Gov. Cuomo, Trans Women Must Be Included in the Women's Equality Act

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sunny-bjerk/gov-cuomo-trans-women-must-be-included-in-the-womens-equality-act_b_3450537.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices
6/17/13
Sunny Bjerk

On Tuesday, June 3, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo finally followed up on his so-called Women's Equality Act (WEA) legislation, which aims to "end discrimination and inequality based on gender" across the state. The legislation features a 10-point plan to address gender-based discrimination and includes measures to:

    Achieve pay equity (in New York women earn 16-percent less than men in similar or equal positions)

    End sexual harassment in all New York workplaces (currently, sexual harassment is not prohibited in workplaces with three or fewer employees -- seriously -- and women accounted for 75 percent of all sexual harassment claims in 2011

    Stop source-of-income discrimination (women in New York account for 76 percent of all housing voucher recipients, yet many landlords can refuse to rent to recipients who use these vouchers, greatly harming women)

    Stop housing discrimination for domestic violence victims (currently, women account for 85 percents of the state's domestic violence victims, yet under current law, domestic violence victims are not protected against housing discrimination)

While the Women's Equality Act certainly aims to remedy a portion of the wrongs that women still face, the legislation completely neglects to address the vulnerability of transgender women.