‘news-release’ Archives
NYAGRA testimony on birth certificate policy
24 W. 25th St., 9th floor New York, NY 10010 (212) 675-3288, ext. 338 http://www.nyagra.com/ New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Board of Health public hearing on proposed amendment to Article 207 of the New York City Health Code testimony by Pauline Park, Ph.D. Chair New York Association for Gender Rights Advocacy (NYAGRA) 30 October 2006 My name is Pauline Park and I chair the New York Association for Gender Rights Advocacy. NYAGRA is the first statewide transgender advocacy organization in New York and we are perhaps best known for having led the campaign for enactment of the New York City transgender rights law (Int. No. 24, enacted as Local Law 3 of 2002). On behalf of the board of directors and the members of NYAGRA, I would like to commend you for your efforts to make Article 207 of the New York City Health Code more transgender-friendly. I would also urge you to reconsider the proposed amendment under discussion here because in many ways the language of the proposed amendment represents [...]
NYAGRA testimony on the transgender rights bill
Int. No. 754 public hearing 4 May 2001 testimony on behalf of NYAGRA by Pauline Park Coordinator of the Legislative Work Group on Gender-Based Discrimination to the New York City Council General Welfare Committee Hon. Stephen DiBrienza Councilmember and Chair Mr. Chairman, I am testifying today in these hearings on Int. No. 754 on behalf of the New York Association for Gender Rights Advocacy. And on behalf of NYAGRA, I would like to thank you for your sponsorship and support of this legislation. As one of the primary sponsors of this bill, you are helping advance the attainment of full legal rights by transgendered and gender-variant people in New York City. As chair of the General Welfare Committee, you are well placed to move the legislation forward to a vote in this committee and to help move it to passage by the full Council. As you know, NYAGRA initiated the process that led to the introduction of Int. No. 754, the bill currently before this committee. In April 1999, representatives from NYAGRA and the Gender Identity Project of the Lesbian & Gay [...]
Giuliani & Transgender Rights: The Untold Story
As Rudolph William Louis Giuliani pursues his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president of the United States, the former mayor of New York City is almost invariably described by the mainstream media as "pro-gay rights." That reputation is largely based on a few high-level appointments to his administration and his signing a domestic partnership bill into law while mayor. But as Giuliani attempts to court the religious right in his drive for the Republican nomination, he seems to be retreating from his support even for such limited measures as domestic partnership. And there is nothing in his record as mayor to suggest that he was or is supportive of transgender rights, despite his now-famous (if not notorious) appearance in drag as 'La Rudia.' As members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community evaluate Giuliani's candidacy they should carefully consider his opposition to Int. No. 24, the transgender rights bill ultimately enacted by the New York City Council as Local Law 3 of 2002 after he left office. When the New York Association [...]
The Making of a Movement: The Story of the Successful Campaign for a Transgender Rights Law in New York City
The 8th Annual Mark E. Ouderkirk Lecture The Museum of the City of New York 27 June 2002 photo by Andres Duque Introduction It is indeed a high honor as well as a great pleasure to speak to you today. I would like to thank the hard-working staff of the Museum of the City of New York, including Lavinia Mancuso and David Spiher, who made this happen, and Steve Turtell, who first suggested my name for this event and who has since moved onto the South Street Seaport Museum. I am particularly honored to be the first openly transgendered person to deliver the Ouderkirk lecture, and I am delighted that the Ouderkirk family and the Museum have chosen this occasion to change the name of the event permanently to the Mark E. Ouderkirk Memorial Lecture for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Programming. It is appropriate and fitting that the occasion of my speech should serve as the catalyst for the change in the name of the event to make it transgender-inclusive in name as it has become in fact, and this small but significant alteration is ironically enough an illustration [...]
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 [...]
