Ban caste discrimination? + Patterson slams committee + Transgender Week of Visibility

Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!

SEATTLE BANNED CASTE DISCRIMINATION, COULD CALIFORNIA SOON FOLLOW SUIT?

As goes the Emerald City, so goes the Golden State?

Weeks after the Seattle City Council passed an ordinance banning the discrimination of people on the basis of their caste, a California lawmaker has introduced similar legislation.

Sen. Aisha Wahab, D-Hayward, has introduced SB 403, which would clarify that California’s civil rights law explicitly protects against discrimination on the basis of caste, which is defined in the bill as “a system of social stratification where each position is characterized by hereditary status, endogamy (marriage within a social unit), and social exclusion.”

“To ensure organizations and companies do not entrench caste discrimination in their practices or policies our laws need to plainly state that discrimination based on caste is illegal,” Wahab said in a statement.

In addition to Seattle’s ordinance, Wahab cited Brandeis University’s 2019 decision to ban such discrimination and the California Democratic Party’s 2021 inclusion of caste as a protected category in its code of conduct.

Wahab’s office cites discrimination against Dalits — people once referred to as “untouchables” by members of the dominant castes — including bullying, harassment, wage theft, sexual harassment and denial of housing or jobs.

Seattle’s effort to ban caste discrimination met with some resistance, with Councilmember Sara Nelson saying that it could “generate more anti-Hindu discrimination and could dissuade employers from hiring South Asians,” according to a report from NPR.

In a statement, Wahab’s office said that the senator “hopes her colleagues in both the State Senate and Assembly recognize how a system that confers and denies power and privilege on groups of people because of their lineage is textbook discrimination and should categorically be banned.”

LAWMAKER CASTIGATES PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE OVER HELD BILL

Assemblyman Jim Patterson had strong words for the Assembly Public Safety Committee on Friday, the day after it opted to postpone indefinitely a hearing on his bill to increase the penalty for possession of large quantities of fentanyl.

AB 1058 would made possession of 28.35 grams or more of fentanyl — a powerful synthetic opioid 100 times stronger than morphine — punishable by four, five or six years of incarceration.

Patterson said that his bill goes after dealers, not addicts, but that the committee has instead opted to “see no evil.”

“This is what we’re getting up in Sacramento. It’s very clear they’re not going to hear any bill that increases the sentence for fentanyl drug dealers,” Patterson said.

The lawmaker added that the committee’s “obstruction” will have life and death consequences across California.

“We were prepared to make this case to those on the public safety committee, but they chose not to hear. I think they also chose not to care,” Patterson said.

Patterson said that he intends to re-file the bill and put it in front of the committee as many times as is necessary.

“I’m not taking no for an answer. I’m not taking wait and see for an answer. I’m not taking the whims of one chair of a public safety committee for an answer,” he said, referring to Assemblyman Reginald Jones-Sawyer, D-Los Angeles.

Friday is the International Transgender Day of Visibility, but Monday marks the beginning of the festivities, as lawmakers, staffers and community advocates come together in support of the transgender community.

“Across the country and even right here in California, trans people’s lives are being used for political purposes. These attacks bring real harm to our trans+ friends, colleagues, and loved ones, particularly our children,” said LGBTQ Caucus Chair Susan Talamantes Eggman, D-Stockton, in a statement. “It’s up to all of us to stand together with trans, gender non-conforming, and non-binary people to create communities that are safe for trans+ people to thrive.”

The intent of the Transgender Week of Visibility is to draw attention to the social contributions of trans people, as well as to highlight the discrimination and violence against that community across the country, according to a statement from Equality California, the state’s largest LGBT advocacy organization.

The week comes as state legislatures across the country are considering more than 400 bills aimed at restricting LGBT rights, with many aimed at denying young people access to gender-affirming treatment or participation in sports programs matching their gender identity.

“Trans people shouldn’t have to fight just to exist or live safely in our communities,” said Evan Minton, a former Capitol staffer whose lawsuit against Dignity Health over the hospital’s refusal to perform a hysterectomy on him made it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to hear arguments on the case, letting the lower court’s ruling in Minton’s favor stand. “Trans visibility is an opportunity to celebrate the joy of being who we are.”

The occasion comes just weeks after the Capitol played host to a “de-transition” rally that drew heavy protest from the local LGBT community. It also comes as California lawmaker has introduced a bill that would require teachers to out transgender students to their parents. That bill, by Assemblyman Bill Essayli, R-Riverside, faces extremely long odds of passage.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Trump’s first rally will be in Waco, Texas — infamous for being the location of a deadly standoff with an extremist, anti-government cult. On brand.”

- California Attorney General Rob Bonta, via Twitter.

Best of The Bee:

• Gov. Gavin Newsom rescinded many emergency drought measures Friday and officials said they will boost supplies for water agencies serving 27 million residents after a record wet winter significantly improved conditions left by three years of drought, via Ari Plachta.

• Gavin Newsom says end to California drought isn’t cut and dry. Why experts are still worried, via Brianna Taylor.

• A California sculpture almost 3,000 miles away from home stood for nearly a century without much public controversy — until now. Statues of Father Junipero Serra were largely uncontroversial until knowledge of how Native Americans were treated in the California missions he created became more publicly widespread, via Gillian Brassil and Hanh Truong.

• If California decides to replace Serra’s statue in D.C., who could take his place? Via Gillian Brassil and Hanh Truong.

• California has struggled for years to recruit aspiring physicians of color into its health care workforce, despite the state’s highly diverse population, via Maya Miller.