The Trump Administration has made it clear: the civil liberties of LGBTQ Americans will not be protected by the federal government. The recent appointment of a Religious Liberty Task Force by Jeff Session’s Department of Justice signals a new attack on the LGBTQ community. Conservatives have increasingly used “religious liberty” to justify discrimination against LGBT individuals, couples, and families.
We must respond to these attacks by standing visibly and vocally with the LGBTQ community. As your State Senator, I will resist these efforts to restrict the rights of LGBT individuals and will work as a legislator to further enshrine and expand LGBTQ rights. We need to join other progressive states in guaranteeing the rights of all New Yorkers, regardless of gender identity or sexuality. I am proud to stand with the LGBT community.
I support legislation to protect the rights of the 570,000+ New Yorkers who identify as LGBTQ. The Republican-controlled State Senate has failed to join the State Assembly in passing anti-discriminatory legislation. Crucially, the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA) has been blocked by Republicans for over 15 years.
GENDA would expand protections for transgender individuals, and the bill has been passed by the Assembly over ten times since its introduction in 2010. Despite this, Republican leaders have not even allowed a vote for the bill on the floor of the State Senate. As your State Senator, I will fight to pass GENDA. My policy agenda for LGBTQ issues includes:
- Pass the GENDA Bill to enshrine protection for transgender individuals and support additional legislation to amend New York’s hate crime laws to explicitly include crimes against transgender people.
- Pass the Child-Parent Security Act to extend legal protections to LGBT parents and legalize gestational surrogacy agreements.
- Pass the Restoration of Honor Act, which restores eligibility for state programs and benefits for LGBTQ veterans who were less than honorably discharged from military service due to their sexual orientation, gender identity or expression.
