Watkins’ first openly gay attorney and first openly gay partner. He took a leave of absence from the firm in January 1996 to run for Congress in California’s 38th Congressional District, where he became the first openly gay, non-incumbent to win a contested primary for U.S. Congress.

Zbur has served and will continue to serve as president and chair of the board of the California League of Conservation Voters, the political action arm of California’s environment community. He formerly served on the board of Lambda Legal and was a founding director and vice president at the Children Affected by AIDS Foundation.

“I’m thrilled to join Equality California and will build on the excellent foundation that John O’Connor created,” said Zbur. “My focus will be on the organization’s core mission of achieving full and lasting equality for LGBT people through smart and effective legislation, education and outreach, and building and expanding our community’s political power. A key to EQCA’s success will be to continue to strengthen our partnerships and alliances within and as a part of California’s emerging electorate.”

Top ranking elected officials reacted enthusiastically to the news of Zbur’s election.

“Since his historic run for Congress, Rick has been a tremendous advocate for the LGBT community, and a thoughtful and talented leader who knows how to build the coalitions that are crucial to advancing our movement,” said Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez. “We have made a great deal of progress, but we clearly have more work to do to ensure that every LGBT person in California is treated with dignity and respect, and I am absolutely confident that Rick will be an exemplary leader for EQCA who can focus on moving our movement forward. I also want to thank John O’Connor for his effective and dedicated service as executive director of EQCA. He has done a remarkable job in leading one of California’s preeminent LGBT rights organizations, and I am thankful for his service.”

“Rick is an LGBT trailblazer and true advocate for full equality,” said Speaker-Elect Toni Atkins. “I’m looking forward to working with EQCA under his leadership to continue advancing equality for LGBT Californians.”

“Rick is well known and respected among state and local leaders as a result of his leadership of one of California’s premier environmental organizations,” said Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom. “And he has the vision to ensure that EQCA continues to lead California to a state of full equality for LGBT people.”

EQCA also announced that Laurie Hasencamp has been appointed as interim chief operations officer to enable O’Connor to focus on key transition-related priorities. In 2012, Hasencamp served for 10 months as EQCA’s interim executive director and currently serves as board treasurer. She is a member of the Founder’s Council of The Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law and a former member of the Board of Directors of Lambda Legal.

Equality California (EQCA) is the largest statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender advocacy organization in California. For more than a decade, Equality California has strategically moved California from a state with extremely limited legal protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people to a state with some of the most comprehensive human rights protections in the nation. Equality California has partnered with legislators to successfully sponsor 96 pieces of pro-equality legislation. EQCA continues to advance equality through legislative advocacy, electoral work, public education and community empowerment. www.eqca.org

Assemblymember Jimmy Gomez introduced AB 1951, sponsored by Equality California, to modernize birth certificates to accurately reflect the gender of a child’s parent or parents. The new birth certificates would allow each parent to identify as mother, father or parent.

“Birth certificates establish real rights and responsibilities, and it’s important to have them in sync with modern families,” said John O’Connor, executive director of Equality California. “Every child deserves a parent or parents who love them, and AB 1951 will give every child the dignity of respectfully and accurately representing them.”

“The definition of a family needs to be more flexible, and same-sex parents should not be discriminated against when filling out a birth certificate,” said Assemblymember Gomez. “Under AB 1951, same-sex parents will be able to accurately identify each parent as mother, father or parent.”

The current practice in completing a birth certificate limits the choices to birth mother and father, or to leave the father blank. Unfortunately, this practice forces same-sex parents to inaccurately place one partner’s name in the “father” or “mother” field.

AB 1951 would require the Department of Public Health to modify birth certificates to contain a line for the name of the parent of the child with boxes to choose “mother,” “father” or “parent,” allowing same-sex parents to accurately identify their relation to the child.

According to the 2010 Census, there are more than 15,000 same-sex couples with children in California, a number that is expected to grow dramatically after a Supreme Court decision returned the freedom to marry to California.

By being listed on a birth certificate, parentage is officially recognized by the state, and entails the duty to support and care for their children. It also allows parents to make decisions about their child’s education, healthcare, religion, recreation and etc.

Equality California (EQCA) is the largest statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender advocacy organization in California. Over the past decade, Equality California has strategically moved California from a state with extremely limited legal protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people to a state with some of the most comprehensive human rights protections in the nation. Equality California has partnered with legislators to successfully sponsor 96 pieces of pro-equality legislation. EQCA continues to advance equality through legislative advocacy, electoral work, public education and community empowerment. www.eqca.org

Today, the Support All Students campaign — including a broad coalition of nearly 100 state and national organizations backing California’s law that ensures all school children have a fair chance to do well — applauds the California School Boards Association’s new model policy to help districts comply with the law.

The model policy released today lays the foundation for California’s 1,043 school districts to ensure that all children — including those who are transgender — have fair opportunities to do well in school following the January 1 start of the new School Success and Opportunity Act, also known as Assembly Bill 1266.

The policy will help students like Zoey, a 12-year-old transgender girl from the Los Angeles area who transferred out of her school after administrators there refused to acknowledge her as a girl or allow her to use the girls’ restroom. Her mom, Ofelia Barba, says that the law makes it easier for her daughter to go to school and be herself.

“I love my daughter and want the same things for her that other parents want for their children,” Barba said. “I want what’s best for her, for her to be happy and for her to be able to do well in school. No one wants to see any kid singled out and excluded from school because of who they are.”

The supporters include the Transgender Law Center, National Center for Lesbian Rights, ACLU of California, Gay-Straight Alliance Network, Equality California, Gender Spectrum, LGBT organizations, racial justice organizations, statewide teacher and parent organizations, and others committed to ensuring that all kids have the opportunity to do well in school and graduate.

“We applaud the California School Boards Association for developing a model policy that ensures that transgender kids have the same opportunities to do well in school and graduate as all other students,” said Transgender Law Center Executive Director and Campaign Chair Masen Davis. “This law is about doing what’s best for all students — that’s why it’s supported by school boards, teachers and the PTA.”

According to the CSBA policy, “Pursuant to Education Code 221.5, as amended by AB 1266 (Ch. 85, Statutes of 2013), a district is required to permit a student to use facilities and participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities consistent with the student’s gender identity, regardless of the gender listed on his/her educational records. However, an attempt is currently in progress to qualify a referendum on AB 1266 for the November 2014 ballot. Even as the eventual outcome is unknown as of this writing, the following guidelines are designed to implement other existing state and federal laws that prohibit discrimination, harassment, intimidation and bullying against students based on their real or perceived gender identity and/or gender expression regardless of whether or not the referendum attempt is successful. The guidelines address certain issues and circumstances that may arise in relation to the needs of transgender and gender-nonconforming students and are by no means exhaustive. Consequently, each instance or situation should be addressed on a case-by-case basis to ensure that the safety, privacy and other concerns of all students involved are appropriately addressed.”

Learn more about the law at www.SupportAllStudents.org

Equality California (EQCA) is the largest statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender advocacy organization in California. Over the past decade, Equality California has strategically moved California from a state with extremely limited legal protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people to a state with some of the most comprehensive human rights protections in the nation. Equality California has partnered with legislators to successfully sponsor more than 90 pieces of pro-equality legislation. EQCA continues to advance equality through legislative advocacy, electoral work, public education and community empowerment. www.eqca.org

Transgender students and their families are celebrating Californiaâs new School Success and Opportunity Act, which ensures that schools across the state understand their obligation to provide a fair opportunity for transgender students to participate in all school programs and to graduate with their peers. The law went into effect on January 1st.

The new law has been welcomed by school officials, teachers, and parents for educating California schools about meeting the educational needs of these students and their families, who often face daunting challenges that can prevent them from graduating when schools exclude them from activities and programs. The same extreme anti-LGBT groups that sponsored Proposition 8 have criticized this law, but have had trouble gathering sufficient signatures from the public to support a referendum on it.

ãFor the first time in my life, Iâm hopeful÷not only for myself, but for every other student like me across the state who will no longer need to fear obstacles standing in the way of their success,ä said Ashton Lee, a student from Manteca, CA. ãThis new law means so much, but more than anything, it means I can now see a future for myself.ä

Both state and federal law already prohibit discrimination against transgender students, and many schools districts, including San Rafael and Los Angeles, have had supportive policies for transgender students in place for years. But before the School Success and Opportunity Act was enacted, many schools did not understand their legal obligations to support these students. Too often, transgender students were unfairly excluded from school programs and activities and, in some cases, unable to obtain the credits they needed to graduate.

Added Ashtonâs mother Catherine Lee: ãMost parents donât know what itâs like to constantly worry that their child is being kept away from opportunities to excel in school or that bad experiences will have lasting effects. Iâm excited for this law because it gives all students a fair chance to succeed.ä
The new law has already had a significant impact. Since it was enacted last year, several school districts have already adopted new policies to protect transgender students, and the California School Board Association has encouraged all school districts to do so.

“In my experience, supporting transgender students based on their gender identity, including allowing them to use facilities or participate in activities, is just another way that schools work to ensure all students can be successful,ä said Sara Stone, a principal at Oakland Unified School District. ãThis is not an issue that other students are bothered about, and is one that makes a tremendous difference for the transgender students we serve.”

“All students deserve to be fully included in every aspect of the school experience,” said EQCA Executive Director John O’Connor. “The elimination of confusion about the law will now lead to greater participation and enrichment by all students, regardless of gender identity or expression.”

The School Success and Opportunity Act was signed by Governor Jerry Brown in 2013 and is supported by the Support All Students coalition, including Equality California, Transgender Law Center, GSA Network, National Center for Lesbian Rights, the ACLU of California, Gender Spectrum and many others. To learn more, please visit www.SupportAllStudents.org.