Gavin Newsom vetoes bill making 'caste' a protected class under California law

On Saturday, California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed Senate Bill 403, which would have made it illegal to discriminate based on the Hindu Caste hierarchy in the state, because it is already covered under current anti-discrimination law. 

In a statement to lawmakers, Newsom said, "This bill would define 'ancestry' for purposes of the Fair Employment and Housing Act, the Unruh Act, and the Education Code to include 'caste' and other dimensions of ancestry." 

"In California, we believe everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect no matter who they are, where they come from, who they love, or where they live," he continued. "That is why California already prohibits discrimination based on sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, and other characteristics, and state law specifies that these civil rights protections shall be liberally construed,” he continued. “Because discrimination based on caste is already prohibited under these existing categories, this bill is unnecessary.”

According to The Hill, the bill would have made caste a protected class under current law. The bill defines caste as "an individual’s perceived position in a system of social stratification on the basis of inherited status" and would have targeted Hindu and South Asian communities. 

Britannica encyclopedia defines caste as "any of the ranked, hereditary, endogamous social groups, often linked with occupation, that together constitute traditional societies in South Asia, particularly among Hindus in India." It adds that "sometimes used to designate similar groups in other societies, the 'caste system' is uniquely developed in Hindu societies."

Newsom has vetoed a couple of other pieces of legislation in recent months from the Democrat-held state legislature which has led some to speculate on a possible presidential run for the California Governor. 

One of those bills would have forced judges to consider a parent's willingness to "transition" their children during custody battles, something that Newsom's past support of gender-questioning youth indicated he would have supported.