Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law last week that would allow a young adult who has gay sex with a minor to escape registering as a sex offender in some cases, based on a judge’s discretion.
SB145, which was first introduced into the California State Legislature in January 2019 by state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), finally passed the 40-member state Senate by a vote of 23-10, as The Daily Wire reported.
Proponents of the legislation such as Wiener claim the law, which provides a judge more leeway in statutory rape cases involving non-vaginal forms of sex, rectifies California’s historical discrimination against the LGBTQ community. Under SB145, if a young adult has gay sex with a minor 14 or older who is less than 10 years younger, a judge will have the discretion whether to place the individual on the sex offender registry.
As the San Francisco Chronicle explained, “Under current law, a judge can decide whether to place a man who has vaginal intercourse with an underage teenage girl on the sex offender registry based on the facts of the case. But if anal or oral sex, or vaginal penetration with anything other than a penis is involved, the adult must register as a sex offender[.]”
“I am so grateful that Governor Newsom — one of the LGBTQ community’s strongest allies ever — once again has shown that he’s willing to support our community when it’s hard. And make no mistake: the politics here are hard, with the massive Trump, QAnon and MAGA misinformation campaign against the legislation,” Wiener said, who also introduced the 2017 bill that made knowingly exposing a partner to HIV no longer a felony. “The facts are clear: SB 145 simply ends anti-LGBTQ discrimination. Today, California took yet another step toward an equitable society.”
Proving again he‘s a true champion for the LGBTQ community — even when it’s hard — Gov Newsom signed #SB145, ending discrimination against LGBTQ young people on CA’s sex offender registry.
Thank you for seeing through the QAnon lies about this equality legislation. My statement: pic.twitter.com/MQlIIDxfnj
— Senator Scott Wiener (@Scott_Wiener) September 12, 2020
Weiner has before blamed alleged QAnon conspiracy theorists for sending many of the threats against him and accusing him of trying to legalize pedophilia. “I’ve been the subject of death threats and personal attacks, threatening to decapitate me and send my head to my mother,” Wiener said during an online news conference last month. “This kind of slander, not just against me but against my community, is outrageous and we have to speak out against it.”
The new law did not meet with full-throated support from the California State Legislature, which passed the Assembly and Senate on split votes, according to local ABC7. Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) said, “I cannot in my mind as a mother understand how sex between a 24-year-old and a 14-year-old could ever be consensual, how it could ever not be a registrable offense. We should never give up on this idea that children should be in no way subject to a predator.”