By Myron Dean Quon
From InformAsian, GAPSN monthly newsletter, April, 2000

Last August, GAPSN participated in a meeting on hate crimes and hate violence convened by Antonio Villaraigosa, Speaker of the California State Assembly. (The State Legislature now refers to this group as the L.A. Hate Violence Task Force). That meeting and subsequent discussions with the Speaker by GAPSN have resulted in newly-introduced legislation by the Speaker--that recently has been profiled in the local press.

A number of ideas emerged from that meeting about ways GAPSN and other concerned organizations can better promote tolerance in Los Angeles and in the state. One set of problems centered on the need to support the efforts of local human relations commissions--which exist at the city and county level. Excellent work is being accomplished at the local level, but these commissions struggle to accomplish their missions as separate entities ¾ often with inadequate funding and staffing.

The Speaker has introduced a bill this session, AB 2000 that addresses this problem. AB 2000 would create a state level Human Relations Commission to help the capacity building of the local commissions. It would bring together the commissions as a network, to encourage a shared vision of civic unity, to facilitate cooperative planning and resource development.

This eleven-member commission would exist under the Department of Fair Employment and Housing. It would partner with local agencies, providing technical assistance and helping coordinate the sharing of resources and planning.

This Commission would be a strong step forward in strengthening California's infrastructure for tolerance. Speaker Villaraigosa needs GAPSN's support. In addition to the Board submitting a letter to the Speaker's office, I encourage individual members to submit letters of support concerning the relevance of hate-crimes prevention to gay and bisexual API men. Simple letters of support should be sent to:

Hon. Antonio Villaraigosa
Speaker of the California State Assembly
State Capitol, Room 219
Sacramento, CA 95814

If you have any questions, or would like to get further involved, please contact me at MQUON@lambdalegal.org.