Equality California, the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization, issued the following statement from Executive Director Tony Hoang in response to the passage of AB 1955, the SAFETY Act, through both houses of the California legislature following a successful 60-15 vote in the Assembly:

“With LGBTQ+ young people under attack in California from extremist politicians and school boards seeking to prevent them from safely being themselves at school, the SAFETY Act could not be more timely or necessary. We are thrilled to see it headed to Governor Newsom’s desk.

While today’s Assembly floor vote was successful, anti-LGBTQ+ politician Bill Essayli took the opportunity to be disruptive, attempt to delay the process, and spew misinformation harmful to LGBTQ+ youth and their families. This serves as a stark reminder that though we have a pro-equality majority in Sacramento, our opponents will continue to use bigoted rhetoric and political circus stunts to attack our community.

We are thankful to Assemblymember Ward and the Legislative LGBTQ Caucus for spearheading this legislation and to the diverse coalition of partners that has supported this effort.

This critical legislation will strengthen protections for LGBTQ+ youth against forced outing policies, provide resources for parents and families of LGBTQ+ students to support them as they have conversations on their own terms, and provide critical safeguards to prevent retaliation against teachers and school staff who foster a safe and supportive school environment for all students.

We strongly urge Governor Newsom to sign this urgently needed bill as soon as possible.”