California Republican’s ‘cancel culture’ bills fail as Democrats reject 2 proposals

California Democrats this week shot down a Republican’s effort to make political beliefs a protected class under the state’s anti-discrimination laws, a bid that the GOP lawmaker described as an attempt to take on “cancel culture.”

Two bills, authored by Sen. Melissa Melendez, R-Lake Elsinore, would have extended discrimination protections of a person’s political affiliation and political beliefs in the state’s workplace, businesses and public schools.

The bills failed in the Senate Judiciary Committee on party-line votes on Tuesday.

One of the bills, Senate Bill 238, sought to add political affiliation as a protected class under the Fair Employment and Housing Act. That law bars employment and housing discrimination based on someone’s race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, sexual orientation, familial status, marital status, disability, nationality and source of income. The bill would have also prevented businesses from discriminating against customers due to their political affiliation or beliefs.

Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, questioned if the bill would bar employers from choosing not to hire candidates affiliated with the Nazi Party.

“It is unlikely that someone who is a member of a Nazi movement would want to go work for an organization that has the exact opposite views,” Melendez responded. “An employer still has the right to view you as a candidate for employment in your entirety, not just what’s on the paper but how you come across in the interview, what your interests are, how will you interact with the rest of the employees, how will you fit into that place of business.”

The term “cancel culture” describes an online trend of ostracizing a public figure or private citizen for behavior considered questionable or controversial. The term often draws criticism among Republicans.

“Cancel culture and bullying completely defy the very nature of our Constitution and our protected rights of freedom of speech and expression,” Melendez said through a statement. “Political censorship and cancellation serves no purpose in our democratic society except to silence the opinions of others who may disagree.”

The other bill, Senate Bill 249, would have amended California’s education code to prohibit discrimination and bullying in schools based on a person’s political affiliation.

The Capitol Resource Institute, a parental rights and religious freedom organization, and the Southwest California Legislative Council, a business advocacy coalition, were among groups that supported SB 238, according to the bill’s analysis.

This story was originally published April 22, 2021 at 2:41 PM.