Three key pieces of California legislation that were tabled last year for various reasons will see the floor in 2020.
These bills – SB 132, SB 145 and SB 201 were all introduced by openly gay Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and were co-sponsored by Equality California.
SB 132, the Transgender Respect, Agency and Dignity Act, aims to improve the living conditions for incarcerated transgender person. SB 132 will require that incarcerated transgender people in the custody of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) be classified and housed based on their sense of health and safety, which may or may not correspond with their gender identity. The bill will also require all staff and contractors of CDCR to consistently use the gender pronoun, honorific, and name the person has specified in all verbal and written communications with and regarding that person.
SB 145 is the LGBTQ Young People Nondiscrimination in the Sex Offender Registry Act. It would allow judges to decide whether a person should have to register as a sex offender if the person is within 10 years of age as the consensual sexual partner between ages 14-17. Current law mandates that such adult would automatically be added to the state’s sex offender registry. The bill aims to prevent LGBTQ+ adolescents from having to be listed on the state’s registry for sleeping with a boyfriend or girlfriend under the age of 18.
SB 201 would ban medically unnecessary surgeries on intersex infants. This would allow the individual to make the decision for themselves when hey are older. Currently, intersex infants often undergo cosmetic surgeries to help assign a gender. Weiner Tod the B.A.R. that the bill will be amended so that the age of informed consent is set at age 6.
“By that age kids can express, you know, what they want,” Weiner said. “They know what they want to look like and they can express their gender.”
The Senate committees has until January 24 to send it to the full Senate for a floor vote. That Chamber must pass it by January 31, sending it to the Assembly for approval.
