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Democratic Members Lead a Bipartisan Coalition 34-26 Transgenders Excluded, Governor Pataki Pledged to Sign Empire State Pride Agenda
New York will be the 13th state - the second largest after California - to enact anti-discrimination protections for gay men and lesbians. (New York City passed a similar measure in 1986 and, earlier this year, also enacted a separate law extending discrimination protection to transgendered persons.) SONDA adds the words "sexual orientation" to the state's existing human rights and education laws. Those laws prohibit discrimination based on race, sex, creed, color, national origin, disability, age and marital status. To celebrate the victory, rainbow flags will fly tomorrow from city halls across the state, including those of Albany, Brighton, Brooklyn, Buffalo, and Rochester. "We are overjoyed that the 31-year-long struggle for a statewide law has finally won gay and lesbian people the same rights as all other New Yorkers," said Matt Foreman, Executive Director of the Empire State Pride Agenda. "The New York law will be one of the broadest anti-gay discrimination laws in the nation. This 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." "Thirty-one years was far too long to wait for a very basic civil rights measure to pass," continued Foreman. "However, today is about looking forward not back. The passage of SONDA heralds a new day in New York State for our community." Foreman said the main impact of the new law would be felt in places like Rockland, Broome, Erie and more than 30 other counties, where no local antidiscrimination laws covering gay men and lesbians currently exist. Of the Senate's 24 Democratic members, 21 voted in favor of passage, while 13 of the chamber's 36 Republicans voted affirmatively. Both Senate Democratic Leader David Paterson and Majority Leader Joseph Bruno voted in favor. For Paterson, it was a significant victory just weeks after his election to lead Senate Democrats as head of their conference. "I am proud to have led the State Senate in providing the great majority of votes to pass SONDA, one of the most important pieces of civil rights legislation in our state's history, and one that was long overdue," said Senator Paterson. "Hundreds of thousands of people beyond New York City who today are vulnerable to the most abject discrimination will now enjoy critical legal protections in employment, housing, education and credit. We worked long and hard to overcome the opposition of entrenched conservative forces, and we will build on this great victory to achieve full equality for the LGBT community in the months and years ahead." Yesteray's vote was the third major statewide legislative victory for the gay community in New York in three years. In 2000, the state adopted a hate crimes law that included crimes motivated by anti-gay hate and also repealed its 150-year old consensual sodomy statute. New York's lesbian and gay community has been pushing for a statewide non-discrimination bill since 1971, when the first gay march on Albany (attracting nearly 3,000 people) was organized and a non-discrimination bill was first introduced by in the state Assembly and Senate. (To highlight this fact, in 2002 SONDA was designated bill number A.1971 in the Assembly.) The 1971 bill was the first "gay rights" legislation to be introduced in any state legislature in the country. SONDA did not reach the Assembly floor until 1993, when it passed by a vote of 90 to 50 (with only nine Republicans voting in support). The election of Assemblymember Deborah Glick in 1990 as the Legislature's first openly lesbian or gay member was seen as a catalyst for reviving SONDA. Since the vote in 1993, the Assembly has passed SONDA every year for ten years, with increasing bi-partisan support. This year, the bill passed the Assembly by a vote of 113 to 27, and for the first time ever had a majority of GOP members supporting it. Until yesterday, SONDA had never been allowed to the Senate floor for a vote. The bill was discussed within the Senate Republican Conference in 2001 and during the 2002 session, the first serious discussions since 1994. The state's Conservative Party (on whose ballot line most Republican Senators also run) and the Catholic Conference were major opponents to allowing a floor vote. |
New York Gov. George Pataki said he will sign the Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act