It is an exciting and historic time for GLBT communities in California. Equality California’s two key domestic partnership bills passed the state Assembly on June 4. The vote was really close — we got exactly enough votes (41) on AB 205, and one vote more than we needed on AB 17. Equality California’s third bill, AB 196, already passed the Assembly and all three bills are now pending in the Senate.

AB 196, the Gender Non-Discrimination bill (Mark Leno) will add gender identity and expression to the Fair Housing and Employment Act, protecting transgender Californians from discrimination in their jobs and in finding homes. AB 17, the Equal Benefits bill (Christine Kehoe), will ensure that tax dollars are not spent on contracts with companies who discriminate against domestic partners through their company benefits programs.

The most dramatic bill, of course, is AB 205, the Domestic Partner Rights & Responsibilities Act of 2003. AB 205 will substantially expand the rights, responsibilities and benefits available to registered domestic partners under California law. In fact, this groundbreaking bill extends most of the state rights that married couples currently enjoy. For example, AB 205 would include registered domestic partners in California’s community property system that protects partners and equally divides property at death or dissolution. The law would also increase child custody and visitation protections and clarify duties of financial support for children. AB 205 also includes bereavement leave, family care and medical leave, death benefits for surviving partners of firefighters and police officers, decision-making authority for disposition of remains and funeral arrangements, access to family student housing and senior housing, and access to government-regulated benefits such as workers’ compensation and the right to apply for absentee ballots for a domestic partner.

Like marriage, the rights attached to AB 205 also come with responsibilities. Registered domestic partners would have the right to file state income taxes jointly, and would also bear responsibility for each other’s debts. Eligibility for state means-tested programs would take into account the income of both partners.

Of course, AB 205 is not marriage, despite the sputtering of the antigay right. Domestic partnership and marriage are two distinct institutions and you get a lot more with marriage (including 1,000 federal benefits) than you will get with AB 205. The folks who are arguing now that AB 205 violates Proposition 22 (the “Knight Initiative”) are the same folks who argued that Prop 22 would not affect domestic partner rights. They are clearly unhappy that GLBT Californians are moving closer to equality, and are now calling domestic partnerships “gay marriage” or — my personal favorite — “transsexual marriage.”

The homophobes are just now gearing up, though, and we can expect a huge battle over our bills in the Senate. Just check out the website for the Campaign for California families (www.savecalifornia.com). They define family pretty narrowly, and their overwhelming objective is to make sure the state adopts the same exclusionary definition.

In the past month, however, the GLBT community has proven itself to be a formidable match for the tactics of the antigay right. For the first time ever, e-mails to legislators in support of GLBT bills outnumbered e-mails against them. Equality California’s online Action Alert system registered 14,000 e-mails in the week before the bills went to the Assembly floor for a vote. One single e-mail multiplied by 14,000 senders magnifies our voice and our power in Sacramento. One person really can make a difference!

We now need to get our bills through the state Senate; then we will have to convince the governor to sign them. So we have our work cut out for us. One of EQCA’s key action projects for the summer is to get tens of thousands of postcards signed, urging the Governor to sign AB 205. Look for these at any Pride events you attend around the state. To stay informed about the progress of GLBT legislation and to participate in EQCA’s action alerts, sign up at www.eqca.org.