Members of the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus solicited over $1 million between 2019 and 2023 for an activist group that frequently sponsors and advocates for their legislation, according to public records reviewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Equality California is an LGBTQ activist organization that promotes legislation intended to advance LGBTQ priorities and gender ideology in California. The organization often is involved in sponsoring legislation and actively works to lobby on behalf of pro-LGBTQ bills.

Current members of the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus collectively solicited more than $1,100,000 for Equality California between 2019 and 2023, while Equality California and its employees donated over $80,000 to caucus members’ campaigns, according to public campaign filings reviewed by the DCNF.

Under California’s behested payments system, public officials and lawmakers can solicit payments from individuals or organizations to another individual or organization “for a legislative, governmental or charitable purpose,” according to California’s Fair Political Practices Commission.

These payments, often from large corporations, tech companies, and non-profits, included sponsorships of Equality California’s Equity Awards, sponsorships of the Los Angeles Equality Awards, and sponsorships of the Equality California San Francisco Gala.

Equality California Institute, a 501(c)(3) organization that is a part of the Equality California umbrella, spent over $300,000 on lobbying efforts to influence legislative bodies in 2020 and over $250,000 in 2019, according to tax filings reviewed by the DCNF.

Democratic California Assemblymember Christopher Ward solicited roughly $680,000 in payments made out to Equality California between 2021 to 2023, according to California’s behested payments system tracker. Democratic California state Sen. Scott Wiener solicited nearly $150,000 in payments made out to Equality California between 2019 to 2023.

Equality California sponsored and promoted Wiener’s S.B. 107, signed by Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom in September 2022, which blocks courts from enforcing out-of-state court orders revoking custody for parents who allowed their children to get sex changes in California. They also sponsored Wiener’s S.B. 239, which lowered the penalties for willingly transmitting HIV in California in 2017, and was signed by former Democratic California Gov. Jerry Brown in October 2017.

Equality California also promoted Ward’s A.B. 2194, which requires pharmacists to take “cultural competency” training which teaches them about gender ideology, according to their website.

Wiener solicited $15,000 from Grubhub for Equality California and $10,000 from the California Federation of Teachers, according to the payment tracker.

Equality California contributed roughly $14,000 to Wiener’s 2016 and 2020 Senate campaigns and roughly $8,000 to Ward’s 2020 and 2022 Assembly campaigns, according to campaign finance filings.

The former Executive Director of Equality California, Rick Zbur, is now the Chair of the Assembly Democratic Caucus of California, and a member of the legislature’s LGBTQ caucus. Zbur authored A.B. 5, which requires teachers to take “cultural competency” tests on gender ideology.

Equality California promoted A.B. 5 and asked Newsom to sign the bill.

Democratic California Assemblymember Evan Low solicited roughly $150,000 in payments made out to Equality California in 2019, according to California’s behested payments system tracker. Democratic California state Sen. Toni Atkins solicited at least $50,000 in payments made out to Equality California in 2022.

Low authored A.B. 1741, which enshrined November 20 as Transgender Day of Remembrance in California after being signed by Newsom in June 2022, a bill supported by Equality California. Atkins currently serves as the Senate President Pro Tempore, according to a California government website.

Equality California contributed at least $15,000 to Low’s 2018, 2020, and 2022 Assemblymember campaigns and at least $2,500 to Atkins’ 2016 and 2020 Senate campaigns, according to campaign finance filings.

Democratic California state Sen. John Laird solicited at least $35,000 in payments made out to Equality California between 2021 to 2022. Democratic California Assemblymember Sabrina Cervantes solicited at least $31,000 in payments made out to Equality California in 2019.

Laird authored S.B. 857, a bill that Newsom signed in September, and requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to create an “advisory task force” to “identify the needs” of LGBTQ students and to suggest LGBTQ policies for kids in California schools. This bill was also supported and promoted by Equality California.

Equality California contributed at least $2,000 to Laird’s 2020 Senate campaign and at least $38,500 to Cervantes’ 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022, and 2024 campaigns, according to campaign finance filings.

Equality California, Wiener, Ward, Atkins, Low, Laird, and Cervantes did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

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