Calif. Gov Signs Equal Benefits Law

Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.

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Trudy Ring

September 06 2011 9:15 PM EST

November 17 2015 5:28 AM EST

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California governor Jerry Brown today signed into law a bill requiring businesses that have large contracts with the state to provide equal spousal benefits for all employees, gay and straight.

The legislation, authored by lesbian state senator Christine Kehoe (pictured) and backed by LGBT rights group Equality California, prohibits the state from entering into a contract of more than $100,000 with businesses or other entities that deny same-sex spouses the benefits offered to opposite-sex spouses of employees. The bill passed the state legislature last month.

"Providing the same benefits to an employee with a domestic partner, or same-sex or opposite-sex spouse ensures that workers receive equal pay for equal work," Kehoe said in a press release. "California should lead the way for other employers to provide benefits that are nondiscriminatory."

"The state's tax dollars earned by hardworking Californians should not be invested in companies that unfairly discriminate against LGBT people and their families," added Roland Palencia, executive director of Equality California.