This is why we elected Jerry Brown. Yesterday he signed not one but two historic transgender bills into law. The first, Assembly Bill 433, the Vital Statistics Modernization Act, makes the process for Californians to obtain and update birth certificates (and other identifying documentation) easier. Now, trans people must only provide medical documentation from an attending physician to prove that they have undergone “clinically apropriate treatment.”

The second bill, Assembly Bill 887, also known as the Gender Nondiscrimination Act, bulks up employment, housing, and other civil rights protections for all Californians, but especially for trans people. The law notes: “While California anti-discrimination laws already define ‘gender’ to include a person’s gender identity and gender expression, the Gender Nondiscrimination Act provides clarity to those who are victims of unlawful discrimination as well as for business owners, employers and other entities required to comply with the anti-discrimination protections by explicitly enumerating gender identity and expression as protected categories in a number of state codes.” Which I don’t REALLY understand but I’m pretty sure is pretty important stuff. (via HuffPo)