Equality California’s 2017 legislative wrap-up: Seven sponsored bills signed by governor

SACRAMENTO, Calif.— With his signature on Sunday of Senate Bill (SB) 179, authored by Sen. Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) and Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), and SB 310 (Atkins), California Governor Jerry Brown has signed seven Equality California-sponsored bills, ending the 2017 legislative session and bringing the total number of resolutions and bills successfully sponsored…

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In new court filing, GLAD and NCLR refute Trump administration’s claims that no harms have resulted from the transgender military ban

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Monday, the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) hit back at the Trump administration’s defense of its transgender service ban in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. NCLR and GLAD filed a brief refuting last week’s Trump Administration claims that no harms have resulted…

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Gov. Brown signs bill requiring drunk driving prevention training for bartenders

SACRAMENTO, Calif – Gov. Jerry Brown Monday night signed a bill by California State Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (D-San Diego) requiring bartenders to receive training that will help reduce drunk-driving accidents and other alcohol-related problems. Assemblywoman Gonzalez Fletcher authored the bill in the wake of a 2015 drunk-driving crash that killed two San Diego medical…

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Treasurer Chiang keeps sanctions in place against Wells Fargo

MENTO, Calif. – State Treasurer John Chiang announced today that he has decided to extend into a second year California’s financial sanctions against Wells Fargo & Company. The sanctions include the suspension of investments by the Treasurer’s Office in Wells Fargo securities; suspension of the use of the bank as a broker-dealer for purchase of investments,…

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Gov. Brown signs Nonbinary Identification Option Bill

SACRAMENTO, Calif. —Gov. Jerry Brown today signed SB 179, legislation authored by Sen. Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) that will create a third gender marker on state-issued identification documents for people who identify as nonbinary or intersex. The bill will also streamline the process for transgender, intersex and nonbinary Californians to obtain identification documents that accurately…

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Gov. Brown signs Toni Atkins’ legislation to help convict sex traffickers and prevent victimization

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Jerry Brown Friday signed SB 230, legislation by Sen. Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) that will allow victims of sex slavery to confront their traffickers in court and help prevent others from being violently abused. Character evidence, which includes evidence of the past acts of a criminal defendant, is generally inadmissible at…

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Opposition to transgender military ban builds

WASHINGTON, D.C. — NCLR and GLAD, two leading groups fighting President Trump’s transgender military ban in court, have applauded the bipartisan group of Members from the House of Representatives in introducing a bill that would block the Trump Administration’s ban on transgender servicemembers in the military. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., would restrict the…

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Bipartisan legislation introduced to protect transgender service members

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Friday, bipartisan legislation was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives to protect currently-serving transgender service members from being discharged due to President Trump’s transgender military ban. The legislation was introduced by Representatives Jackie Speier (D-CA), Charlie Dent (R-PA), Susan Davis (D-CA), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Adam Smith (D-WA), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ)….

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Trump pushes for ‘religious exceptions’ at hate group summit

Friday, Donald Trump became the first sitting president to attend and and speak at the Values Voter Summit, an ultra-conservative, anti-LGBTQ event. Addressing the crowd Trump said he wants to end “attacks on Judeo-Christian values.” He quoted President George Washington in saying that “religion and morality are indispensable” in American politics. “It is our faith…

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