New York State Senate Puts Marriage Equality Vote On "Indefinite Hold"

Marriage equality was not voted on in the New York State Senate yesterday. I am not terribly disappointed.

Because the Gender Expression Non Discrimination Act (GENDA) is STILL being ignored by both the politicians and the Empire State Pride Agenda (ESPA) in favor of marriage legislation. When Gov Paterson introduced the marriage equality legislation last April he effectively doomed GENDA. While ESPA did include GENDA and the NY bullying bills (Dignity for All Students Act) in its lobbying day at the end of April their main efforts for most of the year have been almost exclusive to marriage equality. I dare say, the main impetus behind the coup that the Republicans inflicted upon the NY Senate in June was largely fueled by opposition to the marriage bill. Of course, all other unfinished legislation was thus thrown under the bus too, along with GENDA and DASA.

Until April, the consensus in NY was that marriage quality would be a dead issue for at least this year and that non discrimination and bullying laws that included GLBT kids would be in the forefront. Mr Paterson and the rest of the political system in NY once again, however, have decided that trans people and BLTG kids aren't important enough to even consider when some political hay could be made pandering to the GLB and progressive groups with legislation that was considered unpassable for this legislative season.

Apparently, this isn't over and there have been some assurances made that the vote will be scheduled again. The NY Daily News says ESPA head, Alan Van Capelle expressed satisfaction that his group has the assurance it has sought for a reasonably prompt debate and vote, and Tom Duane (openly gay NY senator) said he was "happy" with the outcome. Of course they are happy! They are cissexual and cisgender people with all the privilege that comes with those identities. They don't have to worry about losing their jobs, being thrown out of their apartments or being denied service in a hotel or restaurant because of who they are.

Like in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Hampshire, the GLB community in NY apparently still thinks marriage equality is worth throwing gender variant people under the bus. This is on top of the past treachery from 2002 when they supported non-inclusive non discrimination law which then passed. At the time, the trans community was told to wait. To be patient until they could come back to us. When the hell is that going to be? I daresay, unless some fundamental changes are made in both ESPA and the state government, the answer to that is never.

No, dammit! I will NOT call my senator about same sex marriage!!

Well, here it is nearing the end October and I haven't visited with you in months! It has been a relatively uneventful summer so there was little to get me going enough to write about. The leaves are now falling and the days have been cool and generally wet. Winter is just around the corner.

One thing that kept me busy was my involvement with the Rainbow Pride Connection LGTB Conference at Chautauqua Institution, in Chautauqua, New York. The conference was quite a success, with almost 100 people attending (140 people attended the lovely concert given by the Buffalo Gay Men's Chorus), and plans are underway to have another conference next October 2nd.


I received an email a week ago from the Empire State Pride Agenda (ESPA) asking me to contact my state senator to ask her to support same sex marriage equality. Pretty much all New Yorkers are aware of the idiotic stalemate that was induced by a Republican power grab last June in the New York State Senate. What they may not be aware of is that the stalemate prevented the upcoming vote on the Gender Expression Non Discrimination Act (GENDA) as well as the vote on marriage equality for same sex couples. Since that time the governor, David Paterson, has called a few special sessions of the Senate in order to take care of urgent business that was neglected. What has been conspicuously missing from these sessions has been any talk about these two important civil rights measures.

What has been conspicuously missing from ESPA's public statements is GENDA. All I hear, again, are requests to lobby for same sex marriage rights. The governor himself has mentioned them yet GENDA is nowhere to be seen! What the hell is going on? It seems a repeat of the 2002 Sexual Orientation Non Discrimination Act (SONDA) is happening once again. Transgender people are being ignored, being thrown off the bus once again! Does anyone think the GLB community will devote the resources that are needed to pass GENDA after they get marriage equality along with their 7 year old inclusion in New York's nondiscrimination and hate crimes law? Look what happened in Massachusetts. It's been 5 long years since the GLB community received marriage equality there yet the transgender population is still without basic protections. They currently have legislation pending in their legislature to remedy this but I haven't heard anything about it in months. Obviously, it isn't the priority that marriage equality was.

The New York State transgender community was told to wait their turn, to wait until the GLB community came back for them. Here we are seven years later, still waiting and watching while so many political resources are drained on an issue which, while it's certainly important, does nothing to enhance the quality and even survivability of life for the transgender community. This cannot continue. I will call my state senator (Cathy Young) again, even though she has come out publicly against same sex marriage rights, and I will ask her to support GENDA and if there is enough time, to support marriage equality. I cannot wait any longer for basic civil rights protections. WE NEED GENDA FIRST!

I sent the following email to Governor Patterson via his website. I urge all of you to join me in this effort:

Dear Gov. Paterson,

I am appalled by your recent promotion of same sex marriage rights while transgender individuals such as myself still lack the basic civil rights protections we so desperately need and which would be awarded by the passage of the Gender Expression Non Discrimination Act.

We need you to point out that being married to your same sex sweetheart is of little use if you can still be legally thrown out of your apartment, fired from your job and denied services in the public sphere because you don't fit within someone else's idea of what gender you ought to be or look like. While same sex marriage equality is important, non discrimination law that includes gender identity and expression is vital. It's a matter of survival for a great many New Yorkers.

Please use your position to promote GENDA first. Once that's done, marriage equality will be just as easy as it is now to pass. If marriage equality comes first, I fear transgender New Yorkers will NEVER see the protection they so desperately need.

Thank you,

Jamestown, New York

E and J Day, NY and GENDA

I think I need to get a laptop computer when I'm in funds again. My desktop compy is in the Library/Office of my house and it takes me out of my kitchen.

I read a blog today, The Curvature that talked about one woman's experience at this year's Equality and Justice Day, in Albany, New York, on April 28th. It echoed a great deal of my experience and also my conclusions. It seemed very clear that, once again, trans people and their issues were pushed behind marriage equality.

When Governor Patterson made the announcement, a few weeks before E&J Day, that he would be introducing a marriage equality bill I was filled with dismay. I thought this would be the year for GENDA, the Gender Expression Non Discrimination Act. It was widely known and pretty much accepted that marriage equality legislation had no chance in the state senate. I felt that, finally, the GLB community would have nothing to distract them from their promise of 2002 (when sexual orientation was added to NY nondiscrimination law), that they would, "come back" for gender variant people. The governor's announcement changed all that.

I then realized that this may just be a brilliant political ploy! With all of the right wing opposition to civil marriage equality being highlighted, with all the noise about "protecting marriage," there would be perfect political cover for those who wish to vote for protection while not wishing their center/right constituents to notice. The heat and smoke of a civil marriage debate is perfect for minimizing the political cost, if there ever really was one, of voting yes on GENDA.

I determined that the tone of E&J Day would provide a clue as to how much the GLB community would come to the same conclusion. I figured that the Empire State Pride Agenda (ESPA) would loudly and publicly fan the flames for marriage equality while telling the meeting facilitators to concentrate on GENDA and the Dignity for All Students Act, a bill to protect youth, TLGB youth included, from bullying in schools. Too bad that's not what I perceived. The meeting facilitator for my district was a trans woman from Rochester, New York and we were able to get all three issues on the table. I felt lucky in this because there was no real instructions from the leadership to present GENDA first. As a matter of fact, on one sheet of the handouts, one titled, "What we are seeking from our elected officials," the first issue listed was marriage equality.

Well, I guess I should have expected it, and I guess I did, to a point. So now GENDA finds itself stuck in a senate committee waiting for a vote to get it to the full senate. ESPA is publicizing a call in day, date as yet undetermined, to try to get it moving. I don't expect a lot of GLB support in this, however, so I decided to send a letter, on my own, to the Investigations & Government Operations committee of the New York State Senate:


Dear Senators,

I am writing today to urge you and your colleagues in the Investigations and Government Operations committee to approve of and vote for bill #S02406, commonly known as the Gender Expression Non Discrimination Act (GENDA), in order to pass it on to the full Senate. I believe the need for this bill is critical and that it's passage is long overdue.

While the current furor over same sex civil marriage rights is raging at full force I believe that this bill is more important by way of its impact on people's lives. Those people, like myself, who do not express their gender in stereotypical ways are still vulnerable to harmful discrimination that leads to the loss of jobs and housing along with denial of public services without the benefit of legal recourse. It matters not what sexual orientation a person has, gender identity and expression are separate issues based on identity, not sexual attraction. The Sexual Orientation Non Discrimination Act (SONDA 2002) does not include gender expression and identity and does not protect us from the kind of harm that New York nondiscrimination law was written to prevent.

Some opponents of this bill have incorrectly concentrated upon the public accommodations portion and specifically on bathrooms, changing and locker rooms. The argument is that a gender identity and expression law would expose women to, or somehow protect, male predators when they enter ladies bathrooms and commit crimes. Examples are not given because they do not exist. The argument is made with no proof or example from the 13 states and almost 100 other counties, cities and towns that already have passed similar laws, the first in 1976! Buffalo, Rochester, Albany and New York City are among those places that have similar laws with no reported problems. The fact is that nondiscrimination law that includes gender expression and identity has never caused the kinds of problems its detractors in New York and elsewhere say it will.

While I consider civil marriage equality to be very important, I believe that GENDA is vital. The ability to marry a same sex sweetheart is pretty worthless if you can't get a job no matter what your qualifications are or if your landlord has thrown you out of your home because he doesn't "rent to your kind." Being married to a person of the same sex doesn't help when a bouncer throws you out of a bathroom or restaurant because some paranoid and ignorant customer made a complaint about your appearance rather than behavior.

In conclusion, I think this bill is vital and will not cause the harm its opponents predict with no evidence. I am asking you as a lifelong, law abiding, citizen of New York State, please join your colleagues in the Assembly, pass S02406 out of your committee and ensure its full passage in the New York State Senate.

I would like to urge everyone who reads this to either copy/paste or write your own letter and send it to the members of the committee. Trans people and their allies cannot rely on anyone else to take their bull by the horns. It's our job. Here are the email addresses:

johnson@senate.state.ny.us, diaz@senate.state.ny.us, espada@senate.state.ny.us, golden@senate.state.ny.us, klein@senate.state.ny.us, nozzolio@senate.state.ny.us, stachows@senate.state.ny.us, winner@senate.state.ny.us

I will participate in the ESPA call in day when it's announced. I urge everyone else to also. I want to remember not to rely on organizations whose main focus is the gay and lesbian community, however. Let's help them help us but let's not think we can do nothing else for our own good.