California has a new ‘gay certification’ intended to establish “state-certified” LGBT Business Enterprises (LGBTBEs).
Brought about by the California Public Utilities Commission’s Supplier Diversity Program under General Order 156, millions of dollars have been channeled into boosting businesses whose owners “must prove their sexual orientation or transgender identity to government-approved certifiers.”
The stated purpose of this government-funded preferential treatment is to encourage utility companies to track and include diverse suppliers. California law mandates that a certain percentage of utility contractors must be of minority status, which initially includes women, disabled veterans, and people of color; however, it has now been updated to include queer people as well. Meaning, if you are gay, you have a better chance of getting a contract. But first, you have to prove it.
To be eligible, a business must be at least 51% owned, operated, and controlled by one or more individuals who identify as LGBT.
Supplier Clearinghouse is responsible for verification. To obtain the certification, applicants must present documentation demonstrating management and control of a business, as well as proof of LGBT status. This evidence can include: legal documents, such as marriage certificates; three letters from recognized LGBT organizations; personal references, with the writer having known the individual for over a year; or physician letters for name-change and/or sex-change operations. Evidence of family-building efforts with same-sex partners and other domestic partnerships is also accepted.
However, if someone has become “gay certified” and is found out to have been falsely representing themselves or their business as an LGBTBE, that person can face criminal penalties under state law, which include up to a year in county jail. This means that someone could now be sent to jail for not being gay enough or lying about their sexual identity.
When the state intentionally benefits business owners with an alternate sexual identity over the general populace, people are naturally going to see the system skewed to only support those with protected characteristics and adapt accordingly to ensure they qualify for it.
Not only this, but requiring people to endure an invasive state-sanctioned documentation process of an individual’s private sexual behavior to secure contracts for their businesses is a complete violation of someone’s confidentiality and triggers serious constitutional concerns.
This program is not only intrusive bureaucracy, but also violates equal protection principles by granting preferential treatment to specific groups. It has even led to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division launching a formal inquiry.
Although the certification may be voluntary, that does not negate the fact that people’s livelihoods will benefit from the state’s intrusion into the private sex lives of its own citizens.
Suppliers should be chosen based solely on their competence, price, and reliability, and for no other reason. Hiring someone only on the basis of their race, sex, sexual orientation, or to fill a quota is demeaning and will lead to the promotion of unqualified and incompetent people to positions they are not capable of managing.
This program did not originate from any market demand or public outcry. Its origins are legislative in nature and go on to push a surveillance state on the people of California, limiting their personal privacy and individual discretion. If this bureaucratic gatekeeping and identity politics are allowed to impede citizens’ lives further, business owners will only struggle more in an already stressful economic climate.
Acknowledgement: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the individual author, not necessarily Our National Conversation as a whole