Newsom vetoes a proposed ban on caste discrimination in California

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill Saturday that would have explicitly outlawed caste discrimination in California, dealing a blow to activists hoping to make the state the first in the nation to enact such a ban and a first-term lawmaker who shepherded one of the more controversial bills of the session through the Legislature.

The law would have inserted caste into the definition of ancestry, making it illegal to discriminate on the basis of caste under the Unruh Civil Rights Act, Fair Employment and Housing Act and education discrimination law.

Hearings on Senate Bill 403 — from state Sen. Aisha Wahab (D-Hayward) — were among the most attended of the session, with lines stretching down hallways, public testimony lasting for hours and demonstrations outside the Capitol. The proposal split California’s large South Asian community, drawing passionate lobbying for and against it. Assemblymember Ash Kalra, the first Indian American elected to the state Legislature, lamented the fissure during a hearing.

In his veto message, Newsom said the bill is unnecessary because caste discrimination is already prohibited under existing civil rights protections that "shall be liberally construed."

"In California, we believe everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, no matter who they are, where they come from, who they love, or where they live," Newsom said.

After the bill passed, supporters launched a hunger strike to put pressure on Newsom to sign it, holding rallies outside the Capitol.

Opponents contended that the legislation will stigmatize Hindus and people from South Asia, where caste — a social hierarchy in which one’s group is inherited — is historically most closely associated. Representatives for the Hindu American Foundation had previously promised to challenge it in court. The veto is a victory for national Hindu groups such as the Hindu American Foundation and the Coalition of Hindus of North America, which fiercely lobbied lawmakers to oppose the bill.

A pair of Republican state senators, Brian Jones and Shannon Grove, wrote a letter to Newsom on Tuesday asking him to veto the bill. The senators claimed that the bill would “not only target and racially profile South Asian Californians, but will put other California residents and businesses at risk and jeopardize our state’s innovative edge.”

The bill also received pushback from two of Wahab’s progressive colleagues in the Assembly, and was amended to make the word “caste” less prominent in the law.

Seattle was the first city to pass a caste discrimination ordinance earlier this year, and Fresno last month was the first city in California to do so.