This Week Inside the Capitol

January 9, 2012

Gender Wars Return to California Capitol

by Rebecca Burgoyne, 
CFC Research Analyst

California’s elected representatives returned to the Sacramento Capitol last Wednesday and immediately introduced several bills promoting the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) lifestyle. One, AB 266 (Ammiano, D-San Francisco), was originally related to the state’s coordination of intrastate professional sports teams. Now, through the process of “gut and amend,” this bill would allow a child to participate in a sex-segregated school activity not according to his or her gender – but according to the student’s gender identity. In other words, a boy who “identifies” as a girl would be allowed to use the girls’ locker room or join the girls’ volleyball team. As a two-year bill carried over from last year, AB 266 is on the fast track and must clear the Assembly by the end of the month. It will be heard in the Assembly Education Committee on Wednesday. You can contact committee members and express your opinion via this Assembly committee page. 

Another measure introduced January 4, Assembly Concurrent Resolution (ACR) 86 (Hueso, D-Chula Vista) would designate the month of February 2012 as the No Place for Hate Month. While we would agree with the premise that no one deserves to be intimidated or abused – for any reason – often the promotion of tolerance and diversity in today’s culture is code for the promotion of homosexuality. The No Place for Hate initiative, a project of the Anti-Defamation League, provides educators and students with the resources to ensure that anti-bias and diversity education are an integral part of the school curriculum. As a resolution, ACR 86 does not have the force of law, but serves to express the collective opinion of the Legislature on the cultural issues of the day. 

In addition to AB 266 and ACR 86, legislators introduced or amended nearly 200 bills their first day in town. Many of these bills were gutted and amended – a process much like “cut-and-paste” in a word processor, in which the language of a bill is removed, and new language – often on an unrelated subject – is substituted into the bill’s shell. While legislators will continue to introduce new bills through the end of February, this month the emphasis will be on two-year bills – those carried over from last year – which must be out of their houses of origin by January 31. 

Your legislators must continue to hear from you this year – if there is any hope of protecting families in California from the onslaught of bad bills awash in the Legislature. Let them know you are watching their votes; especially in an election year, they are sensitive to their constituents.

AB 1432 Caylee's Law (Mitchell, D-Culver City)
Assembly Public Safety Committee

AB 671 Social Worker Supervisor Training and Education (Portantino, D-Pasadena)
Assembly Human Services Committee