Only the Passage of a Transgender-Inclusive SONDA will
Protect Transgender and Gender Variant People from Discrimination
NEWS RELEASE
June 15, 2002
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
New York State legislators are being urged by gay,
lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people to enact a law banning
discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. But it is not clear
if legislators will vote on the transgender-inclusive version of the bill or
one that excludes transgender people from the new law's protections.
Senate Bill 1985, introduced and sponsored by Senator Tom Duane, contains a
definition of gender similar to those used in non-discrimination laws that
protect transgender people in other jurisdictions. But legislators are
being urged by the Empire State Pride Agenda, a gay rights lobbying group, to
vote on a much narrower version of the Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination
Act (SONDA). This more restrictive bill does not contain language that would
ensure that transgender people in New York State are protected from
discrimination in employment, in housing, and in public accommodations.
"If the legislators pass a bill without explicit
language defining gender to include gender identity or expression, employers,
courts, and human rights officials will be very unlikely to interpret the new
law as applying to transgender people," said Paisley Currah, an associate
professor of political science at Brooklyn College of the City University of
New York and board member of the Transgender Law and Policy Institute.
"And that means that transgender and gender variant people in New York
State will still not be afforded basic human rights and treated with the
dignity and respect they deserve."
But if the transgender inclusive version of SONDA were to
pass, however New York would be the third state--the other two are Minnesota
and Rhode Island--to have a law banning bias against its transgender residents
and workers. There are also 43 cities and counties in the
United States that have passed similar non-discrimination legislation.
The first such law was passed in Minneapolis in 1975. New York City,
with a population over eight million people, amended its human rights law in
April ban discrimination against transgender people.
The language in S1985, the bill that does contain
statutory language meant to ensure that transgender people are protected from
discrimination, is very similar to the language in New York City's Human
Rights Law, and many of the 43 jurisdictions that protect transgender people
from discrimination. Gender is defined in S1985 as "gender
identity, self image, appearance, behavior or expression whether or not that
gender identity, self image, appearance, behavior or expression is different
from that traditionally associated with the legal sex assigned to that person
at birth."
The Transgender Law & Policy Institute is non-profit
organization dedicated to engaging in effective advocacy for transgender
people in our society. The TLPI brings experts together to work on law and
policy initiatives designed to advance transgender equality. Charts and maps
listing all U.S. jurisdictions with transgender inclusive human rights laws
can be downloaded at http://www.transgenderlaw.org.
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