On Dember 19th, The Human Rights Campaign praised the New York State
Legislature for enacting the Sexual Orientation Non Discrimination Act
(SONDA), which provides gay men and lesbians with legal protection from
discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations, education and
credit. The state Senate passed the legislation Tuesday in a special
session with a bipartisan vote of 34-26. The bill passed the state Assembly
earlier this year, and Republican Gov. George Pataki signed the bill into
law Tuesday night.
"We congratulate the Pride Agenda and the New York state gay and lesbian
community for all their hard work and commitment over the years in making
this happen," said HRC Executive Director Elizabeth Birch. "New York now
joins 12 other states and the District of Columbia in prohibiting
discrimination based on sexual orientation."
"SONDA lays the foundation for winning full equality under the law in areas
such as taxation, protections for gay youth and transgender people and
recognition of our families," said Matt Foreman, executive director of
Empire State Pride Agenda.
Other states that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation are:
California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada,
New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin. Two of
these states, Minnesota and Rhode Island, also prohibit discrimination based
on gender identity. There is currently no federal law banning anti-gay or
anti-transgender discrimination.
"Empire State Pride Agenda spent years mobilizing the community to educate
NYS elected officials on both sides of the aisle about the incidents of
discrimination faced daily by gay men and lesbians," said HRC National Field
Director Seth Kilbourn. "There is a lot of education to be done in the New
York Senate, and in so many other legislative bodies in this country, on the
discrimination faced by transgender people. We are eager to work with
elected officials to build understanding about the needs and challenges of
their transgender constituents."
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