It may seem like common sense that the California Supreme Court—our state’s foremost judicial body—would ban judges from belonging to groups that discriminate on the basis of race, gender, religion and sexual orientation.

While this has in fact been the case since 1996, the state high court made an exception to this ban for nonprofit youth organizations that discriminate. It did this specifically to accommodate judges who serve as troop leaders in Boy Scouts of America.

Now California’s judicial branch is considering a proposal to eliminate the nonprofit youth organization exception. Some may say that it’s about time – California is the only state in the country that prohibits membership in organizations that discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation but that has an exception for nonprofit youth organizations.

The state high court would like to hear from you on this issue! If you believe that this loophole allowing participation in discriminatory nonprofit youth organizations should be closed, you can submit a public comment for the court to consider here.

We think it’s inappropriate and just plain wrong for any branch of the government to sanction discrimination in any way. We applaud the California Supreme Court and its ethics advisory committee for considering steps to finally remove this loophole, and we hope you’ll encourage them to do so.

Together we can move California to a state of full equality. Thank you for your support!