This April 14th press release is from LIFE (California's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and HIV/AIDS Lobby), 1301 H Street, Sacramento, CA 95814, (916) 444-0424, fax (916) 444-3059, web page: www.lifelobby.org, email: life.info@lifelobby.org.
It came to us from Gender Advocacy Internet News (GAIN), an Internet news service of the American Educational Gender Information Service and It's Time, America! Contact GAIN at penn45@ma.ultranet.com.

Sacramento - AB 1999 by Assembly Member Sheila Kuehl (D - Santa Monica) and sponsored by LIFE Lobby was passed today by the Assembly Committee on Public Safety. The vote was 7 - 0, with one member abstaining (see vote count below).

Current California law provides penalty enhancements for violent crimes which are hate-based and motivated by a victim's actual or perceived race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, gender or sexual orientation. AB 1999 would clarify that a violent crime committed against a transgender person because of their gender identity is a hate crime based on gender under California law. This bill would also standardize California's hate crime statutes by adding "gender" to the sections where it is missing.

According to The First National Survey on TransViolence (1997), a landmark study by GenderPAC(1), incidence of violence against transgender individuals is much greater than violence against the U.S. population in general. For example, the rate of attempted rape committed against transgender individuals in 1996 was 2.7%, as compared to .13% in the Bureau of Justice Statistics' National Crime Victimization Survey(2). Moreover, the rate for assault against transgender individuals in 1996 was 16%, nearly double the 8.2% reported in the National Crime Victimization Survey. AB 1999 is crucial legislation that will work toward ending the violence against the transgender community.

The Assembly Appropriations Committee will hear AB 1999 next. LIFE Lobby encourages all individuals and organizations to send letters of support for AB 1999 to Assembly Member Kuehl and to the chair of the Appropriations Committee, Assembly Member Carole Migden (D - San Francisco).

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AB 1999 Vote Count: 7 - 0 (one abstention)
Ayes: Don Perata (Chair, D-Alameda), Jim Cunneen (Vice Chair, R-San Jose), Larry Bowler (R-Elk Grove), Robert Hertzberg (D-Sherman Oaks), Kevin Murray (D-Los Angeles), Grace Napolitano (D-Norwalk), and Carl Washington (D-Paramount).
Abstention: George House (R-Hughson)

For more information about legislation, letter writing, and activist activities: contact LIFE; or for specific information about legislation go to http://leginfo.public.ca.gov.

Footnotes:
1 GenderPAC. 1997. The First National Survey on TransViolence, Waltham, MA: GenderPAC.
2 Bureau of Justice Statistics. 1996. National Crime Victimization Survey: Preliminary 1995 Data. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics.

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