Community - Planet Out

California law bans gender identity bias
Mon Aug 4, 7:52 PM ET

Ahmar Mustikhan, Gay.com/PlanetOut.com Network

SUMMARY: California Gov. Gray Davis (news - web sites) signed a bill to outlaw bias on the basis of gender identity and expression, revising the state's Fair Employment and Housing Act.

Embattled California Gov. Gray Davis signed a bill on Saturday to outlaw bias on the basis of gender identity and expression, revising the state's Fair Employment and Housing Act.

The bill, introduced by openly gay Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, was sponsored by Equality California and formally supported by more that 50 other local, state and national organizations.

"Every day, I am contacted by transgender people who have lost their jobs or their homes, simply because of who they are. It is long past time that California and other states put an end to this devastating and costly discrimination," said Chris Daley, an attorney with the California-based Transgender Law Center.

The amended California law describes discrimination based on sex as including discrimination based on gender, which includes a person's "identity, appearance or behavior whether or not that identity, appearance or behavior is different from that traditionally associated with the person's sex at birth."

"By enacting AB 196 into law, Californians are sending a powerful message that no person can be denied employment or housing based on gender-related characteristics," said Shannon Minter, legal director for the San Francisco-based National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR).

The National Transgender Advocacy Coalition (NTAC) said it was "overjoyed" with Davis' signature, as it thought the prospects for enactment seemed less optimistic given the political environment, where Davis is faced with a recall vote amid the state's economic woes.

"The governor exhibited clarity under pressure," said Vanessa Edwards Foster, chair of NTAC. "We only wish more of our political leaders could show as much leadership."

An ebullient Gwen Smith, founder of Remembering Our Dead, a Web site devoted to transgender victims of murder, said, "I am amazed -- and pleased -- that Gov. Davis chose to sign this bill, even in the midst of mounting attacks."

California became the fourth state to ban discrimination against transgender employees and tenants. The three other states that have enacted laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of gender identity and expression are Minnesota, Rhode Island and New Mexico.