{"id":2210,"date":"2026-06-17T21:08:41","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T21:08:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=2210"},"modified":"2026-06-17T21:08:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T21:08:41","slug":"california-comes-under-doj-scrutiny-for-program-boosting-gay-owned-contractors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=2210","title":{"rendered":"California comes under DOJ scrutiny for program boosting gay-owned contractors"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Firms with LGBT ownership have an advantage in winning contracts from the California Public Utilities Commission \u2014 but only if they can prove their proprietors are truly gay.<\/p>\n

Read more DOJ seeks to block reparations to Black people whose ancestors suffered housing discrimination<\/a><\/p>\n

U.S. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said Wednesday she has opened an inquiry into the commission\u2019s program encouraging utilities to meet a \u201cvoluntary\u201d goal of 1.5% procurement from state-certified LGBT-owned businesses which, if met, amounts to $633 million annually.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know how who somebody sleeps with is relevant to their provision of utilities-related support services. That\u2019s rhetorical. I think we know it isn\u2019t,\u201d Ms. Dhillon told podcast host Glenn Beck. \u201cIt\u2019s nonsense, it needs to stop, and it\u2019s illegal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her comments followed an explosive report by Manhattan Institute senior fellow Christopher Rufo on the commission\u2019s Supplier Diversity Program, a 1988 initiative aimed at promoting female- and minority-owned contractors that was expanded in 2014 to include LGBT-owned businesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo qualify, residents must go through the state\u2019s official gay-certification program \u2014 and face up to a year in jail if they\u2019re not gay enough,\u201d said Mr. Rufo, whose Tuesday report was co-authored with City Journal senior investigative reporter Austen Hufford.<\/p>\n

To qualify for LGBT certification, companies must check at least one box on a 13-item from the Supplier Clearinghouse, which certifies the \u201cLGBT status\u201d of contractor ownership for the commission.<\/p>\n

The list includes providing a copy of the owner\u2019s gay marriage, civil union or domestic partnership; evidence of \u201cfamily building efforts\u201d with a same-sex partner, including in vitro fertilization and surrogacy, and media references to the owner\u2019s LGBT identification.<\/p>\n

The clearinghouse also accepts a letter from an attorney or physicians; three letters of reference from personal contacts on their \u201ccompany letterhead or stationery\u201d who can \u201cvouch\/attest to LGBT status,\u201d or one letter from a \u201crecognized LGBT organization.\u201d<\/p>\n

Firms with non-gay owners who pretend to be gay to secure contracts face up to a year in prison under Assembly Bill 1678, the 2014 legislation signed by Gov. Jerry Brown adding LGBT-owned businesses to the list of companies benefiting from the \u201cbusiness enterprise procurement\u201d program.<\/p>\n

The program, which also covers businesses owned by women, racial minorities and disabled veterans, requires utilities to establish \u201cminimum long-term procurement goals for each category,\u201d but insists that the goals are not mandatory quotas.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo penalty shall be imposed for failure of any utility or other covered entity to meet or exceed procurement goals,\u201d said the commission in its updated rules published in 2022.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump says Iran deal will stave off economic crisis, prevent nuclear program<\/a><\/p>\n

Mr. Rufo said the commission may be violating the spirit if not the letter of California Proposition 209, the 1996 initiative banning government entities from considering race, sex, ethnicity and other factors in education and contracting.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn practice, however, the agency cajoles utilities into compliance by requiring them to collect extensive demographic data, submit detailed annual reports, list their plans for increasing procurement from favored groups, and explain \u2019any circumstances that may have resulted in not meeting\u2019 their procurement \u2019goals,\u2019\u201d said the report.<\/p>\n

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BREAKING: The Department of Justice is opening an inquiry into California\u2019s gay-certification program. As always, @AAGDhillon is moving into action\u2014and defending the principle of equality under the law. https:\/\/t.co\/hHc92ZS2hD<\/p>\n

\u2014 Christopher F. Rufo \u2694\ufe0f (@christopherrufo) June 17, 2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ms. Dhillon said that California consumers are footing the bill for such \u201cminority set-asides.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow does that help the ratepayer, everybody who consumes utilities in the state of California, get the best rates? It doesn\u2019t,\u201d she said. \u201cObviously when you have set-asides and special contracts like that, you have inflation because people know that their status is a commodity that they can actually sell, because it\u2019s being forced on the state and on the ratepayers.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to shock conservatives these days with disclosures of minority preferences in blue-state government, but the report nonetheless met with jaw-dropping on the right.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t believe this is real,\u201d said the Libs of TikTok account on X. \u201cCalifornia has a gay certification checklist to ensure taxpayer funded contracts only for lgbtq people, are being awarded to people who are gay enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kyle Mann, editor-in-chief of The Babylon Bee, the satirical Christian conservative website, replied: \u201cIf my @TheBabylonBee writers had pitched this as a joke, I would have rejected it for being too outlandish.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms. Dhillon encouraged companies that may have lost out on utility contracts to consider taking legal action.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this is illegal, so we\u2019re definitely looking into what can be done about it by the Department of Justice,\u201d she said, \u201cBut the other people who can do something about it in some instances can be private parties [that] weren\u2019t picked for a contract because they don\u2019t have the correct boxes checked.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Democrats\u2019 \u2018election reform\u2019 deserves public scrutiny<\/a><\/p>\n

The Washington Times has reached out to the CPUC for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Firms with LGBT ownership have an advantage in winning contracts from the California Public Utilities Commission — but only if they can prove their proprietors are truly gay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2209,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,7],"tags":[1488,402,1489],"class_list":["post-2210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-politics","tag-california-public-utilities-commission","tag-department-of-justice","tag-harmeet-dhillon"],"yoast_head":"\nCalifornia comes under DOJ scrutiny for program boosting gay-owned contractors - Home Buyer Relocation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=2210\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"California comes under DOJ scrutiny for program boosting gay-owned contractors - 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