Posted on Advocate.com September 08, 2011 04:00:00 AM ET
The GENDA Gap: What N.Y. Plans to Do About It
Four decades later, for some of the original Stonewall insurgents. the fight for legal protection from discrimination remains unfinished. But GENDA could change all that.
By Julie Bolcer
http://www.advocate.com/Politics/The_GENDA_Gap_What_NY_Plans_to_do_About_It/ (http://www.advocate.com/Politics/The_GENDA_Gap_What_NY_Plans_to_do_About_It/)
When marriage equality legislation passed the New York State Senate in June, crowds rallied outside the historic Stonewall Inn. There, in 1969, transgender bar patrons were among the upstarts who led a rebellion that sparked the modern LGBT rights movement — all of which led to that night when New York emerged as the most populous state in the nation to allow same-sex marriage. But four decades later, for some of the original Stonewall insurgents, the fight for legal protection from discrimination remains unfinished.
"New York is viewed as a real leader on marriage, but unfortunately, when it comes to transgender equality, New York is really falling behind," says Melissa Goodman, an attorney with the New York Civil Liberties Union. "New York has more transgender citizens than any other state, but we still don't have basic protections for transgender New Yorkers."