NYS Senate Passes Dignity for All Students Act

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 23 June 2010 For more info., contact: Pauline Park Chair New York Association for Gender Rights Advocacy (NYAGRA) 24 W. 25th St., 9th floor New York, NY 10010 (212) 675-3288, ext.338 (718) 424-4003 paulinepark@earthlink.net On the evening of Tuesday, June 22, the New York State Senate passed the Dignity for All Students Act -- safe schools legislation that would prohibit discrimination and bias-based harassment in schools throughout the state -- by a vote of 58-3. Governor David Paterson has pledged to sign the bill -- which has already passed the Assembly -- into law once it cleared the Senate. "This landmark legislation was ten years in the making and is the first statute enacted by the New York state legislature that includes gender identity and expression," said Pauline Park, chair of the New York Association for Gender Rights Advocacy. NYAGRA was -- along with the Empire State Pride Agenda and the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) -- one of the co-founding members of the NYS DASA Coalition, which spearheaded the [...]