I haven't been able to find the law itself to read it (probably not looking the in the right places), but all the reporting on it says that they must have at least 1 (or 2 or 3 depending size of the board) female member. I'm not sure how that's going to play out in the long run if it's actually worded that way since I suspect it would run afoul of federal EEOC set of regulations/laws. It'll be interesting to see the law itself and how it shakes out in the courts (regardless of how you feel about this law, I'm 110% certain it will end up in the courts).
I'm curious how trans people are counted as well. Say you have 1 Cis female, 1 cis male, 1 trans male, 1 trans female. Can the fifth person be a cis male or trans male?
A trans woman is legally a woman and could be placed on the board to count.
A trans man is legally a man and would not count.
In California, transgender people are granted a lot of protections and rights, like the right to change their birth certificate gender, ID gender, etc. without surgery. It's one of the most progressive states on that issue.
It’s an interesting question, but I’d assume the law would say a trans female counts, a trans male does not. After all, if you’re transitioning into the gender you feel inside, then your birth sex is probably irrelevant from how you think and approach situations.
But that said, the vast majority of boards are all cis males. That’s the real thing being challenged.