Recent Work

How California Is Fighting Discrimination

Across the United States, 2022 was a record-breaking year for state-level, anti-LGBTQ bills, with more than 200 pieces of legislation introduced in over 40 states legislatures that aimed to codify discrimination in classrooms, sports, healthcare, and public spaces. California belies these blatant attempts to institutionalize discrimination, and remains a beacon of diversity and inclusion.

• Urged the courts to allow plaintiff’s to challenge Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law, and highlighted the states’ interest in standing up for the rights of LGBTQ+ Americans nationwide in Equality Florida v. Florida State Board of Education.
• Joined a coalition of 15 attorneys general in an amicus brief in support of a Maryland board of education’s efforts to create a safe and supportive environment for transgender children and all students.
• Sent a joint letter to all county school superintendents, district school superintendents, and charter school administrators in California, cautioning against book bans. The letter outlines pertinent educational civil rights and corresponding legal mandates school administrators are required to follow to preserve freedom and ensure access to diverse perspectives and curricula.
• Issued a demand letter to the Temecula Valley Unified School District requesting more information regarding its process and decision-making related to the Board's decision to reject theSocial Studies Aliveprogram for grades 1 through 5 on May 16, 2023. The curriculum, recommended by district staff and adopted by the State Board of Education, is in line with the FAIR Act's requirements. The letter emphasizes that local educational agencies have a legal obligation to implement a social sciences curriculum highlighting the contributions of various groups, including gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans. Furthermore, it highlights that a decision to remove or reject curriculum materials reflecting these identities may constitute unlawful discrimination.

In Sports

Title IX is under attack in states across the country. So far in 2023, more than 21 states have already passed bills banning transgender students from playing school sports consistent with their gender identity. To date, thirty percent of transgender youth live in states that have laws preventing them from participating in sports consistent with their gender identity. These laws violate federal law and have a devastating impact on thousands of children and teens across the country. California DOJ is doing its part to fight for every student’s right to participate in school sports.

• Defended a ten-year-old transgender girl’s right to play softball, joining a coalition of 17 attorneys general in an amicus brief in A.M. v. Indianapolis Public Schools.
• Backed the state of Connecticut’s robust Title IX policies in Soule v. Connecticut Association of Schools.
• Pushed back on West Virginia’s vicious legislative effort targeting transgender schoolchildren and prohibiting 11-year-old Becky Pepper Jackson from playing on her school’s sports teams in B.P.J. v. West Virginia State Board of Education.

In Healthcare

• Led a coalition of 21 attorneys general in an amicus brief in support of a challenge to an unconstitutional Arkansas law that prohibits healthcare professionals from providing transgender teenagers with medically-necessary care.
• Urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to rule in favor of transgender individuals who had been unlawfully denied coverage for gender-affirming care under the North Carolina State Health Plan for Teachers and State Employees.
• Led a coalition of 21 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief in opposition to an Alabama law criminalizing evidence-based and medically accepted gender-affirming care for transgender youth.
• Led a multistate coalition of eight attorneys general in filing an amicus brief in Dekker v. Weidain support of transgender rights and equal access to healthcare in Florida.
• Defended a Colorado law that prohibits gayand transgender conversion therapy on children and youth.

In Public Access

• Defended New York’s public accommodation law to prevent businesses from discriminating against LGBTQ+ Americans.
• Supported Virginia's public accommodation law to prevent businesses from discriminating against LGBTQ+ Americans.
• Fought against a new and restrictive bathroom public accommodation law in Adams v. School Board of St. Johns County.
• Urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reject a challenge to Colorado’s public accommodation laws, which work to ensure LGBTQ+ Americans and all Americans are able to access public businesses.