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Right: California Sen. Scott Wiener
The legislation would protect transgender people's privacy and prevent harassment at a time when they're being "viciously targeted," says state Sen. Scott Wiener.
A bill being introduced Thursday in California would seal transgender and nonbinary adults’ gender transition court records, giving them the same privacy protections already available to minors.
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“The incoming Trump administration and Republican congressional leadership have made clear that targeting and erasing trans people is among their highest policy priorities, and California must have our trans community members’ backs,” state Sen. Scott Wiener said in a statement to media outlets. “Making this personal identifying information public after someone transitions, including a person’s deadname, as well as the basic fact that they’re trans or nonbinary, pointlessly exposes trans and nonbinary Californians to harassment and potential violence.”
“As transgender people are viciously targeted by right wing political leaders in ways that inevitably lead to harassment & violence, we need to have their backs,” Wiener, a gay Democrat, posted on X, formerly Twitter. “Today I’m announcing legislation to protect trans people’s privacy & reduce the ability of bigots to target them.”
The legislation is Senate Bill 59, which “automatically makes confidential any court record regarding a person’s legal change of name & gender marker,” he continued. It would be retroactive as well.
“When I learned I was unable to change my name in California without being forcibly outed online and exposed to harassment I was appalled,” Hazel Williams, a trans San Francisco homeless rights advocate who worked with Wiener on the bill, said in a statement quoted by The Bay Area Reporter.“I’m proud to help rally community members and advocacy organizations to fix this. There are 220,000 transgender and nonbinary adults in California. All of us deserve privacy and safety and this legislation is a vital step in that direction.”
“Having accurate identity documents is critical to allowing transgender people to live safely and openly as their authentic selves,” Equality California Executive Director Tony Hoang said in a statement reported by The San Francisco Standard. “As the incoming Trump administration prepares to wage unprecedented attacks on the transgender community, California must do everything it can to protect the safety and well-being of transgender people.”
“It’s hard to overstate the poison directed at trans people by some of the most powerful people on the planet,” Wiener added on X. “They’re punching down by trying to make it impossible for trans people to work, access health care, play sports, or even go to the bathroom. In other words, to exist.
“The words & actions of these leaders act like poison in our culture. They lead to discrimination, dehumanization, harassment & violence directed toward trans people — who are simply being who they are & trying to live their lives. California stands strong against this bigotry.”
