This blog is originally appeared at LGBTQ Nation

California must stand strong in support of our trans community members.

Out California State Sen. Scott Wiener (D) has introduced a bill aimed at protecting the privacy of trans people in anticipation of the incoming Trump administration. Wiener warned that Trump’s hostility toward trans individuals and his planned rollback of their rights would “only embolden abusive right-wing extremists.”

The proposed legislation, S.B. 59, known as the Transgender Privacy Act, seeks to create an automatic process to seal all court records related to an individual’s gender transition in the state. This would include retroactively sealing existing records. The bill also ensures that any gender transition records that reference a person’s dead name or sex assigned at birth would be kept sealed.

A similar law protecting youth was passed in 2023, but Wiener’s bill specifically targets individuals over 18.

“The incoming Trump administration and Republican congressional leadership have made it clear that targeting and erasing trans people is one of their highest policy priorities, and California must stand by our trans community members,” Wiener said in a statement. “Making personal identifying information public after someone transitions—such as their dead name or the fact that they are trans or nonbinary—needlessly exposes trans and nonbinary Californians to harassment and potential violence.”

If passed, California would join Washington, Oregon, and New York in enacting privacy laws that protect trans people from being forcibly outed through state records.

“When I learned I was unable to change my name in California without being forcibly outed online and exposed to harassment, I was appalled,” said Hazel Williams, a trans activist who worked with Wiener on the legislation, according to the Bay Area Reporter. “I’m proud to help rally community members and advocacy organizations to fix this. There are 220,000 transgender and nonbinary adults in California. All of us deserve privacy and safety, and this legislation is a vital step in that direction.”

The bill follows a ruling last year by Fresno’s 5th District Court of Appeal, which granted a trans woman the right to seal her transition-related records after being outed on social media, harassed by anonymous users, and forced to close all her accounts. While the decision set a precedent for judges to allow requests to seal such records, it does not mandate it in the way Wiener’s bill would.

“As Trump and his cronies continue their cynical incitements of violence against transgender people, it’s critical that we fight back with progressive protections at the state level,” said Syd Simpson, co-chair of the Harvey Milk LGBTQ+ Democratic Club’s Transgender Caucus, in an interview with the Bay Area Reporter.

“It’s really scary to know that there are people out there who want to hurt you, and that your personal information is just sitting there for them to exploit. The right to privacy and the right to be safe are precious to our community, and we’ve got to fight for them.”