Bill To Make California A Refuge State For Transgender Children Passes Assembly

A bill to make California a refuge state for transgender children and their families from other states that criminalize youth gender-affirming care treatments was passed in the Assembly on Monday.

Senate Bill 107, authored by Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), would prohibit health care providers and service plans from releasing medical information related to someone allowing a child to receive gender-affirming health care in response to a criminal or civil action, including a foreign subpoena, based on another state’s law that authorizes a person to bring a civil or criminal action against a person or entity that allows a child to receive gender-affirming health care or gender-affirming mental health care. Law enforcement agencies would, as a result, be prohibited from arresting or extraditing the child or the people who approved the gender-affirming care due to an out-of-state law against gender-affirming care.

SB 107 would also prohibit the removal of a child from the custody of a parent or guardian based on them allowing a child to receive gender-affirming care. Courts would be prohibited from finding it to be an inconvenient forum where the law or policy of another state that may take jurisdiction limits the ability of a parent to obtain gender-affirming care  and the provision of such care is at issue in the case before the court. The bill would authorize a court to take temporary jurisdiction because a child has been unable to obtain gender-affirming health care. The bill would additionally prohibit a court from considering the taking or retention of a child from a person who has legal custody of the child, if the taking or retention was for obtaining gender-affirming care.

Senator Wiener wrote SB 107, also known as the Trans State of Refuge Bill, in response to Texas, Idaho, Louisiana, Arizona, and other states approving laws and directives either investigating or prosecuting parents, guardians, physicians, and others for allowing transgender care for trans kids. Following the legislation of 19 other states, Wiener also said that California needs to protect them from not breaking up families or criminalizing simply for being who they area.

“States like Texas are classifying gender-affirming care as child abuse and threatening to incarcerate parents. California won’t stand by,” said Senator Wiener this week. “If these parents and their kids come to California, the legislation will help protect them from having their kids taken away from them or from being criminally prosecuted for supporting their trans kids’ access to health care.”

“California must stand with LGBTQ kids and their families, especially when they’re under attack across the country. SB 107 ensures that California is a refuge state for trans kids and their parents, so they can be safe here. Parents should never be separated from their kids or criminalized for simply allowing them to be who they are. We need to hold firm in our support for the LGBTQ community and stand with LGBTQ youth.”

While there has been opposition to the bills, largely by Republicans and earlier on by Democrats who wanted “gender affirming mental care” added in via an amendment, which it later was, SB 107 failed to spur any large movement against it. In the end, many Republicans either sided with the bill or decided to not vote. A few Democrats did the same, with some choosing to either ultimately vote against the bill or abstain.”

Support for, Opposition against SB 107

“There were some worries with the bill,” explained “Dana,” a Capitol Staffer. “Many felt that California shouldn’t disrupt other states laws. Some thought it went too far in doing so, while others felt it didn’t do enough. But a big one was age limits, such as how old someone should be for hormone therapy or surgery. And don’t forget about parental rights too. A lot of lawmakers, not just in California, sees bills like this as going against their rights.”

California Family Council Director Greg Burt spoke to the issue of parental rights on SB 107 last month, noting that “This bill declares war on parents throughout the country who don’t want their children sterilized because of their gender dysphoria, a condition that resolves itself in most cases after a child reaches adulthood.”

Despite continued opposition, SB 107 passed the Assembly on Monday, setting up a final vote in the Senate.

“The Assembly just passed our trans state of refuge bill (SB 107) so trans kids & their families can come to CA if they’re being criminalized,” tweeted Wiener on Monday. “States like TX are classifying gender-affirming care as child abuse & threatening to incarcerate parents. CA won’t stand by.”

BREAKING: The Assembly just passed our trans state of refuge bill (SB 107) so trans kids & their families can come to CA if they’re being criminalized.

States like TX are classifying gender-affirming care as child abuse & threatening to incarcerate parents. CA won’t stand by.

— Senator Scott Wiener (@Scott_Wiener) August 29, 2022

Should the Senate pass the bill by Wednesday, SB 107 will go to the desk of Governor Newsom to either be signed inot law or vetoed.