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New York State Takes Huge Steps for LGBTQ New Yorkers

On a sunny day, against a background of tree full of green leaves, two flags wave from the same pole. The transgender flag is on top of the pole, with the rainbow flag beneath it.

New Gender Protections and Conversion Therapy Ban Advance in the Statehouse

(Washington, DC, January 15, 2019) – Today, the Gender Expression Non Discrimination Act (GENDA) was passed by the New York State Legislature and it is expected to become law. GENDA will ensure that the protections on the basis of gender identity are consistent across the state and will provide more security in employment, housing, and public accommodations for transgender people in the state.

“The National LGBTQ Task Force hopes New York sets a precedent for the passage of comprehensive nondiscrimination laws across the country that include the transgender community in a genuine way,” said Rea Carey, executive director of the National LGBTQ Task Force. “We applaud New York for taking this long overdue action for all transgender New Yorkers.”

Victoria M. Rodríguez-Roldán, the National LGBTQ Task Force’s trans/gender nonconforming justice director explained that, “This law is an important step for New York state to take to expand nondiscrimination laws to all people. New York was one of the few states left that had sexual orientation protections but not gender identity protections in the statutes. As such, the state left out transgender people altogether rather explicitly in nondiscrimination law. The Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act (SONDA) became law in 2003, so it took 15 years for New York state to fix that gap for gender identity protections.”

The National LGBTQ Task Force also lifts up New York’s new conversion therapy ban as a huge step in the right direction and believes the law would be stronger if it were to include protection for disabled adults under guardianship.

The National LGBTQ Task Force applauds advocates in New York who have finally achieved their goal of adding gender identity protections to the state’s nondiscrimination laws. Advocates were successful in moving the bill – one of the first pieces of legislation to move through the legislature in 2019 – this week. The National LGBTQ Task Force is a partner and member of the New York Coalition for Preventing Gender Discrimination, and was founded in New York.

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