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 [...]