NYAGRA open letter to the community
9 May 2002 Dear colleagues, It is with some sadness that we write to inform you of recent developments affecting the New York Association for Gender Rights Advocacy, Inc. We had hoped to write with only good news - namely, the passage of Int. No. 24 (the transgender rights bill) by the New York City Council on April 24 and the signing of the bill into law by the mayor on April 30. Unfortunately, at the moment of our greatest legislative victory, some disturbing developments have distracted us from the advocacy work for which NYAGRA was founded in the first place. This letter is intended to communicate to LGBT community members some of the salient facts concerning an ongoing situation involving NYAGRA. Put in the simplest terms, the current conflict has been initiated by a terminated ex-employee determined to regain her job by unseating the Board of Directors that hired her. Jamie Hunter commenced a campaign of public vilification against NYAGRA and its Board of Directors after she was terminated from at-will employment (2.22.2002). In this effort, she has been joined by a few [...]
NYC Council Passes Transgender Rights Bill
New York, NY, April 24, 2002 - The New York City Council passed Int. No. 24 today by a vote of 45-5 (with one abstention), following passage yesterday of the transgender anti-discrimination bill in the General Welfare Committee. First introduced as Int. No. 754 in June 2000, the bill was reintroduced in January 2002. If signed into law as expected by Mayor Bloomberg, the legislation would amend New York City human rights law to add the phrase 'gender identity or statement,' the first significant amendment of the law since the inclusion of sexual orientation in 1987; enactment would also make New York the largest city in the United States to explicitly protect transgendered people from discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations. The Council members are acting upon a recommendation from a legislative work group convened by the New York Association for Gender Rights Advocacy (NYAGRA) - in partnership with the Empire State Pride Agenda - in October 1999 to study the problem of discrimination against transgendered and gender-variant people in New York City. That [...]
NYAGRA’s Response to ESPA’s Open Letter to New York’s LGBT Community on SONDA
This letter from the board of directors of the New York Association for Gender Rights Advocacy is intended as a response to the open letter to the LGBT community from the Empire State Pride Agenda regarding the issue of transgender inclusion in the the Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act (SONDA). In our view, the open letter from Joe Grabarz (executive director) and Matt Foreman (executive director, 1997-2001) is an entirely inadequate response to the call for a fully transgender-inclusive SONDA bill that we and other transgender advocacy organizations have made. In the letter, the Pride Agenda leadership asserts that "we have done more to make government responsive to transgender issues than any other single organization in the state." We in NYAGRA would like to think that we have contributed as much, if not more so, to that effort than has ESPA. After all, when we first met with the Pride Agenda staff in November 1998 (shortly after our formation in June 1998), ESPA was really doing nothing on transgender issues, and it was that meeting that prompted ESPA to begin taking [...]
An Open Letter to Gender Rights Activists
In late 2000 and early 2001, controversy erupted within the transgender community around the new strategic direction for GenderPAC announced by Riki Anne Wilchins, GenderPAC’s executive director. In response, 22 activists signed an open letter to the community in January 2001. For more information on that controversy, read the open letter. Jan. 3, 2001 Dear Friends and Colleagues: We are writing to you to express our concern about the current crisis in transgender politics. We think it is time to start a broadly based dialogue to examine productive responses to this situation. The new century brings with it considerable opportunity and promise for the transgender community, particularly in view of the organizing taking place on the state and local level. The formation of the New York Association for Gender Rights Advocacy (NYAGRA) in June 1998 and the recent launch of the Gender Rights Advocacy Association of New Jersey (GRAANJ) represent a significant advance for the transgender political communities in the Northeast. Existing transgender groups like [...]
NY Case Law: Maffei v. Kolaeton Industry, Inc (1994)
Daniel M. Maffei, Plaintiff, v. Kolaeton Industry, Inc., et al., Defendants. Index Number 124783/94 164 Misc. 2d 547; 626 N.Y.S.2d 391; 1995 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 115; 68 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1039 Decided March 14, 1995. Headnotes Civil Rights - Discrimination in Employment - Sexual Orientation - Protection of Transsexual against Hostile Work Environment Plaintiff transsexual cannot maintain a sex discrimination action against his employer on the grounds that he was discriminated against in the workplace due to sexual orientation pursuant to Administrative Code of the City of New York § 8-107 (1). Administrative Code § 8-102 (2) defines "sexual orientation" to mean "heterosexuality", "homosexuality" or "bisexuality". The term deals with sexual preferences and practices, not transsexualism, and there is no claim that the harassment alleged herein is the result of any sexual preferences expressed by plaintiff. Civil Rights - Discrimination in Employment - Gender - Protection of Transsexual against Hostile Work Environment Plaintiff transsexual may maintain an [...]
