Last Updated on October 1, 2022
On Thursday, Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) signed (SB107), which prohibits other states from pursuing action against children and their families for traveling to California for “gender-affirming care,” a nebulous term that often includes surgeries and hormone treatments for children looking to transition genders. The law will also encompass families and children who traveled to states other than California for “gender-affirming care”. California, in effect, has declared itself a sanctuary state for gender transition for minors.
At the press conference where the new law was announced, Newsom lauded its passing as a victory for “equality and acceptance.”
The California governor also made an appeal to parental choice, which has not been a priority of Democrat politicians in other arenas, namely Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Law. “Parents know what’s best for their kids, and they should be able to make decisions around the health of their children without fear. We must take a stand for parental choice,” Newsom added.
According to the Los Angeles Times, “the new law prohibits California courts and attorneys from enforcing subpoenas requested by other states about gender-affirming care for minors, and healthcare providers from releasing medical information.” The law also requires California law enforcement to give any warrants for violating such laws from other states “the lowest law enforcement priority”.
After Newsom announced the passing of the law, a representative from a LGBTQ advocacy group attacked governors Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and Greg Abbott (R-TX) by name, calling the two “small-minded men.”
The state senator who sponsored the bill, Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), spoke to the Los Angeles Times prior to the bill’s codification. Wiener commented on the possibilities of it holding up in federal courts, reiterating that California is prepared to fight other states who try to get in the way.
“We don’t know what’s going to play out in appeal or if states will find other kinds of laws they can get through to courts,” Wiener said in an interview before the bill’s passage. “It would be absolutely negligence for us to say we’re not going to do anything until one of these laws gets upheld and someone gets put in prison.”
Wiener has been part of controversy over LGBTQ issues in the recent past. In 2019, Wiener introduced a bill that was signed into law that allowed biological men in women’s prisons.