Protecting the LGBTQ Community

Since the second Trump administration began, I’ve been hearing about the deep fear and anxiety many communities are wrestling with, including our immigrant neighbors, the AAPI community and many more.

The stories and fears San Franciscans are sharing has instilled in me a deep passion and commitment to fight for everyone being attacked right now.

As we enter Pride Month, I want to talk about the work I and others are doing to protect California’s values of inclusion and combat the all-out assault this administration is waging against the LGBTQ community.

In recent years, the MAGA movement has dramatically ratcheted up its attacks on LGBTQ people, and especially transgender people. Watching other states start to ban and even criminalize transgender people and their families and health care providers – for simply existing in public spaces or obtaining/providing health care – motivated me to pass SB-107 in 2022 to establish California as the nation’s first LGBTQ sanctuary state.

My legislation offers refuge in California and helps protect parents from criminalization or having their child taken away based on their support for that child’s sexual orientation or gender identity. It also prevents compliance with subpoenas seeking information related to gender-affirming care and generally prohibits law enforcement officers from arresting people who are being criminalized in other states under anti-LGBTQ hate laws.

I am pleased that this law has inspired other states to enact similar “trans state of refuge” laws.

This year, I’m fighting to strengthen and expand the sanctuary state law with SB-497 and SB-59. These bills reaffirm California’s commitment to treating all citizens with dignity and respect and expand privacy protections for transgender people to prevent doxxing and harassment some experience as a result of court records related to their transition being public.

Coming out during college in 1990, at the height of the AIDS crisis, shaped my perspective on LGBTQ health. I strongly believe that PrEP, a pill or injection that’s proven 99% effective at preventing HIV transmission, is critical to any strategy for ending HIV infection. When I was on the Board of Supervisors in 2014, I made the decision to publicly disclose my use of PrEP. It was difficult for me to share such a personal health decision. In fact, I was the first elected official in the U.S. to do so. But the stigma around HIV was limiting the use of the drug, and I wanted to reduce that stigma and raise awareness.

After joining the Senate, I authored and passed a law that expanded access to PrEP by allowing pharmacists to provide PrEP without a prescription, similar to how we approach the birth control pill. This legislation was the first of its kind across the nation, and led to similar policies in other states, like Utah, Colorado and Nevada.

I also always keep in mind the courage and sacrifices of our LGBTQ elders, whose advocacy benefitted and created space for so many of us.

To honor these heroes, I was proud to work with a broad coalition to pass legislation to protect LGBTQ seniors in long-term care. This law grew out of a community working group that we created to study the needs of LGBTQ seniors. For decades, discrimination against LGBTQ seniors was the norm in long-term care. This law, SB-219, clarified for the first time which actions constitute unlawful discrimination against LGBTQ people in care homes. Washington, D.C., Montgomery County, Maryland, and New Jersey have all passed versions of this law.

San Francisco has been the site of so much queer resistance and history. Years before Stonewall, transgender women and drag queens fought against discrimination and harassment here during the Compton Cafeteria Riot. Harvey Milk became the first out elected official in California. It is our job to carry this legacy forward into today’s challenging onslaught against our community.

If you’re feeling like standing up for this incredible community during these difficult times, consider joining me to march in the Pride Parade on Sunday, June 29. You can contact my office at 415-557-1300 to RSVP. I look forward to celebrating with you as we face these challenging times together.

Scott Wiener represents San Francisco and northern San Mateo County in the California State Senate. He serves as chair of the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee and previously served as chair of the Senate Housing Committee and the Senate Human Services Committee. He can be reached at 415-557-1300 and Senator.Wiener@senate.ca.gov.