News & Commentary

As medical students, we were especially disturbed by the denial of medical care of Walter Scott, the 300th person killed by police in 2015. Officers on the scene failed to perform CPR on Mr. Scott as he lay face-down on the ground, handcuffed, with five bullets in his body.

Police gunning down unarmed black men and boys is an American horror film that keeps getting replayed. Except that it isn’t a movie you can turn off: It’s a painful, outrageous, and unacceptable reality.

Immigration detention centers are notorious for extreme isolation and inhumane conditions. So we were more than concerned when we learned a few weeks ago that ICE wants to send immigrants to a new detention facility that would put their health and wellbeing at risk.

Trans and queer activists of color took the stage at Creating Change 2015 and called into question our collective priorities by raising in a real and emotional way how race, sex, gender, gender expression, nationality, and class intersect to further marginalize people within the LGBTQ movement.

While the Deferred Action for Parental Accountability Program (DAPA) is being challenged in court and countless immigrant families are caught in the legal battle, we want to pause and remind everyone to remain vigilant of their rights.

On Thursday, April 2, a federal court ruled that officials at a California men's prison must provide a trans woman with surgery to affirm her gender as female - a surgery her doctors and medical experts say she desperately needs.

California created the nation's first paid family leave (PFL) program for workers more than a decade ago. The groundbreaking legislation has since helped many people meet their family caregiving obligations and bond with their children. But the system is flawed and needs a tune-up.

Did you know that you have the power to impact our state laws and policies at every step of the process? Every Californian is represented in Sacramento by people you can lobby (face-to-face, by email, or by phone) to vote your way.

I object to so-called "religious freedom" laws because they are actually an affront to our tradition of religious freedom. Religious freedom in our country means that we can each practice the religion of our choice (or no religion if we choose).