[News] [NY, USA] Advocates push Cuomo for transgender protections

[Stephanie Stevens]

News 12 Long Island, NY, USA


Advocates push Cuomo for transgender protections

January 17, 2017 10:30 PM

[Video: Advocates push Cuomo for transgender protections]

WOODBURY - Advocates are urging Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to take new actions to protect transgender New Yorkers in 2017.

Dozens of national and state organizations delivered a letter to Cuomo, a Democrat, pushing for the passage of the controversial Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act, or GENDA.

Juli Grey-Owens, head of the Long Island Transgender Advocacy Coalition, says while the group is thankful for Cuomo's 2015 executive action granting protections for transgender citizens, the human rights law on the books in New York has no mention of gender identity, gender expression or transgender protections.

She adds that current state law leaves tens of of thousands of people without basic protections when it comes to housing, employment and public accommodations.

"One of the problems is that Republicans and conservatives call the GENDA bill the 'bathroom bill,'" Grey-Owens says. "But the issue, really, is this is not about bathrooms; it's about protecting the transgender community from discrimination."

However, for Frank Russo, of the American Family Association of New York, the issue is more complex than that.

"They shouldn't be discriminated against in the housing and in most of the jobs," Russo says. "But in accommodations, if that means bathrooms or showers -- no, then that's ridiculous."

The bill has passed the state Assembly for nine consecutive years, but it has never been brought to the state Senate floor for a vote.

News 12 reached out to state Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan's office for comment, but did not hear back.


http://longisland.news12.com/news/advocates-push-cuomo-for-transgender-protections-1.12973449