GENDA FINALLY Passes the New York Senate!

I have been chronicling on the blog the tortured history of New York state's proposed Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA) law that would give trans New Yorkers statewide rights protection and add them to the state's hate crimes law. 

Since 2008 it has overwhelmingly passed in the Democratically controlled New York General Assembly only to die in the Republican controlled NY State Senate without a committee hearing or even a floor vote..

In November, the Blue tsunami flipped eight senate seats and gave Democrats control of the NY State Senate with a solid 39-24 majority.

Now that the NY senate is firmly in Democratic hands, the GENDA bill finally began to move in that chamber instead of hitting the usual Republican legislative roadblock aided and abetted by DINO Democrats   

GENDA not only got its first committee hearing in the NY Senate, it passed out of committee and to the NY senate floor yesterday on a unanimous vote.

Today GENDA passed in the New York state senate on a 42-19 vote to send the bill to Governor Andrew Cuomo's desk for his signature to make it law.

Congrats to all my trans family in New York.  This is a day you have been waiting for since you were callously stripped out of the SONDA bill in 1993. 

And how apropos that GENDA passed on Dr King's birthday!

And today, Sylvia Rivera is smiling as the day she fought for on her deathbed has finally come to pass for trans New Yorkers.

There's A Reason I Wasn't Feeling Gaga's Show Last Night

Watched the Super Bowl like 100 million plus other peeps last night, and know the chatter in Gay World was all about the halftime show and Lady Gaga.

Some of you marveled about how she mentioned the word transgender while singing 'Born This Way' and gushed about other points in the show that were frankly meh for me.

By the way, for those of you claiming this Gaga show was political, this Beyonce performance last year is the gold standard for a Super Bowl halftime show that is political.   When wingers are STILL complaining a year later, and people are still talking about it, you know the message was received..

The reaction from the conservafool media to Gaga's Super Bowl show was they were glad she didn't go political. That confirms my initial impression of it that is wasn't as political as some people in Gay World are desperately trying to make this out to be.

Because her mentioning the t-word in NRG Stadium during her show and people commenting about it in social media just reminded me of why I'm not a huge fan of hers.  

If you're wondering why, we need to go back to 2011 and the fight to pass marriage equality in New York.

While the New York state marriage equality push that year had the HRC, former president Bill Clinton, Gov Andrew Cuomo, then New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and a host of politicians and celebs going gaga (pun intended) in pushing for its passage after passing the New York Assembly for the fourth consecutive time, ,GENDA, the trans rights bill had for then three consecutive years overwhelmingly passed the New York Assembly but was in an infuriating pattern of getting stuck in the Republican controlled NY senate.

GENDA if passed would amend the New York state non-discrimination laws to add gender identity and expression to the list of characteristics protected from discrimination in employment, education, public accommodations, housing and credit. It would also add gender identity and expression to the state hate crimes law. 

Currently there are seven cities in the Empire State, Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo, Ithaca, New York City, Rochester and Syracuse, and three counties, Suffolk, Tompkins and Westchester  that have legislatively enacted trans non discrimination protections. Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has signed an executive order that prohibits discrimination against trans people in the Empire State.

But as we are witnessing in Washington DC right now, executive orders can be overturned, which is why passage of GENDA to secure the human rights of transpeople in New York State is needed and necessary.   It is also necessary in light of the fact that when SONDA was passed in 2002, New York gay and lesbian activists violated a deathbed promise to Sylvia Rivera and threw New York transpeople under the legislative bus to selfishly enact human rights protections for themselves.

In June 2011 GENDA overwhelmingly passed in the New York state assembly for the third consecutive time and was awaiting action in NY Senate just like the marriage bill was after it passed for the fourth consecutive session.  

But unlike the marriage bill, GENDA wasn't getting the attention it deserved and eventually died in the New York Senate without a hearing or a vote as gay peeps celebrated, claimed it was a 'victory for equality'  and planned their weddings when the marriage bill passed after that all out push for passage .

I note that Lady Gaga at that time was urging her 'Little Monsters' to call the NY Senate and urge passage of the marriage bill, but the word 'transgender'' didn't pass her lips at the time to have the same happen for GENDA.   Never mind the fact that some of her 'Little Monsters' as her fans are called are transgender peeps

I still believe that had she in 2011 made that same exhortation for her fans to call NY senators and demand GENDA's passage, that may have possibly been the publicity nudge GENDA needed at that time to get it attention during that 'all marriage all the time' media frenzy to get it passed in the New York Senate and to Gov. Cuomo's desk for his signature.

Lady Gaga has been a champion for marriage equality, and I'd like to see her put the same level of effort into speaking out on behalf of trans human rights as she consistently did for marriage equality. My trans siblings could use her help and star power, especially in her home state of New York  to break that legislative logjam that GENDA seems to be in.

Her trans Little Monsters that idolize her would love to see that as well. especially the ones that call New York State home..

So Lady Gaga, ball is in your court.   Saying the trans word during your Super Bowl show isn't enough these days.  How about some action to back it up just like you did for marriage equality?

GENDA Overwhelmingly Passes NY Assembly For Ninth Consecutive Time!

In the wake of the historic press conference in which Attorney General Loretta Lynch and head of the DOJ's Civil Rights Division Vanita Gupta countersued the state of North Carolina for the unjust HB 2,  in New York State they were celebrating the announcement that the Gender Expression Non Discrimination Act (GENDA) has passed the New York State Assembly for the ninth consecutive time.

GENDA if passed would protect New Yorkers from discrimination based on their gender identity or expression in employment, housing and education..

Once again, the vote wasn't close in the Democratically controlled New York State Assembly, in which they hold a 103-47 supermajority,.  GENDA (A-4558b/S-0061b) passed on a 81-46 vote.

"This legislation represents the Assembly's continues commitment to protecting all New Yorkers from discriminatory practices," said NY Assembly Speaker Carl Hastie.  "It is unconscionable that neither the federal or state government have declared discrimination against transgender individuals illegal.  This bill addresses that injustice."

'Transgender rights are human rights," said Chairman Richard Gottfried, sponsor of the bill. "it's an embarrassment to New Yorkers that 18 states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws barring discrimination on the basis of gender identity, while GENDA can't even get a vote in our State Senate.  While North Carolina and other states try to roll back progress by attacking transgender rights, New York should stand up for common sense, fairness and justice,"  

But the problem for GENDA has consistently been since 2007 that the bill has gone to the Republican controlled New York Senate, and hasn't even gotten a floor vote because it keeps getting killed in committee..

Hopeful this will finally be the year in which Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) uses some of that political capital and his bully pulpit to get it done like he did on gay marriage.

It is now in the New York Senate's Investigations and Government Operations Committee.  The entire nation will be watching to see if this will be the year that GENDA actually gets out of committee and gets and up or down vote in the GOP controlled  Senate.

Clock's Ticking On GENDA

While there is good trans rights news about Delaware passing SB 97 out of committee and being solidly on the road to becoming the 17th state to pass trans human rights coverage and internationally out of Canada, that's sadly not the case in New York.

The GOP controlled Senate there is stalling GENDA's passage and trying to run out the clock to ensure they reach the June 20 summer adjournment date without bringing it to the Senate floor for a vote.

GENDA has passed the New York State assembly six consecutive times only to be stalled by the GOP controlled senate.

Albany County just made the New York Senate look even more like the trans oppressors they seem hell bent on being by unanimously passing Local Law D, which bans discrimination based on gender identity and expression.

So keep up the pressure on the Senate, New York trans community and keep channeling your inner Sylvia Rivera.  The bill has the support of your fellow New Yorkers.  You have the moral high ground and the stats and the testimony to prove this bill is needed.   The New York Times just posted a June 12 editorial calling for the passage of GENDA

But where is Gov. Andrew Cuomo who was so vocal on marriage equality?  Why so cricket chirping silent on this human rights issue? .Start calling out Gov. Cuomo on his hypocritical silence on GENDA and point out trans people do vote in presidential primaries especially since he's  rumored to be thinking about running for POTUS..          

GENDA Stalled In NY Senate Again-What's Up With That?

And as residents of the state where Sylvia Rivera spent her life up to and including her deathbed working for trans rights, it's past time for y'all to start channeling her fighting spirit and kick azz tough minded determination to pass the civil rights coverage that our community needs."--TransGriot June 27, 2011 What Are Y'all Gonna Do New York Trans Community?

New York trans community, I know you won't rest (and shouldn't) until GENDA becomes law but y'all should be taking it as an insult that a statewide trans rights bill introduced on May 31 in Delaware is halfway to passage and becoming law in that state. 

Meanwhile you peeps that reside in the state where the Stonewall Rebellion was kicked off by Ms Rivera in 1969 are once again facing the fact it has been eleven years since human rights coverage for gay New Yorkers was passed by throwing you under the civil rights bus to get it and thirteen years since the non trans inclusive New York hate crimes law passed in 2000.

The what would have been 62nd birthday of Sylvia Rivera is approaching on July 2.  What would Sylvia be doing in this situation if she was still here in this plane of existence?   Raising hell about it until GENDA passed and had Gov. Cuomo's signature on it. 

How about setting a goal of having that done by her birthday?

New York trans community, y'all need to get pissed off and channel your inner Sylvia Rivera.  You not only need to start demanding ASAP the New York Senate bring GENDA out of committee and to the Senate floor for a vote,  but respectfully demand that the governor you helped elect spend some of his political capital pushing for GENDA's passage so he can sign it into law as he claims he would do if that happens.

Here's the phone number of his Albany office to get you started on the road to being agents of your own trans liberation: 518-474-8390 and making Sylvia smile.

That's a nice opportunity for me to segue into focusing on Gov. Andrew Cuomo.   Here's a Democratic governor who loudly proclaimed as he was signing the marriage equality bill into law after it passed in June 2011 that "New York at its finest has always been a beacon of social justice.”

It seems he has amnesia about the fact that same New York social justice has eluded its transgender  residents.  I also must remind folks of those shame inducing moments in 2000 and 2002 when my transpeople were deliberately excluded from New York's social justice when they were cut out of the hate crimes bill and SONDA. 

It also is quite interesting to note that Gov. Cuomo, who couldn't shut up about marriage equality in 2011 and was tirelessly drumming up support to pass it, is cricket chirping silent about equality when it applies to trans New Yorkers.   

And don't forget Governor Cuomo, it's not just trans New Yorkers who are watching you as a GENDA bill that has passed your state Assembly now six times continues to languish in the New York Senate.  We compare and contrast your inaction on this bill of vital importance to the trans community and our allies to the active and vocal 2011 role you took in passing marriage equality. 

Your inaction and silence on GENDA is being noticed not only by trans New Yorkers, but our allies inside and outside the state.  This Change.org petition is evidence of that.

I also need to remind you we transpeople do vote and are active members of the Democratic Party.  If you follow through on the rumors to run for the Democratic nomination for president in 2016 or 2020, you dismiss at your political peril the ability of the trans community to affect a Democratic nomination process. 

If you think I'm kidding about that, did you get an invite to President Hillary Clinton's inauguration in 2008 or 2012?   We may not have as much money as the gay community does and the anti-trans discrimination we face plays a large role in that GENDA would address, but we did manage to donate over $13K to the 2008 Obama campaign.   What we don't have in cash we make up for with votes and people power for campaigns.

16 states, with Delaware on its way to becoming the 17th to do so have laws on the books to protect the human rights of their trans citizens. 

New York has the chance to join that list and no, signing a continuation of Governor David Paterson’s executive order barring discrimination against transgender employees of NY state is not enough.

The transpeople who don't work for the state need the legal protection that GENDA will provide, and the only thing stopping you from becoming known as a state that values its trans citizens is the New York Senate

You also said at the time you signed the marriage equality bill, "The other states look to New York for the. progressive direction. What we said today is, you look to New York once again. New York made a powerful statement, not just for the people of New York, but for people all across this nation.”

And we need you Gov. Cuomo to make that powerful statement once again not only for trans New Yorkers, but the nation as well.
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Thank You, NY Assemblyman Daniel O'Donnell!

I mentioned GENDA passed the NY state General Assembly for the sixth straight time, and now the fun part begins of getting it through the Republican controlled NY state Senate.

While it was pending in the assembly the GENDA opponents had nothing to throw at it but the 'bathroom meme', and here's Assemblyman  Daniel O'Donnell properly eviscerating it.

Thank you Assemblyman O'Donnell for standing up for the human rights of trans New Yorkers.

GENDA Passes NY Assembly For Sixth Straight Time

Back on April 19 I asked the question if GENDA would finally pass in New York State this year.  

Well, it's off t a great start.  For the sixth straight time GENDA, the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act passed the NY state Assembly on a 84-46 vote Tuesday. 

GENDA (A.4226)(S.0195) ensures that all New Yorkers, including those who identify as transgender or present their gender in a way that differs from what is traditionally associated with their birth sex, are protected from discrimination in housing, employment, credit, public accommodations, and other areas of everyday life under the Human Rights Law. The measure also expands the state's hate crime protections to explicitly include crimes against transgender people.

And yes, as you probably guessed opponents of the bill threw the bathroom meme into the debate in their attempts to block it but failed.

Assemblymember Deborah J. Glick said about its passage, "GENDA appropriately extends long overdue civil rights protections to the transgender community. I am confident that fairness and justice will result in passage, and I call on the NYS Senate to embrace the 21st Century and approve this crucial bill.
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Tuesday also saw 700 people descend upon Albany to lobby for passage of GENDA and work on the senators in the Republican controlled New York Senate.  The bill has gone from being passed in the Assembly to dying in the Senate for the last five sessions without ever getting a floor vote.

Empire State Pride Agenda Executive Director Nathan Schaefer is hopeful this time will be different  and congratulated the Assembly for standing up for the rights of trans New Yorkers.

"LGBT New Yorkers have made significant strides towards equality with legislative victories on hate crimes, bullying, and most recently, marriage equality. And yet, we have work to do. In many places across New York, people can be fired from their jobs, evicted from their homes, and experience discrimination just because of their gender identity or expression. The time to extend basic civil rights to transgender New Yorkers is long overdue. We commend the Assembly for recognizing this need and passing GENDA for the 6th time.

Senate Sponsor Daniel Squadron will lead the charge to pass GENDA through the Investigations and Government Operations Committee and the full Senate.  If that happens, it will then go to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's desk for his signature.

Transgender New Yorkers have been waiting far too long to have their home state cover them in anti-discrimination and hate crime laws, and it's past time it happened .

Will GENDA Finally Pass In New York This Year?

Or will it be the same old same old frustrating pattern of the bill overwhelmingly passing in the Democratic controlled New York State Assembly and dying in the GOP controlled New York State Senate?

So what's GENDA?  The Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (A.4226/Gottfried)(S.195/Squadron) is a bill that would outlaw discrimination in New York State based on gender identity or expression. Currently it is legal in most parts of New York to be fired from your job, kicked out of your home, denied credit or public accommodations (like service in a restaurant) simply for being transgender.

GENDA is not a controversial bill in New York state.   It has broad based support.   A Global Strategy Group poll of 600 New York voters found 78 percent supported its passage (margin of error +/- 4 percent). Support was strong across the state - upstate was 74 percent, New York City was 79 percent, downstate suburbs were at 82 percent - and even Republicans and independents supported the bill at 67 percent and 78 percent, respectively.

GENDA would also expands the state’s hate crimes law to explicitly include crimes against transgender people.   When Dwight DeLee, the convicted killer of Lateisha Green was charged with a hate crime in 2009, it wasn't based on the fact Green was a girl like us, it was because DeLee perceived her as gay. 

That needs to change.   What also needs to change is the jacked up situation that gays and lesbians have had civil rights protection in New York state for over a decade because they threw transpeople under the bus in 2002 to get it.

GENDA has passed the New York state assembly five straight times only to die in the state senate.  It also hasn't gotten the support, attention and same level of effort the marriage push got before it passed in 2011.

The Empire State Pride Agenda says that passing GENDA is their top legislative priority.  While I've met people in the organizations who are sincere about that statement, I'd like to see the deeds back up the words.   
 
I'll also be less skeptical about it when I see former president Bill Clinton, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg,  Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) and the same long list of politicians, organizations and people in the gay and straight communities putting together the same type of political full court press on the NY Senate to pass this bill like they did for marriage. 

Speaking of MIA people, where's Lady Gaga?  Aren't her trans little monsters human rights important too? 

And note to HRC.  If you're looking for ways to show that you're serious about making amends to the trans community over Trans Flag Gate, put your money where your mouth is.  Spend the big Equal Sign bucks and throw your political weight around to pass this bill.  

And no, claiming that you're working 'behind the scenes' to help it pass isn't going to cut it.  We need visible, easily verifiable proof you are acting in the best interests if trans New Yorkers and getting GENDA passed.  


I would love to write a post this year with the headline 'GENDA Passes!' instead of the one I've had to write for the last five years.  But for me to be able to do that, you trans New Yorkers will have to act as agents in your own liberation.  

You may wish to start that process by making plans to head to Albany on April 30 for Equality and Justice Day. 

You'll get your opportunity on that day to head to that beautiful; state capitol building of yours that your taxes pay to maintain to advocate for GENDA's passage.   If you can't, you can always call, visit or e-mail your New York state assemblyperson or senator and tell your story.

The trans human rights train has already left the station and made stops in 16 states, the District of Columbia and over 180 local jurisdictions.  Time to add New York State to that list.   

GENDA Passes NY Assembly For Fifth Time

The New York state trans community is justifiably happy that GENDA, the Gender Expression Non Discrimination Act got out of the New York State Assembly for the fifth consecutive session on an 81-59 vote.

Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo, Ithaca, New York City and Rochester have passed transgender-inclusive non-discrimination laws, along with Westchester, Suffolk and Tompkins Counties.

But now GENDA goes to the Republican controlled Senate, where it has died in the last four consecutive sessions, including most gallingly last year when there was a major push by the GL community to get same gender marriage passed.

Where are those four Republican senators who crossed the aisle to vote yes for same gender marriage and are regarded as heroes by the GL community on human rights coverage for trans New Yorkers?   Mayor Bloomberg?  Gov. Andrew Cuomo?

And oh yeah, where is Lady Gaga for her trans little monsters when you need her?    She was front and center in the 2011 same gender marriage battle, but is MIA in 2012 when it comes to exerting the same energy to pass rights coverge for trans people in New York state.

This GENDA passage for the fifth time also comes on the heels of a groundbreaking EEOC trans employment ruling as well, but will it be enough to get the votes we need in the NY Senate to finally get GENDA passed and to Gov Cuomo's desk for his signature? 

The national trans community is watching and hoping it happens for our New York state trans brothers and trans sisters, but it remains to be seen if it does.

What Are Y'all Gonna Do New York Trans Community?

In the wake of the failure of GENDA to pass and become the law of New York state for the fourth time, there has been some justified anger and venting about the lack of support from the GL community on this issue.

But the bottom line is that we trans people also have the ultimate responsibility of looking out for our damned selves just like the New York GL peeps did on the same sex marriage bill and pass the civil rights laws we need.  

 We also need to look in the mirror and do a post mortem about why this crap keeps happening and fix the fracking problem.

The heavy lifting on this post mortem is going to be a job for the New York trans community to sort out, but I will happily point out some things that did and didn't happen that will hopefully be a starting point for your internal conversations.

And I would hope that after four consecutive times of GENDA being passed out of the Assembly only to see it die in the New York Senate, you'd be motivated enough to get your shyt together so it doesn't happen again.

First questions:

Where were the local leaders, orgs such as NYTRO, NYAGRA, the Sylvia Rivera Law Project and others that advocate for trans rights and transpeople?  

Why didn't you New York based trans advocates ask your trans family in other states for help in getting the word out that GENDA was percolating through the NY legislature?

Hello, we have trans bloggers whose blogs are read by influential people.   Just as I and others did in my home state when we needed help to kill the anti-trans SB 723, when I and others helped get the word out about HB 235's lack of public accommodations language in Maryland, and the unjust LD 1046 bill in Maine for a few examples, I and the Transosphere would have been more than happy to trumpet the cause of GENDA in order to help our New York trans brothers and sisters get it passed     

If you know the NY Senate is the problem, why didn't you use the moral high ground we have when it comes to trans rights issues to whack your opponents with it?

What are the issues that are preventing you from coming together to work on the big picture goal of trans rights coverage in New York State?


The road to GENDA passage in 2012 could go one of two ways.   It could be tougher since it will happen in an election year and elements of the GL community will probably be sipping appletinis and making wedding plans, or without the distraction of the Same Sex Marriage Noise Machine we can get the attention we need to finally pass GENDA out of the Senate and get it to Gov. Cuomo's desk for his signature 

So what are y'all gonna do New York trans community?   Is this going to be the moment y'all pull together and get tough minded enough to do starting now what y'all have to do to make GENDA law, or will you continue to stay in your various corners and point fingers at each other?

And as residents of the state where Sylvia Rivera spent her life up to and including her deathbed working for trans rights, it's past time for y'all to start channeling her fighting spirit and kick azz tough minded determination to pass the civil rights coverage that our community needs.   What would have been her 60th birthday is approaching on July 2, and her legacy demands nothing less.

What I and the rest of Trans Nation wants to see and what I and the rest of the Transosphere would love to write about is y'all dancing in the streets in front of the Stonewall Inn finally celebrating the passage of GENDA . 


Discuss amongst yourselves, and let the rest of Trans Nation know what your answer is so we can plan accordingly.