California earned top marks in Equality California’s recently released annual state legislative scorecard for 2019
Equality California, the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization, demonstrating support in the California Legislature for LGBTQ civil rights and social justice. Sixty-one of the 80 members — including two Republicans — received perfect scores in the Assembly. Twenty-six out of 40 senators earned perfect marks, too. Scores were based on six floor votes and a committee vote in the Assembly, and eleven floor votes in the Senate.
Governor Gavin Newsom also scored 100 percent in his first year in office. He signed all five bills sponsored by Equality California that reached his desk. Notably, this included historic legislation authored by Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Assemblymember Todd Gloria (D-San Diego) to allow pharmacists to furnish life-saving HIV prevention medication without a doctor’s prescription. The bill, SB159, will take effect January 1, 2020.
“While the Trump-Pence Administration launches new anti-LGBTQ attacks on a near-daily basis, we’re continuing to work with our partners in the legislature and Governor Newsom to make California a beacon of hope to LGBTQ people around the world,” Equality California Executive Director Rick Zbur said in a press statement. “Civil rights and social justice are nonpartisan and nonnegotiable in California, and voters reward pro-equality legislators every two years for their support. President Trump and Senator Mitch ‘Grim Reaper’ McConnell should take note.”
