California's Civil Rights Protection Extended to Gender Identity
MSK Client Alert
September 2003
The California Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”) prohibits employment and housing discrimination against persons on account of, among other characteristics, their sex. In August 2003, California Governor Gray Davis signed Assembly Bill 196 (“AB 196”), which significantly broadens the FEHA’s definition of “sex” to include “gender,” “ perceived gender” and “gender identity.”