Equality California Announces Initial 2023 Legislative Package

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 9, 2023

CONTACT: Jorge Reyes Salinas, Equality California
PHONE: (323) 848-9801/MOBILE: (818) 307-7387/EMAIL: press@eqca.org

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Equality California, the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization, announced its initial 11 sponsored bills, including one constitutional amendment for the 2023 legislative year.

“The LGBTQ+ community is facing an onslaught of attacks by far-right extremists across the country with attempts to roll back civil rights that our community has fought tirelessly to achieve,” said Equality California Executive Director Tony Hoang. “Here in California, we are standing up against hate and will continue leading the way to ensure LGBTQ+ Californians are protected, healthy, and can build a future that represents their values with a community that accepts and supports them. We are not allowing the ongoing attacks to set us back today — or ever.”

Equality California is sponsoring the following bills:

ACA 5 (Asm. Low): Protecting Marriage Equality

ACA 5 is a constitutional amendment to protect marriage equality for LGBTQ+ couples with the intent to remove Proposition 8 from the state’s constitution. In 2008, Proposition 8 declared “only marriage between a man and a woman” as valid or recognized in California. If approved by the Legislature, the measure will appear before voters in the 2024 general election. Read our statement

AB 5 (Asm. Zbur): Safe and Supportive Schools Program

AB 5 will specify the timeline for implementation of LGBTQ+ cultural competency training for California teachers and school staff currently under development by the Department of Education. The bill will provide teachers and staff with the tools and training they need to support LGBTQ+ students and make California schools safer and more supportive for all students.

AB 783 (Asm. Ting): All-Gender Restroom Compliance

Building on landmark legislation that required single-user restrooms to be designated as all-gender, AB 783 will improve compliance with existing law by requiring cities to notify all business license applicants that single-user restrooms in any business, place of public accommodation, or government agency must be identified as all-gender restrooms.

AB 957 (Asm. Wilson): Affirming Gender Identity

AB 957 will update California law to clarify that affirming a child’s gender identity is in the best interests of the child for purposes of legal name change and child custody decisions.

AB 1432 (Asm. Carrillo): Insurance Coverage for Abortion and Gender-Affirming Care

While states across the country are banning and even criminalizing abortion and gender-affirming care, AB 1432 will close loopholes in existing law to ensure that health insurance policies provided to Californians by out-of-state employers with out-of-state insurance contracts include coverage for abortion and gender-affirming care.

AB 1645 (Asm. Zbur): Protecting Access to Preventive Care

In the wake of a Texas lawsuit targeting health insurance coverage for PrEP and other preventive services, AB 1645 will close loopholes and strengthen protections in existing law to ensure that California health insurers continue to provide free and complete coverage for preventive services like PrEP and STI testing.

SB 36 (Sen. Skinner): Safe Haven for Abortion and Gender-Affirming Care

SB 36 will strengthen California’s “safe haven” laws by making it illegal for bail agents or bounty hunters to apprehend people who have left another state to avoid criminal prosecution related to abortion or gender-affirming care. The bill will also ensure that public benefits are not denied to people who need to flee to California to access abortion or gender-affirming care.

SB 339 (Sen. Wiener): Improving PrEP Access at Pharmacies

Building on first-in-the-nation legislation that authorized pharmacists to furnish PrEP without a doctor’s prescription, SB 339 will improve the ability of pharmacists to provide PrEP by increasing the amount of PrEP that pharmacists are authorized to provide without a doctor’s prescription and requiring health plans to reimburse pharmacists for PrEP services.

SB 407 (Sen. Wiener): LGBTQ+ Foster Youth Protections

SB 407 has the intent to strengthen protections in existing law to ensure that LGBTQ+ foster youth in California are placed in homes that are affirming of LGBTQ+ identities. Youth who identify as LGBTQ+ are overrepresented in foster care, with multiple studies estimating about 30 percent of youth in foster care identify as LGBTQ+.

SB 729 (Sen. Menjivar): Insurance Coverage for Fertility Care

SB 729 will require health plans to provide coverage for fertility care, including treatment for infertility and in vitro fertilization, and ensure that LGBTQ+ people are not excluded from coverage and can build a family without the fear of cost.

SB 760 (Sen. Newman): All-Gender Restrooms for K-12 Students

SB 760 is first-of-its-kind legislation to require all K-12 schools in California to provide at least one accessible all-gender restroom for students to use safely and comfortably during school hours.

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Equality California is the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization. We bring the voices of LGBTQ people and allies to institutions of power in California and across the United States, striving to create a world that is healthy, just, and fully equal for all LGBTQ people. We advance civil rights and social justice by inspiring, advocating and mobilizing through an inclusive movement that works tirelessly on behalf of those we serve. www.eqca.org

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