The California legislature passed a law late Monday relaxing sex offender registry requirements for sodomy and other acts with minors in efforts to end “discrimination against LGBTQ young people on the sex offender registry,” according to the bill’s sponsor.
Democratic California state Sen. Scott Weiner, a gay politician who represents San Francisco, first introduced SB 145 in January 2019. The bill “would exempt from mandatory registration under the act a person convicted of certain offenses involving minors if the person is not more than 10 years older than the minor and if that offense is the only one requiring the person to register,” according to the text of the legislation.
Under the new bill, which has not been signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom, adults less than 10 years older than the minor who are convicted of having anal or oral sex with that minor would not automatically be added to the sex-offender registry, the San Fransisco Chronicle reported.