California State Senate passes caste discrimination legislation

Washington: The California Senate has overwhelmingly passed a legislation seeking to explicitly ban caste discrimination, in a historic move that would make America’s most populous State also the country’s first to outlaw caste-based bias.

State Senator Aisha Wahab, the first Muslim and Afghan American elected to the state legislature, introduced the bill last month. Passed by 34-1 vote, the bill SB 403, would make California the first US State to add caste as a protected category in its anti-discrimination laws.

Promoters of the bill, being led by non-profit Equality Lab, said that a similar bill is being introduced in the State House of Representatives, before it can be sent to the Governor to be signed into a law. The bill adds caste as a protected category to an existing law, which provides that all people in California are entitled to the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges.