SACRAMENTO – Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Californians will begin the new year with more rights than they had in 2005. Four new laws, including the nation’s first law prohibiting discrimination against transgender individuals in health coverage, were sponsored by Equality California (EQCA), a California GLBT civil rights and advocacy organization.

“The rights LGBT Californians will enjoy in 2006 are stronger than they have ever been,” said Geoffrey Kors, EQCA executive director. “As a result of these new laws, millions of LGBT people in California will now have legal protections that they lacked in the past, making California stronger as a result.”

The new laws taking effect in California on Jan. 1 include:

The Civil Rights Act of 2005, AB 1400, which adds sexual orientation, gender and marital status to California’s public accommodation non-discrimination laws. Businesses subject to the Unruh Act include, but are not limited to, shopping centers, mobile home parks, bars and restaurants, schools, medical and dental offices, hotels and motels, and condominium homeowners’ associations.

The Insurance Gender Non-Discrimination Act, AB 1586, which prohibits insurance companies and health care service plans from discriminating on the basis of gender in the creation or maintenance of service contracts, or the provision of benefits or coverage, establishes California as the first state in the nation to enact these protections for transgender individuals.

The Death Benefits Rights for Retired Public Employees Act, SB 973, allows domestic partners of public employees who retired prior to Jan. 1, 2005, when California’s comprehensive domestic partnership law (AB 205) went into effect, to receive death benefits if the retiree dies before their partner.

Property Tax Reappraisal Exclusion: Domestic Partners, SB 565, provides that a change in the title of property between domestic partners will be treated the same way a change in title of property between spouses is treated for property tax purposes. As a result, domestic partners will no longer face potentially enormous increases in their property taxes when their partner dies.