Senate Resolution No. 18

Introduced by Senators Leno, Corbett, Correa, De León, Galgiani, Hancock, Hill, Jackson, Lara, Lieu, Liu, Roth, Steinberg, and Wolk

August 12, 2013

Senate Resolution No. 18—Relative to the government of Russia.

WHEREAS, The government of Russia has recently undertaken
an aggressive course of action on both the local and national level
to pass laws targeting the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
(LGBT) community; and

WHEREAS, The government of Russia has enacted a law
banning the adoption of Russian-born children by LGBT couples
and also by any couple or single parent living in a country where
marriage equality exists in any form; and

WHEREAS, The government of Russia has enacted a law
banning “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations” that
penalizes LGBT-affirming and positive messages or actions,
including, but not limited to, messages on the Internet, and violates
the fundamental human rights of freedom of speech, assembly,
expression, and equality, all under the guise of protecting children;
and

WHEREAS, The Russian Federation is the host of the XXII
Olympic Winter Games; and

WHEREAS, The government of Russia has enacted a vaguely
worded law allowing police officers to arrest tourists and foreign
nationals who violate the new “gay propaganda” law and detain
them for up to 15 days and expel them from Russia; and

WHEREAS, Representatives of the Russian government have
indicated they intend to enforce the new law against visitors and
athletes during the XXII Olympic Winter Games; and

WHEREAS, These laws have already resulted in a significant
increase in homophobia and targeted violence against LGBT people
and caused millions of Russians to live in fear that their
government will target them or remove their children from their
homes simply because of who they are; and

WHEREAS, History repeatedly instructs us that despotic rulers
who scapegoat classes of their own citizens and then legislate their
status as outlaws often move on to initiate genocide against those
same people, especially if the rest of the world remains silent; and

WHEREAS, Hillary Clinton, as the 67th United States Secretary
of State, stated in a December 2011 Human Rights Day address
to the United Nations, “Gay rights are human rights, and human
rights are gay rights”; and

WHEREAS, Equity shareholders in publicly traded companies
can be instrumental in encouraging responsible corporate
citizenship, and the California Public Employees’ Retirement
System and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System have
joined 1,200 other institutional investors from 50 countries who
manage more than $34 trillion in assets to develop and become a
signatory to the Principles for Responsible Investment; and

WHEREAS, Californians expect companies with equity
securities held in a public employee retirement fund’s portfolio to
be conducted with integrity and a view toward supporting and
protecting internationally proclaimed human rights; and

WHEREAS, California’s history of leadership in socially
responsible public investing serves as a model followed by other
governments and includes divesting in shares of tobacco and gun
companies and banning investments in countries that violate
ethical, labor, and human rights standards, such as South Africa,
Iran, and Sudan; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, That the Senate
condemns the Russian government’s attacks on the LGBT
community and laws targeting LGBT people and their supporters,
including tourists, athletes, and other participants in the XXII
Olympic Winter Games; and be it further

Resolved, That the Senate deplores and condemns all laws and
acts of violence, in both word and in action, that use the
government as an instrument of discrimination, persecution, and
legislation against the LGBT community and its supporters; and
be it further

Resolved, That the Senate calls upon the President, the United
States Congress, and the United States Department of State to
increase efforts to encourage the decriminalization of
homosexuality in every country and to use all means possible to
increase the number of countries supporting decriminalization,
including, but not limited to, the United Nations, trade and
diplomatic relationships, and the implementation of international
treaties and declarations on human rights; and be it further

Resolved, That the Senate urges the International Olympic
Committee to seek written agreement from the Russian government
that the new “gay propaganda” law will not affect those attending,
participating, or competing in the XXII Olympic Winter Games;
and be it further

Resolved, That the Senate urges NBCUniversal, as broadcaster
of the XXII Olympic Winter Games in the United States, to
increase awareness of Russia’s homophobic laws and the threat
they pose to participating athletes and visitors by discussing them
on air at every opportunity, including during the opening and
closing ceremonies when millions of Americans will be watching;
and be it further

Resolved, That the Senate strongly encourages the California
Public Employees’ Retirement System and the California State
Teachers’ Retirement System, whenever feasible and consistent
with their fiduciary responsibilities, to cease making direct
investments in Russia and to encourage companies in which
employee retirement funds are invested and that are doing business
in Russia not to take actions that promote or otherwise enable
human rights violations in Russia; and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of
this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.