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 the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA) has been passed by the Assembly, and the only remaining obstacle to the bill becoming law is the New York State Senate. The time is NOW to take action and make our final push to get the Senate to vote to end discrimination against transgender New Yorkers. GENDA would amend the state’s human rights law to ban discrimination in housing, employment, credit and public accommodations. It also expands the state’s hate crimes law to explicitly include crimes against transgender people. We need you to get on the phone and call your Senator and the lead Senate sponsor Tom Duane at their Albany offices to tell them that you want them to bring GENDA to the Senate floor and pass it. We’re at a crucial moment and it is vital that they hear from you. Here’s how to make your calls: 1. You can find your State Senator’s Albany phone number here and you can reach Senator Tom Duane at (518) 455-2451. 2. Remember to tell your Senator the number of the GENDA bill (S.2406) and ask them to support GENDA and bring it to the floor for a vote. 3. You can use these talking points about the urgent need for GENDA and the broad support it has: Due to difficulty with job discrimination, one-fifth of transgender New Yorkers have incomes below $10,000 a year Working together, we can win! Start making those phone calls now! http://eqfed.org/espany/all-msgs.html
From The Empire State Pride Agenda From: jsolmonsohn The New York State Assembly has passed the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA) for the third time. The Empire State Pride Agenda thanks the Assembly for once again taking a stand in support of transgender rights. The final vote tally is posted on “The Agenda” blog. Now, it’s time for the Senate to act! The Pride Agenda will be launching a GENDA Call-In Day to Senators statewide next week. Click here to tell your friends to sign up for our Action Alerts today so that they will hear from us next week when it’s time to take action! The Pride Agenda just released the following statement regarding the Assembly’s passage of GENDA: New York State Assembly passes bill banning transgender discrimination; Pride Agenda calls on State Senate to act Today the New York State Assembly voted by an overwhelming bipartisan margin to amend the state’s human rights law to include anti-discrimination protections based upon gender identity and expression. The bill (A.5710), known as the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA), bans discrimination against transgender people in housing, employment, credit and public accommodations. It also expands the state’s hate crimes law to explicitly include crimes against transgender people. The Assembly has now passed the bill by large bipartisan margins the past three years; Governor Paterson has also said he will sign GENDA into law should the Legislature send it to him. “Transgender New Yorkers shouldn’t have to live in fear that they lack basic protections and could lose their job or be denied a lease on an apartment or service in a restaurant just because of who they are,” said Interim Executive Director Joe Tarver. “In passing this bill, the Assembly continues to demonstrate its leadership on civil rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) New Yorkers. We thank Assemblymember Richard Gottfried for his sponsorship and support of this bill, as well as the Assemblymembers who voted to pass it.” “The State Senate remains the only obstacle to passing GENDA. It is now time for the Senate to follow the Assembly’s lead and end discrimination against transgender New Yorkers once and for all by passing GENDA,” said Tarver. “Transgender New Yorkers can’t—and shouldn’t have to—wait any longer.” Transgender people face severe discrimination in New York. A 2009 needs assessment of New York State’s LGBT community conducted for the Pride Agenda found that 20.7% of transgender New Yorkers have incomes of under $10,000 a year, and one-third are or have been homeless at one time; 28.4% have experienced a physical or sexual assault motivated by transphobic or homophobic violence that was serious enough to require medical care. Twelve states and the District of Columbia have comprehensive laws 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 including New York have executive orders covering public employees only. According to a March 2008 Global Strategy poll, 78 percent of registered New York voters support passing a bill to protect transgender people. This support is strong across the state, including upstate (74%), New York City (79%) and the downstate suburbs (82%); and among Democrats (86%), Republicans (67%) and Independent voters (78%) alike. For more information and to get involved, contact Joanna Solmonsohn, LI Program Organizer at 212.627.0305 x103 or jsolmonsohn@prideagenda.org. http://eqfed.org/espany/notice-description.tcl?newsletter_id=38057040
 (No Ratings Yet) From The Empire State Pride Agenda From: jsolmonsohn The New York State Assembly has passed the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA) for the third time. The Empire State Pride Agenda thanks the Assembly for once again taking a stand in support of transgender rights. The final vote tally is posted on “The Agenda” blog. Now, it’s time for the Senate to act! The Pride Agenda will be launching a GENDA Call-In Day to Senators statewide next week. Click here to tell your friends to sign up for our Action Alerts today so that they will hear from us next week when it’s time to take action! The Pride Agenda just released the following statement regarding the Assembly’s passage of GENDA: New York State Assembly passes bill banning transgender discrimination; Pride Agenda calls on State Senate to act Today the New York State Assembly voted by an overwhelming bipartisan margin to amend the state’s human rights law to include anti-discrimination protections based upon gender identity and expression. The bill (A.5710), known as the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA), bans discrimination against transgender people in housing, employment, credit and public accommodations. It also expands the state’s hate crimes law to explicitly include crimes against transgender people. The Assembly has now passed the bill by large bipartisan margins the past three years; Governor Paterson has also said he will sign GENDA into law should the Legislature send it to him. “Transgender New Yorkers shouldn’t have to live in fear that they lack basic protections and could lose their job or be denied a lease on an apartment or service in a restaurant just because of who they are,” said Interim Executive Director Joe Tarver. “In passing this bill, the Assembly continues to demonstrate its leadership on civil rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) New Yorkers. We thank Assemblymember Richard Gottfried for his sponsorship and support of this bill, as well as the Assemblymembers who voted to pass it.” “The State Senate remains the only obstacle to passing GENDA. It is now time for the Senate to follow the Assembly’s lead and end discrimination against transgender New Yorkers once and for all by passing GENDA,” said Tarver. “Transgender New Yorkers can’t—and shouldn’t have to—wait any longer.” Transgender people face severe discrimination in New York. A 2009 needs assessment of New York State’s LGBT community conducted for the Pride Agenda found that 20.7% of transgender New Yorkers have incomes of under $10,000 a year, and one-third are or have been homeless at one time; 28.4% have experienced a physical or sexual assault motivated by transphobic or homophobic violence that was serious enough to require medical care. Twelve states and the District of Columbia have comprehensive laws 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 including New York have executive orders covering public employees only. According to a March 2008 Global Strategy poll, 78 percent of registered New York voters support passing a bill to protect transgender people. This support is strong across the state, including upstate (74%), New York City (79%) and the downstate suburbs (82%); and among Democrats (86%), Republicans (67%) and Independent voters (78%) alike. For more information and to get involved, contact Joanna Solmonsohn, LI Program Organizer at 212.627.0305 x103 or jsolmonsohn@prideagenda.org. http://eqfed.org/espany/notice-description.tcl?newsletter_id=38057040
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, TAKE ACTION for equality now, Tennessee, Texas
From SoulForce… Hailing from across the country, and one from Cyprus, the 2010 team brings a multitude of unique experiences and backgrounds, bound by a common desire to make campuses and communities safe, welcoming and affirming for people of all identities. The Riders will board the bus on March 4th to begin their two-month long journey – stopping at 16 campuses in the Northeast, South, and Midwest – all with policies that are discriminatory to LGBTQ students. Soulforce is placing a special focus on community work this year, and are hoping to engage not just with the campuses we visit, but with the communities they live in. This means partnering with communities in volunteer work, hosting activism/organizing forums, linking students with community members, and offering our support for the justice work that is already happening in the places we are visiting. Check out where the 2010 Equality Ride is heading, and find out how YOU can get involved! Stop Date School Location http://www.soulforce.org/equalityride
Arizona, Caifornia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, TAKE ACTION for equality now, Texas, Washington
Hello all, Tom Tierney (an activist with Out4Immigration) and I have put together a plan (C=IIR) for grassroots activists to promote UAFA and to rally support for its inclusion in Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR). UAFA (The Uniting American Families Act) will allow Americans with foreign-born partners to sponsor them for a green card, essentially creating an “immigration domestic partnership” status. CIR will correct an inhumane immigration system for all. Together they will end suffering for millions. We are working in close coordination with both Out4Immigration and Immigration Equality, as well as other groups. Now all we need is a groundswell of activists. It’s all described in detail in this document: READ PLAN at: http://tinyurl.com/CIIR2010-TenStatePlan If you live in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Illinois OR New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Texas, Washington – you’re in one of the 10 target states (there’s lots of info here for you). If you are involved in the marriage equality struggle – this has the same opposition (and we’re focusing on that on page 6). If you are an activist – we have roughly 600,000 LGBT youth and adult immigrants harshly affected by the current system, and over 36,000 LGBT Americans in bi-national couples who live in great uncertainty, most afraid to even speak up for fear of arrest or forced separation. If you have a voice – these are our voiceless and our minorities – and they need one. With this plan, activists anywhere can act individually, with local groups, or in coordination with us. However you choose, please let us know of your success (and any resistance you encounter). Please take a look at the plan, share this, and Join us on facebook at: http://tinyurl.com/CIIRonFB The Immigration Community has declared that 2010 is their year. We plan to arrive together. Rising UP! Tif p.s. Monitor and report OUR progress on UAFA with ActonPriniciples at: http://tinyurl.com/CIIR2010-TenStatePlan
Caifornia, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Washington, Wisconsin
In an Act On Principles blog post, I made the case that both LGBT AND immigrant rights are civil rights and that we ought to support both the UAFA (HR.1024) and RFA (HR.2709) immigration bills. At last count, there are 116 co-sponsors of the LGBT immigration bill UAFA. Slightly less than half of them have signed on to co-sponsor the broader family immigration bill RFA, which includes all the provisions of UAFA. We should thank all the co- sponsors of UAFA and now ask them to also co-sponsor RFA. I have used the AOP Whip Count data to generate the list below of the UAFA co-sponsors who have yet to co-sponsor RFA. The list also includes the phone number of each member and a link to their website.
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