The Legislature’s lead sponsors of the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA), Senator Daniel Squadron and Assemblyman Dick Gottfried, both Manhattan Democrats, will hold a public forum on the challenges facing transgender New Yorkers.
The October 24 gathering in Manhattan will bring together leaders of the transgender community and their allies, representatives of law enforcement, and other elected officials.
GENDA has been stalled in Albany due to inaction by the Senate for nearly a decade since New York enacted a gay rights law. The heavily Democratic Assembly has approved the bill five times.
New York City and other municipalities and counties across the state provide protections in line with the statewide bill, but in other locales, it remains legal to fire a worker or evict a tenant based on their gender identity or expression. The state’s hate crimes law also provides no protections based on those categories. GENDA would addresses those problems and provide broad civil rights protections against discrimination in other areas –– such as public accommodations and the provision of credit –– as well.
The forum will place in the Senate Hearing Room at 250 Broadway near Murray Street, across the street from City Hall, on the 19th floor from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 24.
It will be livestreamed at http://tiny.cc/GENDAForumLive, and questions can be tweeted with the hashtag #GENDA or emailed to GENDAforum@gmail.com.