Public postsecondary education: nondiscrimination and training: sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression.

(1) Existing law, known as the Donahoe Higher Education Act, establishes the missions and functions of the state's 3 segments of public postsecondary education, which are the University of California, the California State University, and the California Community Colleges. The provisions of the Donahoe Higher Education Act apply to the University of California only to the extent that the Regents of the University of California, by resolution, make them applicable. Existing provisions of the Donahoe Higher Education Act require the Regents of the University of California, the Trustees of the California State University, and the governing boards of community college districts to adopt or provide for the adoption of rules and regulations governing student behavior, known as rules of student conduct. This bill would request the Trustees of the California State University, the Regents of the University of California, and the governing board of each community college district to adopt and publish policies on harassment, intimidation, and bullying to be included within the rules of student conduct governing their respective segments of public postsecondary education. The bill would express the intent of the Legislature that rules and regulations governing student conduct be published, at a minimum, on the Internet Web sites of each public postsecondary educational campus and as part of any printed material covering those rules and regulations within the respective public postsecondary education systems. (2) The Equity in Higher Education Act, a part of the Donahoe Higher Education Act, provides that it is the policy of the state to afford all persons, regardless of disability, gender, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or other specified bases, equal rights and opportunities in the postsecondary educational institutions of the state. For these purposes, the act defines "gender" to include gender identity. This bill would revise the definition of gender to include "gender expression" for purposes of the Equity in Higher Education Act. The bill would request the Trustees of the California State University, the Regents of the University of California, and the governing board of each community college district to designate an employee at each of their respective campuses as a point of contact to address the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender faculty, staff, and students. The bill would request each segment to collect aggregate demographic information regarding sexual orientation and gender identity of staff and students within other aggregate demographic data collected, and would require annual transmittal of any report to the Legislature, as specified, and posting of the information on the Internet Web site of each respective institution. The bill would encourage the Legislative Analyst to conduct an assessment of the campuses of each of the segments of public postsecondary education to develop recommendations to improve the quality of life on those campuses for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender faculty, staff, and students, and to publish a summary of those recommendations on its Internet Web site. The bill would make various conforming changes to existing nondiscrimination laws affecting postsecondary educational institutions and programs, and requirements related to reporting hate violence, as defined, to additionally include sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression within the scope of those programs and requirements.