News Item

NATION'S TRANSGENDERS WATCH NEW YORK STATE'S HUMAN RIGHTS VOTE

New York's state legislature will reconvene on December 16, 2002 for a second try at voting through a pending Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act (SONDA). As the session nears, the eyes of the nation's gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersexed (GLBTI) community are focused on the SONDA vote in the third largest state in the union.

At issue is whether the bill submitted and enacted will be a fully inclusive equality bill submitted by Thomas Duane (D-New York), a non-inclusive bill submitted by Senate Speaker Joseph Bruno (R-Saratoga Springs) that leaves transgenders, intersexed and anyone of non-conforming gender presentation unprotected, or an amended, all-inclusive compromise.

While the favored bill is Senate Bill 720 (SB 720), sponsored by Sen. Bruno, the transgender community and its supporters have been vocal about working for a compromise, or considering Senate Bill 1985 (SB 1985), sponsored by Sen. Duane, which would include all New Yorkers.

Opposition to the current bill has been vehement from both arch-conservatives wanting no "special rights' legislation to segments of the queer community seeking to thwart legislation that leaves parts of the community as "pariahs without rights," according to the chair of the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition (NTAC), Vanessa Edwards Foster.

"I am always surprised how many people think anti-gay discrimination is no longer a problem," said Matt Foreman, the new executive director of Empire State Pride Agenda (ESPA). "This is a myth."

In an optimistic December 10 editorial in the New York Blade, Foreman said that a successful vote on Sen. Bruno's SB 720 "can only be good for lesbians and gay men across the state. It will also be good for lesbians and gay men across the country."

Underscoring Foreman's sentiment was the recent firing of Jeanine Presa, a Senior Vice President at the financial investment firm Algemeen Burgerlijk Pensioenfonds (ABP). She was a star-employee in her 3 years at ABP's New York office, but the Dutch firm's view of her allegedly changed immediately after her manager discovered Presa was a lesbian. Soon after, she was inexplicably terminated.

"In our society, we as Americans are discriminating towards each other," said Presa in an interview with NTAC. However, Ms. Presa and her partner, Denise Ives, have come out in support not of the ESPA / Sen. Bruno-sponsored bill, but for the all-inclusive SB 1985 sponsored by Sen. Duane.

"The action that Senator Tom Duane is taking in amending SONDA to be totally inclusive is extremely important to protect human rights for all," Presa stressed. "We need to take a step forward in unity," she added. "When I meet with Senator Duane this Monday, I will strongly urge him to vote against [Sen. Bruno's version of] SONDA."

"When it is time to vote as Americans, each vote counts regardless of your gender identity or expression."

ESPA, however, has weighed in supporting the bill on which they worked closely with Sen. Bruno. Admittedly the bill leaves out the transgender and intersexed community, as well as those gay and lesbian citizens that fall outside of the gender norms. Many in the transgender community wonder aloud whether 'a deal was struck with the devil', where for concessions, the GOP leadership would support the proposed bill at the expense of the most vulnerable
portions of the community.

New York TransGender coalition (NYTG) and HousingWorks, Inc. (a charitable HIV/AIDS housing and support services organization that is one of the transgender community's most staunch supporters) are at the forefront of the criticism. NTAC has now added its voice to the chorus urging Sen. Bruno to "do the right thing" and pass legislation that covers all New York's citizens, not just handpicked segments.

As bad as discrimination is within the gay and lesbian community, it is much more abjectly so with those who fall outside of traditional gender norms.  "Unemployment and discrimination are most rampant within the transsexual and intersexed population - two of the categories not covered under Senate Bill 720," said Foster of NTAC. "ESPA and Senator Bruno act as if we don't exist."

New York's Democrats have taken keen interest in what transpired between ESPA and the state's GOP legislators and are examining how this affects their relationship with the state's pre-eminent gay and lesbian civil rights group. In the governor's race, ESPA endorsed incumbent Gov. George Pataki, a Republican, and the state's Democrats have yet to overlook that.

The SONDA non-inclusion issue has turned into a divisive one within the queer community, and within the political alliances forged over the years. As New York State and the nation looks on, the legislators reconvene a week before Christmas to take another try at enacting equal rights. Will there be gifts in the holiday stockings? Or will there be lumps of coal for some citizens or for all?