New LGBTQ+ Inclusive State Policies
Despite COVID closures and any usual setbacks, it’s been a busy year for the LGBTQ+ community. So busy, in fact, that many of us missed news of several important state measures supporting the queer community.
These four key state senate bills were approved this fall by Gov. Newsom and will go into effect by the end of the year. Here is everything you need to know about the bills and how they will affect the LGBTQ+ community.
SB 132 – Gender-Affirmative Correctional Housing
Authored by State Senator Scott Weiner (D – San Francisco), this bill marks a historic move forward for LGBTQ+ safety. The bill requires the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to house transgender, intersex, and gender non-conforming (GNC) individuals according to the gender they identify with, or according to their “own perception of safety”.
Prior state law rejected gender equality, requiring inmates to be housed according to their sex assigned at birth, rather than their true gender identity. Transgender and genderqueer inmates are 10 times more likely to be sexually assaulted by other inmates and 5 times more likely to be assaulted by staff members when housed contrary to their gender identity.
This change in policy seeks to protect transgender, intersex, and GNC individuals from abuse within the prison system and marks a huge step forward for LGBTQ+ equality.
SB 932 – LGBTQ+ Data Collection
Also introduced by Senator Scott Weiner, one of California’s few out gay representatives, SB 932 aims to recognize diversity as a factor within state collection of data from all reportable communicable diseases (including COVID-19). The measure was introduced after the state failed to collect data about how COVID may affect the LGBTQ+ community. This measure will ensure that the data support future policies regarding healthcare for the LGBTQ+ community.
SB 2218 – Transgender Wellness and Equity Fund
This fund is inclusive of transgender, non-binary, and intersex individuals (though not all individuals under the latter two identities identify as part of the transgender community as the name of the fund suggests). The fund will be established within the Department of Public Health (CDPH) on January 1, 2021.
Resources will be allocated for community services such as supportive housing, health care, and arts-based programs. Information regarding the fund is not yet available on the CDPH website, but expect updates towards the end of the year.
SB 1255 – Equal Insurance HIV Act
This bill, entitled the Equal Insurance HIV Act, represents a great forward momentum in the fight against discrimination of HIV positive individuals. Since the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic several decades ago, the life expectancy & quality of a person with positive HIV status has more than doubled. Still, many insurance companies practice unjust policies barring HIV-positive individuals from receiving life and disability income insurance.
This Equal Insurance HIV Act takes effect on January 1, 2021. It will finally ensure that HIV-positive individuals living in California have the same right to life & disability insurance as others.
“California has some of the strongest pro LGBTQ+ laws in the nation and with the bills signed today, our march toward equality takes an additional step forward,” remarked Gov. Newsom upon approving these measures.
His approval serves as a welcome reminder that the fight for LGBTQ+ rights continues to take monumental steps forward. As more LGBTQ+ people join the ranks of state representation after this year’s election, we hope to see similar advancements in policy throughout the nation.
