California State Senate SENATOR RICARDO LARA March 4, 2015 Mr. Craig Holden President, Board of Trustees State Bar of California 845 S. Figueroa Street Los Angeles, CA 90017 Dear Mr. Holden, It was recently brought to my attention that a proposed ballot initiative, the Sodomite Suppression Act, has been submitted to the State Attorney General for preparation and summary. The Proposal suggests, among other things, that “..any person who willingly touches another person of the same gender for the purposes of sexual gratification be put to death by bullets to the head or by any other convenient method.” It continues that, anyone “...creating an interest in or acceptance of human sexual relations other than between a man and a woman” should be imprisoned, fined, exiled from the state, and barred from public office, Ihave no doubt that this hateful and bigoted effort stands zero chance of gathering the signatures necessary to qualify for the statewide ballot and I am deeply disturbed that a member of the State Bar would promote such pitiful, evil and hateful sentiments in this proposed initiative, Qualification to become a licensed attorney includes not only educational requirements and an examination, but also requires demonstrated “good moral character.” The State Bar’s admission rules on good moral character include that those seeking admission to the bar demonstrate “respect for and obedience to the law, and respect for the rights of others and the judicial process.” Further, the Rules or Professional Conduct, Rule 2-400 prohibits licensed practitioners from discriminating, among other factors, based on sexual orientation in rendering legal services. ‘These provisions are necessarily balanced against the freedom of speech rights that we, as all Americans, possess. ‘This letter requests the State Bar to review Matthew McLaughlin's conduct here to determine if, in light of the ‘governing authorities, he continues to meet the standards required of membership in the State Bar of California. | will be inviting the California LGBT Legislative Caucus to join me in submitting a formal complaint and request for investigation. Senator, 33" District ce: California Legislative LGBT Caucus