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www.ebar.com
Since 1971, the newspaper of record for the San Francisco Bay Area LGBTQ community
Vol. 49 • No.1 • January 3-9, 2019
Wiener details 2019 LGBT bills
2019 sees 12 new LGBT laws
by Matthew S. Bajko
by Alex Madison
W
A
hile his bills aimed at addressing California’s housing crisis are expected to be some of the most closely watched legislative fights this year, gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) will also Rick Gerharter be pushing to pass legislation focused on State Senator Scott Wiener LGBT issues. He plans to revive his bill protecting transgender inmates in state prisons after it was quietly killed in the Legislature last summer. Known as the Dignity and Opportunity Act, it would have required that incarcerated transgender people in California jails be referred to by their preferred pronouns, gender, and name. Numbered Senate Bill 990 last session, it would have allowed inmates to specify their gender identity, first name, and gender pronouns during the intake process at all jails and prisons run by the state. All employees and staff of the correctional facilities would have been required to use the information. Wiener continues to argue that the bill is needed because transgender women, in particular, are frequently housed with male inmates, leading them to be victimized and then placed in solitary confinement by prison officials for their “own protection.” But once there, they are denied critical services. It wasn’t the change in policy, but the costs to implement it, that killed the bill, noted Wiener during an editorial board meeting with the Bay Area Reporter in December to discuss his legislative priorities for 2019. “It got all the way to the end but died in Assembly appropriations not because of opposition to the bill but because of significant cost attached to it,” said Wiener. As the B.A.R. noted in September, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation had estimated it would cost it $65 million annually to implement Wiener’s bill. A fiscal analysis conducted for the Assembly Appropriations Committee also estimated there would be a “significant onetime” cost ranging from “tens of millions to potentially hundreds of millions of dollars” because the state agency would need to “build space for the required programs to operate within administrative segregation units.” The analysis also estimated tens of millions of dollars in cost to hire additional staff for the prisons and unknown costs in the millions of dollars should the state agency need to litigate issues stemming from passage of the bill. See page 10 >>
fter Governor Jerry Brown signed into law an unprecedented number of LGBT-focused bills last legislative session, most of them became law January 1. Ranging from bills aimed at benefiting LGBT homeless youth Rick Gerharter to the requirement of sexual orientation Governor training for peace offi- Jerry Brown cers, 10 of the 12 pieces of LGBT-focused legislation are now law. The remaining two will take effect January 1, 2020. Two other bills that passed in 2017 will also be implemented this year, bringing the total number of new LGBT laws to 12. A few of the bills that went into effect will directly benefit LGBT youth. Senate Bill 918, co-authored by gay state Senator Scott Wiener
A royal first Courtesy Facebook
R
ose Queen Louise Siskel, center top, made history on New Year’s Day as she was the first Jewish and LGBT queen in the Tournament of Roses parade in Pasadena. Siskel wrote in a Los Angeles
Times op-ed that this year’s Royal Court was one of the most diverse ever and that she’s proud to be openly bisexual. Joining her as part of the Royal Court on the parade float was Lauren Baydaline.
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LGBT legal groups ask high court to hold off on trans military cases by Lisa Keen
L
GBT legal groups told the U.S. Supreme Court last week that it is simply too soon for the court to become involved in litigation over President Donald Trump’s proposed ban on transgender people in the military. The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to dissolve national injunctions against implementation of its proposed transgender ban. But no appeals court has yet ruled on the injunctions. Typically, an issue reaches the Supreme Court only after being decided by a district court, then by a threejudge panel of an appeals court, and then by the full appeals court. “The government’s desire for an immediate resolution of this litigation is not a reason for the extraordinary exercise of this court’s authority to review a case before the court of appeals has rendered a decision,” said a brief from the National Center for Lesbian Rights and the GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders. The two groups are jointly representing several transgender people in one of the lawsuits against the proposed ban (Doe v. Trump). “The Trump administration’s relentless attacks on transgender troops, including those who are currently deployed overseas, are appalling and legally baseless,” said Shannon
Courtesy ACLU
LGBT legal groups have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hold off on hearing the trans military ban cases until the appeals process is completed.
Minter, NCLR legal director, in a news release. “The Trump administration has demonstrated no urgency that would justify leapfrogging the normal appellate process, and the military’s own account shows no problems that need to be addressed. By the military’s own account, inclusion of transgender service members makes our military stronger.” Equality California, which brought the Stockman v. Trump case, also joined in asking the high court not to hear the matters yet. The groups noted that a district court has set a trial date of July for Stockman v. Trump in Los Angeles. “The government offers no credible
showing of urgency that justifies bypassing that careful and respectful consideration by the lower courts,” states the brief. The groups urged the Supreme Court to deny review of the injunction at this point and allow the trial on the constitutionality of the proposed ban to go forward. Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, which is representing transgender service members in a third lawsuit, Karnoski v. Trump, also submitted a brief December 24, opposing the Trump administration’s request that the Supreme Court dissolve the injunction. All three appeals are on a list of cases to be considered by the justices in private conference January 11. There are a number of actions the justices could take at that time, including rescheduling the cases for a later conference. But if four justices agree to hear Trump’s appeal, the appeal will likely be slated for oral argument this spring. The American Civil Liberties Union is representing a fourth group of service members in a lawsuit, Stone v. Trump. The Trump petition to the Supreme Court November 23 suggested the high court consolidate all four cases for a review of the constitutionality of the proposed ban.
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