Gavin Newsom moves to shield California transgender patient records from federal scrutiny

California is adding new medical privacy protections for LGBTQ+ adults facing federal subpoenas and expanding access to injectable medicines for HIV prevention.

That is thanks to a spate of six new bills passed by the Democratic-led state legislature and signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday. Newsom said he signed the bills to strengthen LGBTQ+ rights in the state amid a federal crackdown on such protections.

“The Trump administration has launched an all-out assault on the LGBTQ community, using medical records to target U.S. servicemembers and civilians alike, hurting countless people and betraying hard-won trust,” Newsom said in a Saturday press release. “California will not stand for it.”

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One bill places new requirements on medical providers in California before they can hand over sensitive patient records in response to federal investigations and subpoenas, including those pertaining to abortion access and gender-affirming care.

Providers must notify the California Attorney General’s Office if they receive such subpoenas and meet other conditions, according to the text of Assembly Bill 1930.

The bill comes as hospitals nationwide have faced subpoenas from the Trump administration seeking far-reaching access to patient records and internal communications regarding gender-affirming care services provided to minors.

The subpoenas and related funding threats have halted gender-affirming care programs for minors nationwide. Several hospitals have struck deals with the federal government to keep their youth programs closed.

"California cannot allow hostile jurisdictions to use our institutions to target patients and providers for health care that is lawful in our state," said the bill’s lead sponsor, a California Assemblymember, a Democrat representing western Los Angeles. "AB 1930 gives our Attorney General an important opportunity to step in when private information about reproductive or gender-affirming health care is being sought."

Another new law expands access to emerging HIV prevention services.

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PrEP, an HIV prevention medicine, has long been taken orally, but emerging forms of the medicine administered as an injection have proven helpful in keeping people on treatment plans.

But these injections are still new, meaning health insurance laws have not yet caught up to covering them like pill-based forms of the medicine. California SB 1023 makes hospital reimbursements for injectable PrEP possible under the same pipeline as oral forms of the medicine, removing red tape around billing for health care facilities.

“PrEP is proven to prevent HIV, but it only works if people can get it,” said the bill’s lead sponsor, California Sen. John Laird — a Democrat representing the Santa Cruz area — in a Sunday press release. “This new law removes an unnecessary barrier that has made it harder for community clinics and smaller providers to offer injectable PrEP.”

The remaining bills expand government resources for LGBTQ+ military service members, strengthen resident protections against conversion therapy, designate point persons for LGBTQ+ students at public educational institutions and restrict out-of-state access to data the state collects around LGBTQ+ identity.

The bills take effect January 1.

“Every LGBTQ+ Californian deserves to feel valued in all aspects of their life, from the classroom and the workplace to their home and community,” said Senator Sabrina Cervantes, chair-elect of the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus, in Saturday’s press release. “This progress reflects what we can accomplish when we work together to build a California where LGBTQ+ people and their families can live with greater safety, opportunity, and dignity.”