Fact check: New California sex offender law does not legalize pedophilia

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday evening signed a bill into law that is aimed at creating parity in criminal sentencing for young LGBTQ people who have sex with other young people.

Senate Bill 145, introduced by San Francisco Democratic State Sen. Scott Wiener, has generated an internet firestorm, replete with rapidly spreading falsehoods and virulent death threats.

After the bill passed out of the Legislature, it didn’t take long for the news to hit conservative circles. Conservative news website Breitbart blasted the headline, “California Legislature Passes Bill Reducing Penalties for Oral, Anal Sex With Willing Children.”

Here’s what the bill actually does:

Under existing law since 1944, when a person is found by a court to have had vaginal intercourse with a minor 14 years of age or older, and the age difference is not more than 10 years, judges are given discretion as to whether to require that person to register as a sex offender.

However, that discretion pertains only to vaginal sex. In cases of oral or anal sex, judges have no discretion and the sentenced person must register as a sex offender.

Wiener’s bill would give judges discretion in those cases. He said that it’s about treating LGBTQ young people the same as straight young people.

“The judge should have the same discretion about whether to put an LGBTQ kid on a sex offender registry,” he said.

That discretion could allow, for example, a 19-year-old LGBTQ college freshman to avoid having to register as a sex offender because they had sex with their 17-year-old partner.

However, critics have pointed out it could also allow a 24-year-old to avoid having to register as a sex offender after having sex with a 14-year-old.

The bill, which was supported by law enforcement groups including the California Police Chiefs Association and the California District Attorneys Association, has been pilloried by conservative voices ranging from commentator Charlie Kirk to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, for being soft on sexual predators.

QAnon’s interest in SB 145

The far right conspiracy movement QAnon has latched onto it as well.

The hashtag #SaveTheChildren and others like it, which as NBC News reports has been co-opted by the conspiracy community, often accompanies Facebook and Twitter posts about the bill, including a handful of tweets from California Senate Republican Caucus Leader Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield.

“There are times as a Senator when I take great pride in my votes & actions. While I am disgusted by this legislation, I was proud to stand with my Senate Republican colleagues on behalf of families, parents, & children to vote against #SB145 & to help #SaveOurChildren,” Grove wrote in a Sept. 1 tweet.

A spokesman for Grove’s office said that the senator’s use of the hashtag had nothing to do with QAnon.

“Senator Grove does not believe in, support, or affiliate with QAnon. Senator Grove believes in ‘Saving Our Children’ from human traffickers, child predators and her use of this hashtag is not an endorsement or affiliation with the actions of QAnon,” said Hector Barajas, communications director for the Senate Republican Caucus.

On Facebook and Twitter, users decried the bill’s passage and, in many cases, went after Wiener.

“I’ve been called a pedophile tens of thousands of times,” Wiener said.

It goes beyond name-calling; Wiener has received thousands of death threats since his bill gained national profile. He’s shared some of those threats on his Twitter account.

Some urged Newsom to veto

Opposition to the bill didn’t just come from the right.

Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, spoke out against the bill when it came to the Assembly floor for a vote.

“I cannot in my mind, as a mother, understand how sex between a 24-year-old and a 14-year-old could ever be consensual. How it could ever not be a registerable offense?” Gonzalez said.

The assemblywoman said she understood the intent of the bill but couldn’t support it. She was among the 25 who voted against the bill in the Assembly. It passed with 41 votes, with 13 Assembly members not voting. The bill also cleared the Senate, 23-10, with seven senators not voting.

“As much as I want to create an equitable situation, I think this needs to go back to the drawing board, I think we need to take up both portions of the code and make a determination,” she said.

Wiener objected to that statement, saying in an interview with The Bee that LGBTQ equality should not be conditioned on making broader changes to the system.

He said that for decades, nobody had a problem with the law allowing straight people to avoid being designated as sex offenders, that it was only when the LGBTQ movement called for equality that people got upset.

“Not supporting this bill means perpetuating a system where LGBTQ young people are treated more harshly than straight young people,” Wiener said.

This story was originally published September 12, 2020 at 5:00 AM.