WASHINGTON: The California Senate has overwhelmingly passed a legislation seeking to explicitly ban caste discrimination in a historic move that would make America’s most populous state, also the country’s first, to outlaw caste-based bias.
State Senator Aisha Wahab, the first Muslim and Afghan American elected to the state legislature, introduced the Bill last month.
Passed by 34-1 vote, the bill – SB403, would make California the first US State to add caste as a protected category in its anti-discrimination laws.
Promoters of the bill, being led by non-profit Equality Lab, said that a similar bill is being introduced in the State House of Representatives, before it can be sent to the Governor to be signed into a law.
The bill adds caste as a protected category to an existing law, the Unruh Civil Rights Act, which provides that all people in California are entitled to the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services in all business establishments.
The bill provides explicit protections to those who have been systemically harmed due to caste bias and prejudice. It also provides firm legal consequences for those seeking to avoid responsibility or ramifications for permitting or participating in caste discrimination and caste-based violence.
This landmark bill comes just weeks after the California Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously passed SB403 in April.