On the first day of Pride Month, Mayor Zohran Mamdani highlighted a new awareness campaign across multiple city agencies to inform New Yorkers about protections for transgender, gender non-conforming, and non-binary individuals under the city’s human rights law.
The campaign, announced June 1, is known as the “Trans Rights are Human Rights” campaign, driven in part by the fact that the city has seen the most gender discrimination complaints in five years, according to the the New York City Commission on Human Rights. Trans rights have been under assault at the federal level and in red states, with more than half of US states moving to restrict gender-affirming care for youth.
The awareness campaign will be publicized through print advertising and on public transit and LinkNYC kiosks across the city.
“At a time when the federal government is fueling attacks on trans people across this country, New York City is making something clear: We will protect your rights, defend your humanity, and stand beside you without hesitation,” Mamdani said in a written statement. “Every trans and gender non-conforming New Yorker needs to know that the law is on their side — whether in their workplace, their housing, or in public spaces.”
Christine Clarke, commissioner and chair of the New York City Commission on Human Rights, said the federal government’s attacks on trans and gender non-conforming individuals can have a broader impact on the community — including at the local level.
“When New Yorkers are directly targeted, we have a responsibility to step in, and the Commission is responding by making protections clear and visible across all five boroughs,” Clarke said in a written statement.
Taylor Brown, the recently-appointed director of the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs, said the city is sending a message to New Yorkers that it will stand up for trans and gender non-conforming residents of the city.
“This campaign is a reminder that our City stands with you, that your rights under law are undeniable and nonnegotiable, and that every New Yorker inherently deserves a life free from discrimination,” Brown said in a written statement.
Both New York City and New York State boast strong protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The city’s Human Rights Law bars discrimination in employment, public accommodations, and housing, and it further prohibits discriminatory harassment and biased profiling by police officers, according to the New York City Commission on Human Rights.
Individuals who seek to file a complaint alleging a violation of the law can do so with the city Human Rights Commission’s Law Enforcement Bureau within one year of the action, though that stretches to three years for gender-based harassment. Discrimination is barred by most employers, housing providers, and public accommodations.
