Text of CA SB 59 (2025)

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Senate Bill No. 59 Introduced by Senator Wiener (Coauthors: Senators Cabaldon, Cervantes, Laird, Padilla, and Pérez) (Coauthors: Assembly Members Mark González, Jackson, Lee, Solache, Ward, and Zbur) January 08, 2025 An act to amend Section 103437 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to vital records, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 59, as introduced, Wiener. Change of gender and sex identifier. Existing law authorizes a person to file a petition with the superior court seeking a judgment recognizing their change of gender to female, male, or nonbinary, including a person who is under 18 years of age. Existing law authorizes a person to file a single petition to simultaneously change the petitioner’s name and recognize the change to the petitioner’s gender and sex identifier, as specified. Existing law requires a petition for a change of gender and sex identifier or a petition for a change of gender, sex identifier, and name filed by a person under 18 years of age, and any papers associated with the proceeding, to be kept confidential by the court. Existing law requires the court to limit access to these records to specified individuals, including, among others, the minor, the minor’s parents, and their attorneys. This bill would expand that confidentiality provision to apply to all filed petitions for a change of gender and sex identifier or filed petitions for a change of gender, sex identifier, and name, and any papers associated with the proceeding, regardless of the age of the person who filed the petition. The bill would require the court to limit access to court records in those proceedings, as specified. This bill would make this provision retroactive and require the Judicial Council to ensure that all courts have implemented a method to ensure the court maintains the confidentiality of those petitions and associated papers that were filed prior to the effective date of this act. The bill would require the court to immediately take steps to make a record confidential if an interested party or the court discovers that a court record in the proceeding is not being kept confidential. The bill would prohibit those records from being posted publicly, on the internet or otherwise, by anyone other than the petitioner. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute. Digest Key Vote: 2/3 Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. Section 103437 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read: 103437. If a person who seeks a change of gender and sex identifier pursuant to Section 103430 or a single petition for change to the petitioner’s name and to recognize the change of the petitioner’s gender and sex identifier pursuant to Section 103435 is under 18 years of age, the 103437. (a) The petition and any papers associated with the proceeding a proceeding for a change of gender and sex identifier pursuant to Section 103430, for a single petition for change to the petitioner’s name and to recognize the change to the petitioner’s gender and sex identifier pursuant to Section 103435, or for a change of name to conform the petitioner’s name to the petitioner’s gender identity pursuant to Section 1277.5 of the Code of Civil Procedure shall be kept confidential by the court. The court shall limit access to the court records in the proceeding, including the register of actions, to the minor, any adult who signed the petition, the minor’s parents or guardians or guardians ad litem, any individual who is subject to an order to show cause related to the petition, and any attorneys representing these individuals. (1) Until a judgment is issued, the court shall limit access to the court records in the proceeding, including the register of actions, to the petitioner, an adult who signed the petition, the petitioner’s parents, guardians, or guardians ad litem, if the petitioner was a minor at the time the petition was filed, an individual who is subject to service of an order to show cause related to the petition, and an attorney representing those individuals. (2) Upon granting the judgment, the court shall limit access to the court records in the proceeding, including the register of actions, to the petitioner, an adult who signed the petition, and an attorney representing those individuals. (b) This section is retroactive and applies to all petitions and papers associated with a proceeding described in subdivision (a), regardless of the date of filing, including those that were filed prior to the effective date of the act that added this subdivision. The Judicial Council shall ensure that all courts have implemented a method to ensure the court maintains the confidentiality of all petitions and papers associated with the proceedings described in subdivision (a), regardless of the date of filing, including those that were filed prior to the effective date of the act that added this subdivision. (1) If an interested party or the court discovers that a court record in the proceeding, including the register of actions, is not being kept confidential by the court, the court shall immediately take steps to make such a record confidential as soon as it is brought to the court’s attention and without a fee or requirement for a court order directing the correction. (2) A confidential record pursuant to this section shall not be posted publicly, on the internet or otherwise, by a person other than the petitioner. SEC. 2. The Legislature finds and declares that Section 1 of this act, which amends Section 103437 of the Health and Safety Code, imposes a limitation on the public’s right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies within the meaning of Section 3 of Article I of the California Constitution. Pursuant to that constitutional provision, the Legislature makes the following findings to demonstrate the interest protected by this limitation and the need for protecting that interest: It is in the best interest for the public to keep these records confidential to ensure the privacy and safety of transgender and nonbinary individuals who have experienced, and continue to experience, a growing epidemic of harassment and violence in California and across the country. According to the UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute, in 2021 transgender people were over four times more likely to experience violent victimization, including rape, assault, and aggravated or simple assault, than their cisgender peers. In 2022, the U.S. Transgender Survey found that nearly one-third (30 percent) of transgender respondents reported that they were verbally harassed in the last 12 months because of their gender identity or expression and, according to the Hate Crime in California 2023 report by the Department of Justice, between 2022 and 2023, hate crime events motivated by antitransgender bias increased by 10.2 percent. Being outed and having their personal information exposed puts transgender and nonbinary individuals at greater risk for harassment, discrimination, and violence. It also significantly increases their risk of mental health harms and suicide. According to a joint study conducted by researchers at Columbia University, Harvard University, the Williams Institute, and the Fenway Institute at Fenway Health, transgender adults are seven times more likely to contemplate suicide, four times more likely to attempt it, and eight times more likely to engage in nonsuicidal self-injury than cisgender adults. Allowing transgender individuals to choose when and how they decide to share their personal information is vital in protecting their mental and physical health. SEC. 3. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the California Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are: To address the increase in discrimination, violence, harassment, and hate crimes motivated by antitransgender bias, in order to prevent their personal information being exposed by being nonconsensually outed, it is necessary that this act take effect immediately.

Senate Bill No. 59 CHAPTER 738 An act to repeal and add Section 103437 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to vital records, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately. [ Approved by Governor October 13, 2025. Filed with Secretary of State October 13, 2025. ] LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 59, Wiener. Change of name or gender and sex identifier. Existing law authorizes a person to file a petition with the superior court seeking a judgment recognizing their change of gender to female, male, or nonbinary, including a person who is under 18 years of age. Existing law authorizes a person to file a single petition to simultaneously change the petitioner’s name and recognize the change to the petitioner’s gender and sex identifier, as specified. Existing law requires that either of those petitions, if filed by a person under 18 years of age, and any papers associated with the proceeding, be kept confidential by the court. Existing law requires the court to limit access to these records to specified individuals, including, among others, the minor, the minor’s parents, and their attorney. This bill would expand the above-described confidentiality protections to other petitioners regardless of age. The bill would also expand these protections to court records associated with a proceeding under separate provisions of existing law for a change of name to conform a petitioner’s name to their gender identity. The bill would require the court to limit access to the court records in these proceedings to certain individuals, as specified. The bill would apply these confidentiality provisions in the case of (1) a petition filed on or after July 1, 2026; (2) a petition filed before July 1, 2026, if the petitioner files a request to keep the records confidential, as specified; or (3) records that were previously made confidential by statute or otherwise. The bill would prohibit a person or private entity, other than the petitioner, from publicly posting one of the above-described confidential records on the internet or otherwise. The bill would make a violation of these confidentiality requirements an injury and, commencing 6 months after the effective date of this bill, would authorize a person or entity to institute proceedings for injunctive relief, declaratory relief, or a writ of mandate to enforce them. The bill would require a court to award reasonable attorney’s fees and costs to a plaintiff who prevails on a cause of action against a private party pursuant to this authority. The bill would also authorize a petitioner who has been harmed by a disclosure or continuing disclosure of records, as specified, to, commencing 6 months after the effective date of this bill, bring a civil action against a person or private entity that caused the harm. The bill would require a person or private entity found liable to pay actual damages or statutory damages, punitive damages, and reasonable attorney’s fees and costs, as specified. The bill would, on or before July 1, 2026, require the Judicial Council, as necessary, to develop forms and rules to implement the bill’s provisions. Under the bill, nothing in these provisions would preclude a court from granting a motion to seal all court records of a person’s change of name or gender and sex identifier, or both, pursuant to a specified California Rule of Court. The bill would state that whether a transgender person’s gender identity conforms with their assigned sex at birth is intimate personal information entitled to protection under the right to privacy, and that a transgender person has a privacy interest in concealing their transgender identity. The bill would make legislative findings and declarations in support of its provisions. The bill would declare that its provisions are severable. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute. Digest Key Vote: 2/3 Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) Transgender and nonbinary people are experiencing a growing epidemic of discrimination, harassment, and violence in California and across the country. (b) According to the Department of Justice, hate crimes motivated by anti-transgender bias increased by 10.2 percent between 2022 and 2023. (c) According to the UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute, in 2021, transgender people were over four times more likely to experience violent victimization, including rape, assault, and aggravated or simple assault, than their cisgender peers. (d) According to the 2022 U.S. Trans Survey, 30 percent of transgender respondents reported that they were verbally harassed and 39 percent were harassed online in the last 12 months because of their gender identity or expression. (e) Having personally identifying information exposed without their knowledge or consent puts transgender and nonbinary people at greater risk for harassment, discrimination, and violence. (f) Transgender people in California, New York, Washington, and elsewhere have reported harassment and cyberbullying after their personal information was released online. (g) In 2023, California passed Assembly Bill 223 (Chapter 221 of the Statutes of 2023) (Ward), commonly known as the Transgender Youth Privacy Act, which requires courts to keep all court records related to name and gender marker changes for minors confidential. (h) With harassment and violence against transgender and nonbinary people on the rise and a federal administration that is openly hostile to the transgender community, it is imperative for California to expand these protections to safeguard the privacy and safety of all transgender and nonbinary Californians. (i) On October 29, 2024, the Court of Appeal for the Fifth Appellate District of California issued a unanimous decision in In re M.T. (2024) 106 Cal.App.5th 322 (M.T.), a case of first impression. (j) In its decision, the court found that petitioner M.T. had demonstrated that she met the criteria under subdivision (d) of California Rule of Court 2.550 for an order justifying the sealing of records. (k) The criteria for such sealing of records under subdivision (d) of California Rule of Court 2.550 require an express finding by the court of facts that establish “(1) There exists an overriding interest that overcomes the right of public access to the record; (2) The overriding interest supports sealing the record; (3) A substantial probability exists that the overriding interest will be prejudiced if the record is not sealed; (4) The proposed sealing is narrowly tailored; and (5) No less restrictive means exist to achieve the overriding interest.” (l) The court further found that petitioner M.T. cited studies showing transgender people are subject to violence, harassment, and discrimination and that she had provided evidence of harassment specifically directed against her, she had been outed in a social media post that revealed her transgender identity along with other identifying information, she had found her case record to be publicly available online, and she had been the target of transphobic text messages sent to her. (m) The court also concluded in M.T. that “whether a transgender person’s gender identity conforms with their assigned sex at birth is intimate personal information entitled to protection under the right to privacy. A transgender person thus has a privacy interest in concealing their transgender identity” (In re M.T., 106 Cal.App.5th at 341). (n) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this act to include provisions that would codify the decision of the Court of Appeal for the Fifth Appellate District in M.T. and would clarify the decision’s application in state law. (o) By codifying the Court of Appeal for the Fifth Appellate District’s unanimous ruling in M.T., this act ensures that important privacy protections regarding the sealing of records are available to all transgender individuals at risk of violence, harassment, and discrimination. SEC. 2. Section 103437 of the Health and Safety Code is repealed. SEC. 3. Section 103437 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read: 103437. (a) As used in this section, “change of name or gender and sex identifier, or both” means a proceeding for a change of gender and sex identifier pursuant to Section 103430, for a combined change of the petitioner’s name and recognition of the change to the petitioner’s gender and sex identifier pursuant to Section 103435, or for a change of name to conform the petitioner’s name to the petitioner’s gender identity pursuant to Title 8 (commencing with Section 1275) of Part 3 of the Code of Civil Procedure. (b) Subject to subdivision (c), all of the following apply: (1) The court records, including the index, register of actions, and any other case information available through court systems used to provide the public with electronic access to court records, associated with a proceeding for a change of name or gender and sex identifier, or both, shall be kept confidential by the court. (2) Until the court orders a change of name or gender and sex identifier, or both, the court shall limit access to the court records in the proceeding, including the index, register of actions, and any other case information available through court systems used to provide the public with electronic access to court records. Prior to those orders, the court shall not provide access to anyone other than the petitioner, any other person who signed the petition, an individual who is subject to service of an order to show cause related to the petition, any attorney representing those individuals, and any agents acting pursuant to written authorization from those individuals or their attorneys. For a petition brought on behalf of a minor, the court shall limit access prior to an order changing the minor’s name or gender and sex identifier, or both, to the minor subject of the petition, the minor’s parents, guardians, and guardians ad litem, an individual subject to service of an order to show cause related to the petition, any attorney representing those individuals, and any agents acting pursuant to written authorization from those individuals or their attorneys. (3) Upon the court ordering a change of name or gender and sex identifier, or both, the court shall limit access to the court records in the proceeding, including the index, register of actions, and any other case information available through court systems used to provide the public with electronic access to court records, to the petitioner, a minor who received a change of name or gender and sex identifier, or both, an adult who signed the petition, any attorney representing those individuals, and any agents acting pursuant to written authorization from those individuals or their attorneys. (c) The requirements set forth in subdivision (b) apply if any of the following conditions are met: (1) The petition for change of name or gender and sex identifier, or both, is filed on or after July 1, 2026. (2) The court orders the records in the proceeding to be kept confidential. The court shall enter that order if the petitioner in a proceeding for a change of name or gender and sex identifier, or both, in which the petition was filed before July 1, 2026, files a request to keep the records in the proceeding confidential. The petitioner may make this request ex parte and without paying a filing fee. The court shall make the request and all associated records confidential. (3) The records in the proceeding were previously made confidential by statute or otherwise. (d) If the petitioner discovers that court records in their proceeding for a change of name or gender and sex identifier, or both, are not being kept confidential by the court pursuant to subdivision (b) or (c), the petitioner may apply ex parte for that order, without paying a filing fee, and the court shall enter an order making the records confidential. The court shall make the application and all associated records confidential. (e) Other than the petitioner, a person or private entity shall not publicly post a confidential record pursuant to this section on the internet or otherwise. (f) Any violation of this section constitutes an injury. (g) Commencing six months after the effective date of the act that added this subdivision, a person or entity may institute proceedings for injunctive relief, declaratory relief, or a writ of mandate in a court of competent jurisdiction to enforce this section. A court shall award reasonable attorney’s fees and costs to a plaintiff who prevails on a cause of action against a private party pursuant to this subdivision. (h) (1) In addition to any other sanctions, penalties, or remedies provided by law, commencing six months after the effective date of the act that added this subdivision, a petitioner who has been harmed by a disclosure or continuing disclosure of records by a person or private entity with actual knowledge that those records were made confidential or sealed by the court may bring a civil action in a court of competent jurisdiction against a person or private entity that caused the harm. A civil action pursuant to this subdivision may be brought by a petitioner or, if the petitioner is a minor, on behalf of a petitioner by the petitioner’s parent, guardian, or guardian ad litem. (2) If a person or private entity is found liable in a cause of action brought pursuant to paragraph (1), the person or private entity shall be liable to the petitioner for all of the following: (A) Actual damages but not less than statutory damages in the amount of five thousand dollars ($5,000). (B) Punitive damages upon proof of willful or reckless disregard of the law. (C) Reasonable attorney’s fees and costs. (i) On or before July 1, 2026, the Judicial Council shall, as necessary, develop forms and rules to implement this section. (j) Whether a transgender person’s gender identity conforms with their assigned sex at birth is intimate personal information entitled to protection under the right to privacy. A transgender person has a privacy interest in concealing their transgender identity. (k) Nothing in this section shall preclude a court from granting a motion to seal all court records, including the index, register of actions, and any other case information available through court systems used to provide the public with electronic access to court records, of a person’s change of name or gender and sex identifier, or both, pursuant to California Rule of Court 2.550, or a successor rule. SEC. 4. The provisions of this act are severable. If any provision of this act or its application is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application. SEC. 5. The Legislature finds and declares that Section 3 of this act, which adds Section 103437 to the Health and Safety Code, imposes a limitation on the public’s right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies within the meaning of Section 3 of Article I of the California Constitution. Pursuant to that constitutional provision, the Legislature makes the following findings to demonstrate the interest protected by this limitation and the need for protecting that interest: It is in the best interest for the public to keep these records confidential to ensure the privacy and safety of transgender and nonbinary individuals who have experienced, and continue to experience, a growing epidemic of harassment and violence in California and across the country. According to the UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute, in 2021, transgender people were over four times more likely to experience violent victimization, including rape, assault, and aggravated or simple assault, than their cisgender peers. In 2022, the U.S. Trans Survey found that nearly one-third (30 percent) of transgender respondents reported that they were verbally harassed in the last 12 months because of their gender identity or expression and, according to the Hate Crime in California 2023 report by the Department of Justice, between 2022 and 2023, hate crime events motivated by anti-transgender bias increased by 10.2 percent. Being outed and having their personal information exposed puts transgender and nonbinary individuals at greater risk for harassment, discrimination, and violence. It also significantly increases their risk of mental health harms and suicide. According to a joint study conducted by researchers at Columbia University, Harvard University, the Williams Institute, and the Fenway Institute at Fenway Health, transgender adults are seven times more likely to contemplate suicide, four times more likely to attempt it, and eight times more likely to engage in nonsuicidal self-injury than cisgender adults. Allowing a transgender individual to choose when and how they decide to share their personal information is vital in protecting their mental and physical health. SEC. 6. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the California Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are: To address the increase in discrimination, violence, harassment, and hate crimes motivated by anti-transgender bias, in order to prevent their personal information from being exposed by being nonconsensually outed, it is necessary that this act take effect immediately.