Assembly passes anti-discrimination bill
Yee drafted legislation banning anti-gay rhetoric in political campaigns
San Mateo County Times, 4/26/05
By Justin Jouvenal
The state Assembly has passed a bill that prohibits candidates and campaign committees from using negative appeals against gay opponents based on their sexual orientation, if the candidate signs a voluntary pledge not to do so.
The bill, by Assemblyman Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, passed 47 to 27 on Friday, with two Republicans joining the Democratic ranks of the Assembly to vote for it. AB 866 now heads to the state Senate for approval.
“With today's Assembly vote, we move one step closer to ending anti-gay rhetoric in political campaigns,” Yee said Friday. “Candidates should not discriminate and victimize the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) for political purposes, and fostering campaigns that create fear and intimidation only incites a potentially dangerous situation for the LGBT community.”
Yee’s office said that in 1996, then-Assemblywoman Sheila Kuehl introduced nearly identical legislation, which failed in committee.
The anti-discrimination pledge would be contained in the Code of Fair Campaign Practices, provided to every candidate by the Registrar of Voters.
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