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New York State Needs Assessment for the Native Two-Spirit community |
NorthEast Two-Spirit Society, Somjen Frazer, a Researcher and Evaluation Consultant, local NY Native and Non-Native community based organizations, and the New York State Department of Health are working on the first-ever New York State Needs Assessment for the Native Two-Spirit community.
Currently, we are organizing a series of focus groups throughout New York State. At these focus groups, participants will be asked to share their stories, experiences and input on what they hope for our community.
Email: harlan@ne2ss.org for more info or to RSVP
List of the locations, dates and time for upcoming focus groups:
Buffalo, NY
Friday, February 12, 2010
5:30pm to 8:30pm
Location: Native American Community Services of Erie & Niagara Counties, Inc. (NACS)
1005 Grant Street Buffalo, New York 14207
Partnering organizations –
American Indian Community House, Pride Center of Western NY & Native American Community Services of Erie & Niagara Counties, Inc.
Rochester, NY
Saturday, February 13, 2010
2:30pm to 6:30pm
Location: Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley
875 East Main Street, Suite #500 Rochester, NY 14605
Partnering organizations – Rochester Two-Spirit Society & Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley
Syracuse, NY
Saturday, February 27, 2010
3:00pm to 7:00pm
Location: American- Indian Community House – Syracuse site
120 E Washington St., Suite #400 Syracuse, NY 13202
Partnering organizations – American Indian Community House
Email: harlan@ne2ss.org for more info or to RSVP
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Governor Paterson signs Executive Order prohibiting transgender discrimination in state workforce |
Senate passage is last step to New York enacting comprehensive law banning discrimination against transgender people in public and private sectors
New York, NY, December 16, 2009 – Today the Empire State Pride Agenda praises Governor David Paterson for signing an Executive Order prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity and expression for state employees. The Executive Order ensures that all state employees, including transgender people, who present their gender in a way that is different from what is traditionally associated with their sex assigned at birth are protected from workplace discrimination. The Office of the NYS Comptroller has had a similar Executive Order in place covering its workforce since 2003.
Twelve states and the District of Columbia have comprehensive laws in place banning discrimination based upon gender identity and expression, covering public and private sector employment as well as other areas of everyday life. Eight additional states ( Delaware , Pennsylvania , Kansas , Indiana , Ohio , Maryland , Michigan and now New York ) have executive orders covering public employees only. Under various local ordinances, 60% of New Yorkers live in cities and counties where discrimination against transgender people is already illegal.
“We thank Governor Paterson for taking this important step toward ensuring equal rights for all,” said Pride Agenda Executive Director Alan Van Capelle . “This Executive Order sends a strong message that it is simply not acceptable to discriminate against someone because they fail to live up to another person’s expectations on whether they act masculine or feminine enough. Hiring and promoting should be made based upon qualifications and performance and not on anything else.”
“ New York now begins to catch up to where many other states have been for quite a while,” said Van Capelle. “The work is not over, though, until New York enacts a comprehensive law banning discrimination against transgender people.”
The Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act, known as GENDA (A.5710/Gottfired, S.2406/Duane), amends the state’s human rights law to prohibit discrimination based upon gender identity and expression in employment (both public and private sectors), housing, public accommodations and credit. It also expands the state’s hate crimes law to explicitly include crimes against transgender people. The Assembly has passed the bill by large bipartisan margins the past two years—most recently in 2009 by a vote of 97-38—and Governor Paterson has said he would sign GENDA into law should the Legislature send it to him. The State Senate is the remaining hurdle to the bill becoming law. The Pride Agenda’s public scorecard shows a majority of State Senators support GENDA.
A poll conducted by Global Strategy Group for the Empire State Pride Agenda in 2008 found that 78 percent of registered voters in New York support enacting a law that protects transgender people from discrimination. The poll found broad support among voters from all parts of the state: New York City (80 percent), the NYC suburbs (82 percent) and upstate (74 percent). Support also crosses party lines, as both Democrats (86 percent) and Republicans (67 percent) heavily favor passing legislation.
Discrimination is a severe problem for transgender New Yorkers, resulting in not only great personal harm to themselves but also social costs for the state as whole. For example, a report released this year by the Empire State Pride Agenda showed that: 20.7% of transgender New Yorkers have incomes under $10,000 a year; 28.4% have experienced a serious physical or sexual assault motivated by transphobic or homophobic violence; and fully one-third are or have been homeless at one time.
“Legal protections for transgender people is a basic civil right,” said Van Capelle. “The vast majority of New Yorkers get it, the private sector gets it; the Assembly gets it. We need the State Senate to take the final step and pass GENDA when it goes into session this January.”
Facts on Gender Identity and Expression Non-Discrimination Protections In the Public and Private Sectors*
U.S. Jurisdictions with non-discrimination protections:• 12 States and the District of Columbia with comprehensive laws – Oregon (2008), Colorado (2007), Iowa (2007), Vermont (2007), New Jersey (2007), Washington (2006), Illinois (2005), Maine (2005), District of Columbia (2005), California (2003), New Mexico (2003), Rhode Island (2001), Minnesota (1993).
• 8 states with executive orders covering public employees – New York (2009), Delaware (2009), Michigan (2007), Kansas (2007), Ohio (2007), Maryland (2007), Indiana (2004), Pennsylvania (2003)
• 108 U.S. cities and counties with laws, including nine New York localities – Westchester County (2009), Binghamton (2009), Albany (2004), Tompkins County (2004), Ithaca (2003), Buffalo (2002), New York City (2002), Rochester (2001), Suffolk County (2001)
Fortune 500 Companies with non-discrimination policies:
• 200 companies, including 30 with headquarters in New York – Alcoa (NYC), American Express (NYC), Avon Products (NYC), Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (NYC), Barnes & Noble (NYC), Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYC), CBS Corp. (NYC), Citigroup (NYC), Colgate-Palmolive (NYC), Consolidated Edison (NYC), Corning (Corning), Eastman Kodak (Rochester), Estee Lauder (NYC), Goldman Sachs (NYC), IBM (Armonk), Interpublic Group (NYC), J.P. Morgan Chase (NYC), Liz Claiborne (NYC), Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYC), MetLife (NYC), Morgan Stanley (NYC), New York Life Insurance (NYC), Omnicom Group (NYC), Pepsi Bottling Group (Somers), PepsiCo (Purchase), Pfizer (NYC), Starwood Hotels & Resorts (White Plains), TIAA-CREF Fund (NYC), Time Warner (NYC) and Viacom (NYC)
*Information Sources – The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Human Rights Campaign, Empire State Pride Agenda
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InQueery: Community Classes
Inquiring minds want to know...
The Gay Alliance is thrilled to announce thier new program, InQueery-- a new way for LGBT and allied community members to have fun while they learn. Part social, part educational, all InQueery sessions have the LGBT community in its heart.
Look for "InQueery" under the Eduation tab at the top of the page or click here. |
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