A bill has been proposed in California that would prohibit the state from contracting companies that do not provide equal rights to transgender employees. It has been introduced by Senator Mark Leno and sponsored by the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Equality California and Transgender Law Center. The aim is to give the rights of transgender workers the same level of protection that was introduced for same-sex couples ten years ago. Writing in the Sacramento Bee, Geoff Kors; government policy director at the National Center for Lesbian Rights in San Francisco; says that when the same-sex laws were proposed many said it couldn’t work but the obstacles were overcome. Insurers benefitted he says, because they had a new market for domestic partner insurance. The state also benefitted because it meant that a group which was previously uninsured and relied on emergency health care were covered by private policies. Kors says that after a long battle that ultimately went to the Supreme Court, California led the way in equality legislation, and he believes that passing this new bill would expand upon that legacy.
