State

A new multimedia exhibition opening Oct. 6 at the GLBT History Museum explores the story of OUT/LOOK, a groundbreaking national queer quarterly published in San Francisco from 1988 to 1992. Embracing gender and racial diversity and bridging academic and community perspectives, the magazine developed an avid readership. The show and its associated programs, publication and website are designed to spark intergenerational conversations about the legacy of OUT/LOOK and its era. Curated by E.G. Crichton, “OUT/LOOK and the Birth of the Queer” features new works by 38 culture-makers, each asked to find inspiration in one of the 17 issues of the magazine. This […]

Equality California announced today that the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), the LGBT legal organizations leading the fight against the Trump Administration’s transgender military ban, have joined as co-counsel in its lawsuit challenging the ban, Stockman v. Trump. Equality California is a plaintiff in the suit together with seven individual plaintiffs who are currently serving or have taken steps to enlist. The three organizations today also filed a motion for preliminary injunction in the U.S. District Court for Central California to immediately stop the ban and prevent “further irreparable harm” to transgender Americans who are currently serving in the […]

The California Legislature has sent seven Equality California-sponsored bills to Governor Jerry Brown for his signature. In addition, lawmakers approved two resolutions sponsored by Equality California. If the bills are signed into law, it will bring to 127 the number of pieces of legislation advanced by Equality California to advance the health and wellbeing of LGBTQ people. “California has the world’s strongest civil rights protections for LGBTQ people, but until the work is done, EQCA will continue to fight for LGBTQ Californians” said Rick Zbur, executive director of Equality California. “This year, each of our sponsored bills helped address an […]

The California Legislature late last week approved a bill to reform California’s sex offender registry, creating a tiered system that will make the registry a more effective tool for law enforcement and bring California’s system in line with the rest of the United States. SB 384 was authored by Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and co-authored by Senators Joel Anderson (R- Alpine), Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles), and Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley). The bill was sponsored by Equality California, Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey, the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault, and the California Sex Offender Management Board and was endorsed […]

The California Assembly today voted 54-25 to pass SB 2 – the Building Homes and Jobs Act – legislation authored by Senator Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) that will create a permanent source of funding for affordable housing.Following the vote Atkins made the following statement: “California is in crisis. Rising housing costs affect us all. Too many people are using far too much of their income to pay the rent or the mortgage. Too many people are falling into homelessness. Too many people are forced to live farther and farther away from their jobs, clogging our freeways, making our battle against […]

 Assembly Bill 677 by Assemblymember David Chiu (D-San Francisco), which would help ensure California public policy meets the needs of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) communities, Monday passed the Assembly on concurrence and now heads to the Governor’s desk. “I want to thank all of my colleagues in the Legislature for understanding the obstacles facing LGBT communities and to help create informed policies to eliminate educational and employments disparities,” said Assemblymember Chiu. “Good information will move us closer to full equality.” Assembly Bill 677 builds on data collection best practices by requiring education and employment-related government agencies to […]

California State Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (D-San Diego) Thursday won state Senate approval of her legislation to combat the reality that women earn less than men for the exact same work. Studies have proven beyond dispute that women in the U.S. are paid, on average, less than men for doing the same jobs. AB 1209, known as the Gender Pay Gap Transparency Act, will require large companies to report their mean and median salary data by classification and gender to the Secretary of State, who will then post the data online so that consumers can easily see which companies fairly […]

The California State Assembly adopted Assembly Joint Resolution 22 Thursday condemning President Trump’s announcement that he will ban transgender individuals from serving in the military, directing the California military to not discriminate against transgender service members, and urging Defense Secretary James Mattis to allow trans service members to serve their country. The resolution is co-authored by a bipartisan group of lawmakers, including members of the California Legislative LGBT Caucus. “Trump’s decision to ban transgender people from serving our country is bigotry, plain and simple. It is counterproductive and does nothing to keep us safe,” said Assemblymember Evan Low (D-Silicon Valley), […]