News Item

NEW YORK SENATE: MERRY CHRISTMAS TO STATE'S GAYS, LESBIANS
TRANSGENDERS LEFT OUT OF HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECTIONS

December 19, 2002

In a day that saw transgender and religious-right protesters standing cheek-to-jowl on the steps of the state capitol, taking shots against "special rights," and occasionally taking on each other, the New York State Senate passed the Sexual Orientation Non Discrimination Act (SONDA) on December 17, 2002.  Republican Gov. George Pataki signed the historic gay-rights bill on Tuesday evening just hours after the GOP-controlled state Senate approved the measure.

SONDA, passed as Senate Bill 720 (SB 720), extends the state's civil rights laws to make discrimination based on sexual orientation in housing, employment, education, health care and other public services illegal. With a vote of 34-26, New York now joins eleven other states and the District of Columbia with sexual orientation nondiscrimination laws.

The successful bill was sponsored by Sen. Nancy Hoffmann (R-Syracuse) and urged onto the floor as the favored bill by Senate Speaker Joseph Bruno (R-Saratoga Springs). But SB 720 was unusual in that even though the bill did not cover parts of the community - as did the Democrat sponsored SB 1985 - the Republican leadership ignored charges of "special rights over equal rights" and pressed forward with the bill. Traditionally, Republicans have criticized enacting protections for GLBT citizens as supporting "special rights."

The Empire State Pride Agenda (ESPA), New York's largest gay-rights group, savored the victory. ESPA, which endorsed Gov. Pataki in his bid for a third term, met privately late last week with Republican Sen. Bruno, who agreed earlier to bring SONDA up for a vote in this month's special session.

Sen. Thomas Duane (D-Manhattan), sponsor of the competing SB 1985 which mirrored the Republican version except for its inclusion of "gender identity or expression," was not invited to the meeting. This caused concern and suspicion among Democrats, the transgendered and transgender-inclusive portions of the gay and lesbian community.

Sen. Daniel Hevesi (D-Queens) called the SONDA vote "simply reprehensible."

"The way this bill came to the floor today was not through some Democratic process," said Hevesi, who voted for SONDA but wanted it amended to include protection for transgender individuals. "It was a deal made solely for political expediency."

"I'm disappointed," said Chelsea Goodwin, a former board member of the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition (NTAC). "I want to send a message that backroom political deals that extend to some of us - but not all of us - are not acceptable and will not be tolerated!"

Some of the transgenders angered at the perceived "backroom deal" were part of a contingent outside of the state capitol building, protesting the incomplete protections. At times, both groups chanted the same "no special rights" mantra; and at other times, the two groups clashed. In the end, both groups' concerns - like themselves - were left outside in the cold Christmas air.

Matt Foreman, executive director of ESPA, hailed SONDA as "one of the broadest anti-gay discrimination laws in the nation." Both Foreman and Sen. Bruno appeared pleased with the successful results.

"The bill still needs to be revised" said Kristina Vega transgender activist from New York. "We have always been left out and we are tired."

"It's disheartening that once again Mr. Foreman has placed transgendered people at the bottom of his agenda," said Denise Ives, a lesbian activist from Greenwich Village. Ives, and her partner, Jeanine Presa, who was recently fired from ABP Investments in New York when they discovered she was a lesbian, were not pleased with ESPA's support in their case, or the political expediency of their endorsed bill. Ives considered it "not much of a victory because people can still be harmed" by discrimination.

"I feel great about SONDA passing, said Sen. Duane, who introduced the amendment to extend SONDA to cover gender identity and expression, "but I feel like I have to get up tomorrow and fight again because not everyone got covered." Sen. Duane's bill failed with a 19-41 margin, which attracted no Republican votes. The GOP's version of SONDA had 21 Democrats and 13 Republican Senators voting for the measure.

As a good portion of the queer community enjoys an early Christmas celebration, transgender activists have resigned themselves to the fact that the journey just got tougher, and the fight will continue for some time to come. Already, there is call for beginning work on a GENDA bill, which will copy the SONDA bill with the Sexual Orientation language amended to gender identity and expression.

"It's not upstate, downstate, Republican, Democrat, black, white, straight, gay," said an obviously pleased Gov. Pataki after the SONDA victory. "We're one New York."

With the transgender and intersexual community still on the outside, looking in, the governor's statement is curious. It begs the question: when will it be "one New York?"