Capitol Club
Leadership Circle
EQUALITY CALIFORNIA’S QUARTERLY JOURNAL FOR LEADERSHIP CIRCLE AND CAPITOL CLUB MEMBERS
WINTER 2021
An Update from our Executive Director Dear Capitol Club and Leadership Circle members, 2020 was certainly a year like no other, which is why your support of Equality California was critical as we continue the fight for full, lived equality for all LGBTQ+ people. With perhaps the most consequential election in our nation’s history behind us, we’re now working alongside the Biden-Harris Administration and our pro-equality champions in Congress to advance LGBTQ+ civil rights and social justice at the federal level, in addition to our work at the state and local levels. Building on our past success, and because we know LGBTQ+ Californians have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, we’re working to make sure the institutions to which people turn in times of need or crisis have the tools and training they need to support LGBTQ+ people. We recently expanded our LGBTQ+ Diversity, Equity & Inclusion training to support homeless service providers, in addition to healthcare professionals. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, Equality California has been connecting LGBTQ+ Californians with resources, fighting to ensure LGBTQ+ people are included in the COVID-19 data and recovery and educating our community and our allies about the importance of getting vaccinated — to protect our communities, get kids back in school and reopen our economy. We’re working to ensure that every LGBTQ+ students in California has access to a welcoming and affirming learning environment by: • •
Updating the Safe and Supportive Schools Report Card, which evaluates if California school districts are implementing policies to support LGBTQ+ students. Embarking upon the second year of the Equality California Mentorship Corps, our partnership with AmeriCorps, a peer-led mentorship and after-school program supports LGBTQ+ students in California’s Central Valley.
Thanks to funding from The California Endowment, Equality California will distribute $250,000 in sustainability grants to organizations led by and serving LGBTQ+ people across California. These include: • • •
Black, Indigenous and People of Color-led organizations Rural organizations Organizations serving LGBTQ+ young people
...and so much more. This year, filled with hope and gratitude for the incredible support you have shown our organization, we will continue striving to create a world that is healthy, just and fully equal for all LGBTQ+ people — and the diverse communities to which we belong — until the work is done. In solidarity,
Rick Chavez Zbur
SUPPORTER SPOTLIGHT
HIV Is Not A Crime Supporter Spotlight: The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation (ETAF), has been a crucial partner in our shared fight for social justice and human rights for people living with HIV and AIDS. Inspired by the organization’s namesake, Elizabeth Taylor, the team at ETAF knows that the battle to end the HIV epidemic is far from over, but well within our reach. Equality California has been a proud partner of The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation since 2016. Together, we have educated the public to ensure that laws affecting people living with HIV center science, not stigma. In California, ETAF was a pivotal partner in education effortssupporting the passage of the Equal Insurance HIV Act, which prohibits insurance companies from denying coverage to Californians living with HIV. But our work for people living with HIV didn’t stop at California’s borders. Last year, Equality California helped ETAF launch a national educationcampaign called HIV Is Not a Crime to build public awareness and support for modernizing laws that criminalize people living with HIV. Equality California and ETAF are working together to support our local partners in 8 states across the country in their education efforts to modernize outdated, ineffective and discriminatory HIV criminal laws.
Equality California and Silver State Equality are proud to be working hand-in-hand with The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation to end the HIV epidemic and ensure people living with HIV are treated fairly and equally.
“Elizabeth Taylor once said, ‘It’s bad enough that people are dying of AIDS, but no one should die of ignorance.’ Decades later, HIV is still a major crisis that will take all of us to finally end. Equality California is more than a partner — they are a leader, fighting alongside The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation for historic victories in our work to end the epidemic. I could not be more grateful.” Cathy Brown, Executive Director of The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation As state legislatures across the country gear up to work on important issues in 2021, we’re working hand-in-hand with our partners at ETAF on education programs to make sure that people living with HIV and ending the epidemic are top policy priorities.
Welcome, Assemblymembers Lee and Ward!
Equality California Around the Web
In 2020, voters elected three new members of the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus — and sent Vice Chair Susan Talamantes Eggman from the Assembly to the Senate. Get to know two of our new partners in Sacramento! Don’t worry — we’ll be highlighting Senators John Laird and Susan Talamantes Eggman next quarter!
December 8, Holiday Happy Hour Equality California supporters gathered virtually for a Holiday Happy Hour to ring in the holiday season with special guest San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and special performances by La Doña, Mikalah Gordon, Soprano Breanna Sinclairé and magician and Capitol Club member Justin Willman!
Assemblymember Alex Lee Asm. Alex Lee made waves with his election in 2020 and he is now the youngest member and the first openly bisexual member of the California Legislature. The son of immigrants from Hong Kong, Lee has always called the South Bay home and now represents cities like Fremont, Santa Clara and San José. Assemblymember Lee plans to work on a wide array of progressive policy priorities like housing, public safety, climate change and, of course, LGBTQ+ civil rights. We look forward to working with Assemblybember Lee in Sacramento for many years to come!
Assemblymember Chris Ward We are proud to have another LGBTQ+ parent — along with Asm. Sabrina Cervantes — serving in the California legislature! As the proud dad of two young kids, Asm. Ward hopes to make his home district in San Diego and the world a better place. Ward was previously a member of the San Diego City Council, where he served on the Regional Task Force on Homelessness and authored San Diego’s landmark Equal Pay Ordinance. We look forward to working with Asm. Ward on AB 218 — our co-sponsored bill to codify and streamline the process for transgender Californians to update their marriage certificates and the birth certificates of their children – and many more pro-equality priorities!
December 21, Gratitude Event for the AmeriCorps Mentors To help show appreciation for the members of the Equality California Membership Corp, Dolores Huerta and Stuart Milk joined the mentors for a virtual night of celebration and recognition for their hard work supporting LGBTQ+ students in the Central Valley.
December 22, Georgia Equality Equality California teamed up with Georgia Equality for Pride to the Polls, a virtual event to raise funds to mobilize 650,000 pro-equality Georgians in the Senate Runoff Election! We were joined by special guests Dolores Huerta, Matt Bomer and Sheryl Lee Ralph.
January 7, Tobacco Power Hour The OUT Against Big Tobacco Coalition, led by Equality California, went live for a special Power Hour on tobacco in the LGBTQ+ community. Sponsored by Kaiser Permanente, our panel was hosted by our own Dr. Shannon Kozlovich and other experts in the field.
Legislative Update State Legislation Equality California’s Sacramento legislative team worked hard through the autumn recess to convert 2020 lessons into 2021 plans. Although COVID-19 continues to impact the legislative agenda, we are pressing forward with ensuring LGBTQ+ people receive a fair share of the state’s attention. Our 2021 legislative package and advocacy will once again advance the health and well-being of California’s LGBTQ+ communities by lifting up the most vulnerable, including people living with HIV and transgender Californians struggling to obtain accurate and affirming identity documents for themselves and their families. We will continue to support and advocate for a comprehensive package of racial justice legislation and continue to lead the statewide legislative effort to ensure that LGBTQ+ people are never again left out of the state’s data-driven response to public health crises. In recognition of the fact that our work doesn’t end once a bill is signed -- we are working with our partners in Sacramento to obtain clarity on how our past data bills can be better implemented. Please check out the 2020 State Legislative Scorecard to see how legislators supported LGBTQ+ civil rights and social justice last year: ⊲ https://go.eqca.org/a/2020-caleg-scorecard
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STATE LEGISLATIVE SCORECARD
“Being an ally is about more than policy. It’s about keeping hearts open and watching out for our LGBTQ family once the pride parties are over and the bills are signed.” Assemblymember Sydney Kamlager
METHODOLOGY In the scorecard that follows, the analysis of votes is based primarily on the final floor votes cast on the measures. “Yes” votes on scored legislation are represented by “+” and “no” votes are represented by “-.” Legislators who are present but not voting are denoted by an “A” for “abstaining,” which is scored as equivalent to a “no” vote on sponsored or supported legislation. Passage of legislation typically requires a “yes” vote by the majority of all legislators, so failing to cast a vote has the same effect as a “no” vote. Legislators who were officially absent for a vote did not have that vote factored into the rating and are denoted on the scorecard with an “E” for “excused.” Missed votes on scored legislation may be excused if the legislator was a co-author, voted to support the legislation at a previous floor vote or in committee, or was absent from the floor on official business. The overall score reflects legislators’ votes on Equality California-sponsored legislation and priority supported legislation (highlighted in RED). Highlighted in YELLOW are bills that Equality California supported but did not factor into this year’s scoring. Members of the LGBTQ+ Caucus are denoted with an “*” and authors of sponsored legislation are denoted with a “+” next to their names.
Please note: Senator Melissa Melendez (R-La Quinta) received two scores -- one score is based on votes that occurred while she held office in the Assembly, and one score is based on votes that occurred while she held office in the Senate. Votes that occurred outside of her term in either house are denoted by “N/A” for “not applicable” and are not factored into her score in that house. Governor Newsom’s veto of SB 741 (Galgiani), which Equality California requested and supported, is noted as excused due to the need for a technical amendment that was not apparent until the bill was on the Governor’s desk, at which point the bill was not eligible for amendment or retraction. We plan to reintroduce the bill with the Governor’s stated commitment to working with us and the Legislature during the next legislative session. SB 201 (Wiener - Intersex Autonomy) is scored in the Senate Committee on Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee, where the bill died after opponents declined to engage in good-faith negotiations.
12 | Equality California 2020 State Legislative Scorecard
Equality California 2020 State Legislative Scorecard | 13
Federal Legislation Equality California’s Washington, DC office finished 2020 with some fantastic legislative achievements: we secured the support of every Member of California and Nevada on 13 Equality California-scored bills and garnered significant support in another seven legislative priorities -- not an easy achievement considering Congress largely ceased to work after the pandemic. On the regulatory front, we submitted a number of public comments opposing Trump-Pence Administration proposals related to healthcare, the Census and data collection. Looking forward, we are preparing a legislative package that will not only strengthen democracy and reverse Trump’s attempts to rollback protections for LGBTQ+ people, but finally achieve comprehensive LGBTQ+ civil rights protections not previously possible before winning the White House and U.S. Senate.
Save the Date Evening for Equality Thursday, April 22, 2021
Womxn in Pride
Wednesday, June 16, 2021
Golden State Equality Awards Sunday, September 12, 2021
Holiday Happy Hour
Tuesday, December 7, 2021
We Want to Hear From You! Do you want to hear more about a particular part of the work we do? Let us know! Please reach out to DonorRelations@eqca.org to request topics or provide any feedback.
Equality California is the nation’s largest statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LBGTQ+) civil rights organization. Equality California brings the voices of LBGTQ+ 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 LBGTQ+ 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.
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