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The LGBT Prisoner Safety Act passed the California Senate yesterday with considerable bipartisan support. Introduced by openly gay Assemblyman Tom Ammiano of San Francisco, the bill aims to extend existing protections to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender inmates. Currently, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation assigns prisoner placements using criteria that include age, offense, and previous convictions. The LGBT Prisoner Safety Act proposes that sexual orientation and gender identity be added to these criteria. Supporters of the bill cite a recent CDCR report that found LGBT inmates are fifteen times more likely to be sexually assaulted than the overall prison population. Given this high rate of incidence, it is hoped that the legislation, if passed into law, would reduce such assaults. With the Senate vote, the LGBT Prisoner Safety Act will return to the State Assembly for consideration before reaching Governor Schwarzenegger’s desk.

GUEST: Alice Kessler, Government Affairs Director for Equality California

Find out more at www.eqca.org.