Schwarzenegger Signs Separation Equality Act

Yesterday Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California signed SB 543, Mental Health Services for At-Risk Youth, into law. The bill that allows kids ages 12 to 17 to receive mental health services without their parents’ consent. This is considered especially important for LGBT youth in California as many fear abuse or being kicked out of their homes if they come out. Parents have also refused allowing children to receive mental health care in some cases and now it will be up to the child’s discretion.

Schwarzenegger also signed AB 2199, Repeal of Discriminatory Code; AB 2700, Separation Equity Act; and AB 2055, Unemployment Benefits Equality bills into law. T

These measured are aimed at preventing discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity. AB 2199 repeals of a section of the California Welfare and Institutions code that instructs the State Department of Mental Health to conduct research into the “causes and cures of homosexuality.” AB 2700 amends the state’s family code, allowing for couples who first registered as domestic partners and who legally married thereafter to dissolve both contracts through a single, uniform procedure, rather than having to file separately to dissolve each individually. Last, but not least, AB 2055 amends the Unemployment Insurance Code, to provide the same unemployment benefits that married couples couples get to imminent domestic partners.

Perhaps there is progress being made?