Equal Rights Advocates and Partners Pass First-of-Its-Kind Law on Intersectionality

October 1. 2024

For Immediate Release
Oct 1, 2024

Media Contact
Nazirah Ahmad
[email protected]

Equal Rights Advocates, which fights for gender justice in workplaces and schools across the country, is available to discuss the passage of the CA Intersectionality Bill, first of its kind in the country 

San Francisco, Sept. 28, 2024 – Equal Rights Advocates (ERA) was a driving force in the passage of SB 1137 (Smallwood Cuevas), signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom which makes California the first state in the nation to explicitly recognize the concept of intersectionality into state anti-discrimination laws. 

Specifically, it amends state anti-discrimination laws covering employment, housing, public accommodations, and education to clarify that they protect against discrimination based on not just one protected characteristic, but also the intersection or combination of two or more protected bases (e.g., gender and race, or gender and age, or race and LGBTQ+ status, etc).

San Francisco-based Equal Rights Advocates (ERA) is an organizational cosponsor of the legislation and ERA’s Policy Director is available to discuss this bill’s importance for ensuring that an individual’s full experience of harm is recognized when they seek justice for harassment or discrimination. They are also available to discuss how this bill will serve as a blueprint for other states to follow. 

Gender justice and legal experts at ERA are also available to discuss bills on the Stronger California Advocates Network’s legislative agenda to advance economic security and protections for women and families ahead of the Sept. 30 deadline. Bills protecting survivors of sexual assault and harassment, advancing worker protections, and supporting low-income families are priorities of the network, a collaborative campaign of 65+ advocacy groups and coalitions from across the state. 

Learn more about the Stronger California Advocates Network.