Schwarzenegger Gives with One Hand, Takes with Other

Immediate Release



Media Contacts:

Christopher Daley, Director

(415) 865-0176



Shane Caya, Family Law Project Manager

(415) 865-0184



Schwarzenegger Gives with One Hand, Takes with Other

California Governor Signs Nation's First Law Prohibiting Health Insurers

from Discriminating Against Transgender Consumers but also

Sells LGBT Families Out to Social Conservatives

September 29, 2005 - San Francisco, CA - California Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger made history twice today by first protecting transgender
consumers from health care insurance discrimination and then by denying LGBT
families full protection under the law. When the Governor signed AB 1586,
the Insurance Gender Non-Discrimination Act authored by West Hollywood
Assemblymember Paul Koretz, he created the nation's only law explicitly
protecting transgender people from health insurance discrimination.



"California has just taken a huge step forward through AB 1586 by clearly
stating that our health care insurance industry can't deny coverage or
services to people simply because they are transgender," said Christopher
Daley, Transgender Law Center Director. "The Insurance Gender
Non-Discrimination Act is good, common-sense public policy that insures that
transgender people and their families can get and use insurance policies
under the same terms and conditions as the rest of the state."



"But sadly, this victory is tainted by the Governor's denial of full
protection for LGBT families." By vetoing Assemblymember Mark Leno's
Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act, the first such law
approved by a state's legislature, the Governor has refused to fully protect
LGBT families, including many transgender families.



"By signing Mark Leno's Marriage Equality bill, the Governor could have
eased the fears and anxieties of transgender people concerned about their
ability to protect their children and their partners if the state fails to
recognize the validity of their marriage," said Shane Caya, manager of
Transgender Law Center's Family Law Project. "Instead, he wimped out and
sacrificed our community to social conservatives who want to deny our
families the basic protections that they enjoy."



Details of AB 1586 can be found at:
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/postquery



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The Transgender Law Center, an independent non-profit, was founded in 2002.
TLC uses direct legal services, education, community organizing, and policy
and media advocacy to transform California into a state that recognizes and
supports the needs of transgender people and their families.











<http://www.transgenderlawcenter.org>

<http://www.transgenderlawcenter.org/donate> We Need Your Support





Cecilia Chung
Deputy Director

Transgender Law Center

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