Issue Position: A Champion for Equality

Issue Position

Toni Atkins is our state's first ever openly gay woman Speaker of the State Assembly. She is a champion for equality and LGBT rights and has fought to:

Allow transgender Californians official records, including birth and death certificates reflect who they really are
Include LGBT cultural competency in continuing medical education requirements
Include "gender identity" and "gender expression" in anti-discrimination laws where only the term "gender" currently appears.
Ensure transgender students have access to bathrooms in line with their gender identity
Modernize California birth certificates by allowing parents to choose to self-designate as "father," "mother" or "parent"
Eliminate the "gay panic" and "trans panic" defenses
Urge the FDA to change blood donation policies so they are based on modern science not outdated fears
Ban so-called "reparative therapy"
Create a $3 million pilot program for outreach, screenings, and linkages to underserved individuals at high-risk of HIV infection -- with San Diego County receiving $2.1 million
Appropriate $1.5 million in federal Ryan White funding to local health and community organizations to re-engage HIV-infected minority clients in care
Provide over $3 million for HIV education outreach, screenings, and increasing access to care for underserved individuals
Invest millions and increase the income limit for AIDS Drug Assistance Program helping thousands of San Diego families
Direct $6.5 million to HCV treatment costs in ADAP
Allocate $2.2 million for a PrEP Access and Affordability Pilot Program.

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