Voters across the Empire State will have an opportunity to flip their ballot on election day and enshrine LGBTQ protections and abortion rights in the state constitution by voting for Proposal 1, or the Equal Rights Amendment.
The concept is simple: The statewide amendment would establish constitutional protections against government-driven discrimination, effectively preventing future state laws from rolling back LGBTQ rights or abortion rights. Many New Yorkers view it as a meaningful way to strengthen these rights at a time when other states have regressed following the evisceration of Roe v. Wade and the onslaught of anti-trans laws in one state capitol building after another.
Nothing, however, is as simple as it seems — especially in a hostile political climate rife with anti-trans messaging on television and social media.
Some New Yorkers are painting a transphobic picture of misinformation in their quest to defeat the proposed amendment. A ballot issue committee called Coalition to Protect Kids NY, for example, has a website with a large headline on its homepage that reads “VOTE NO ON PROP 1. SAVE GIRLS SPORTS.”
The coalition’s homepage specifically criticizes the proposed amendment’s LGBTQ protections, saying it would extend such protections “without adequate parental involvement.” The coalition further peddles offensive terminology about transgender individuals in its FAQ section, saying the amendment could “mandate that schools allow biological males to compete in girls’ sports,” which the coalition says “undermines fair competition and safety for female athletes.”
That assertion, of course, perpetuates the discriminatory position that students should not necessarily compete in sports in accordance with their gender identity. It’s also flat-out wrong, according to The New York City Bar Association, which says the proposed amendment “does not change existing law and has no explicit provision relating to participation on sports teams. Prop 1 is consistent with Title IX, the controlling federal law that has already been interpreted by federal courts to require young people to play on sports teams that match their gender identity and expression.”
Former Congressmember Lee Zeldin, a Republican, has also voiced similar talking points in opposition to the proposed amendment, saying it would “create a constitutional right for boys to compete in girls’ sports and allow males to use female bathrooms and locker rooms. It will advance the Dems’ push for non-citizens to vote, and sanctuary state status. Read Prop 1 and vote NO!”
The arguments against the proposed amendment appear to be based purely on transphobia rather than on legitimate concerns about how a proposed amendment would negatively affect the people of New York State, and that’s part of the problem we’re facing: Transphobia has become so pervasive in the mainstream arena that folks cannot, for example, watch an MLB playoff game without seeing former President Donald Trump’s blatantly transphobic television ads flooding the screen.
Transphobic rhetoric and ideology have already fueled countless anti-trans laws in numerous states. New Yorkers already demonstrated their disdain for transphobia when community members packed a community board meeting in an effort to quickly extinguish a community education council’s resolution against trans sports inclusion.
The people of New York State should reject the misinformation and take a stand for LGBTQ rights and abortion rights by voting in favor of the Equal Rights Amendment.
