POLITICS
Cuomo Pushes #WalkingWhileTrans Repeal
At HRC, governor also pledges Marsha P. Johnson Park, gestational surrogacy reform
BY MATT TRACY
Governor Andrew Cuomo
used his speech at the
Human Rights Campaign
Greater New York
gala on February 1 to voice his
support for legislation that would
repeal a loitering statute that has
allowed law enforcement to arrest
transgender women simply for
walking down the street.
“This year — with your help —
we must pass gestational surrogacy
and expedite the second-parent
adoption process to complete marriage
and family equality,” Cuomo
said at the Marriott Marquis event
Saturday evening. “Also this year,
we must pass a repeal of the socalled
Walking While Trans statute,
so that people will no longer
be unfairly targeted for what they
look like.”
In the same speech, Cuomo also
announced he would be renaming
Governor Andrew Cuomo addresses the crowd at the Marriott Marquis during the February 1 Human
Rights Campaign’s Greater New York gala.
East River State Park in Williamsburg
after LGBTQ icon Marsha P.
OFFICE OF GOVERNOR ANDREW CUOMO/ KEVIN P. COUGHLIN
Johnson, who was among the fi rst
to actively resist on the fi rst night
of the 1969 Stonewall Riots and
remained involved in the political
organizing that followed.
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced
last year that the city would erect
a monument on Christopher Street
in Greenwich Village dedicated
to Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, a
friend of Johnson’s and a fellow
transgender activist in the immediate
post-Stonewall years.
Cuomo’s endorsement of the
movement to repeal Section 240.37
of the penal law is a key step forward
for the Repeal #Walking-
WhileTrans Ban coalition, which
formed out of the DecrimNY coalition
this year.
The DecrimNY coalition sought
to fully decriminalize sex work and
unveiled legislation last year to do
so, but advocates have since shifted
their focus for now on ensuring
lawmakers swiftly repeal the
➤ CUOMO AT HRC, continued on p.21
FAMILIES
Governor Restarts Campaign to Legalize Surrogacy
Cuomo’s aggressive effort to pass the legislation faltered in Assembly last year
BY MATT TRACY
Governor Andrew Cuomo
stepped up his renewed
push to legalize compensated
gestational
surrogacy on February 11 when he
rolled out a new campaign intended
to rally support for a bill that died
in the State Assembly last year after
clearing the State Senate.
Cuomo’s new effort to legalize
the practice, which consists of allowing
a prospective parent or
parents to compensate a person to
carry a baby who is not biologically
related to the carrier, is called the
“Love Makes a Family” campaign.
That initiative features a petition
allowing New Yorkers to express
support for the proposal, a Love
Makes a Family Council, and a
campaign web page complete with
video testimonials.
In addition to the testimonials,
the campaign’s web page also includes
facts about the bill and directions
on how to sign the petition
in support of the legislation. The
Love Makes a Family Council includes
nearly two dozen members,
including Bravo TV host Andy
Cohen, WIN president and former
City Council Speaker Christine
Quinn, Rod Townsend of the
Stonewall Democratic Club of New
York City, and Kiara St. James of
the New York Transgender Advocacy
Group.
“It is shameful that we are only
one of three states that does not
allow LGBTQ individuals and
people struggling with fertility to
use gestational surrogacy to start
families,” Cuomo said in a written
statement. “This antiquated law is
repugnant to our values and we
must repeal it once and for all and
enact the nation’s strongest protections
for surrogates and parents
choosing to take part in the surrogacy
process. This year we must
pass gestational surrogacy and expedite
the second parent adoption
process to complete marriage and
family equality.”
Cuomo already signaled his intention
to prioritize the legislation
this year when he included it in his
State of the State agenda for 2020.
The bill, led in the upper chamber
last year by out gay Senator
Brad Hoylman of Manhattan —
who has two children through surrogacy
with his husband, David Sigal
— cleared the Senate but never
came to a vote in the Assembly.
The bill wilted down the stretch
last year after concerns were raised
by lawmakers, including out lesbian
Assemblymember Deborah
Glick of Manhattan, who initially
vowed to support the initiative but
backed off and instead cited health
concerns and framed it as an option
that is primarily reserved for
wealthier prospective parents.
Having a child via surrogacy
would be unattainable for many
prospective parents because the
process can cost tens of thousands
of dollars.
Last year, Cuomo recruited Cohen,
who had a child through surrogacy,
to speak at events promoting
surrogacy rights.
➤ SURROGACY REFORM, continued on p.21
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