POLITICS
Walking While Trans Ban Repeal Clinches The Votes
Albany lawmakers move closer to striking discriminatory loitering law from the books
BY MATT TRACY
An enduring, persistent
effort by a coalition of
advocates in New York
State to wipe out a discriminatory
law that targets transgender
women of color has fi nally
gained suffi cient support in the
State Senate to clear the chamber,
putting it on the brink of passage.
Out gay State Senator Brad Hoylman
of Manhattan announced on
June 10 that a majority of his colleagues
in the upper house have
agreed to sign on as co-sponsors
of the bill that would repeal a loitering
law that is known as a ban
on “walking while trans” due to
the way in which police offi cers are
given a green light to stop transgender
women of color and arrest
them for baseless reasons like
walking down the street in certain
clothing. It is often described as a
form of “stop and frisk” for transgender
women of color.
“It’s offi cial: A majority of the
@NYSenate has signed on to cosponsor
our legislation repealing
the #WalkingWhileTrans ban,”
Hoylman tweeted on June 10. “The
fi ght continues. Now, we need to
get it to the fl oor of the Senate and
Assembly.”
— Senator Brad Hoylman (@
bradhoylman) June 10, 2020
The development is encouraging
because it adds an extra layer of
insurance for the bill. The repeal
effort does not necessarily need to
snag 32 co-sponsors if there are
lawmakers who would rather not
➤ UPCOMING PRIDE EVENTS, from p.22
tire during a run throughout their
neighborhood. Those who participate
are asked to snap a selfi e or
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and upload the photo to Instagram.
Tag @Runstreet in the post
to enter a photo contest.
Those who would like to take
part in the run can purchase tickets,
which cost $10, at runstreet.
com/events/nyc-pride-art-run,
and should complete their run between
Out gay State Senator Brad Hoylman of Manhattan shared this graphic when he announced that there is
enough support in the upper chamber to repeal the ban on “walking while trans.”
co-sponsor the bill but would still
vote in favor of it, but now there is
fool-proof base of lawmakers committed
to the cause.
The bill passed the Assembly
Codes Committee and just needs to
be brought to the fl oor for a vote. It
still needs to clear the Codes Committees
in the Senate after stalling
there last year.
The upper chamber gained the
necessary co-sponsors — 32 —
after an especially vigorous push
in recent weeks to convince lawmakers
to sign onto the effort. The
Walking While Trans coalition,
which became a spinoff of the original
DecrimNY coalition that seeks
to fully decriminalize sex work,
June 20 and June 28.
What was supposed to be Heritage
of Pride’s main event on June
28 will instead be a two-hour
program on ABC 7, which usually
airs the annual Pride March.
This event will focus on front-line
workers during the coronavirus
pandemic and feature a handful of
grand marshals: Dan Levy, creator
of “Schitt’s Creek,” the Ali Forney
Center, Yanzi Peng, a Chinese LGBTQ
activist, and Victoria Cruz, a
retired domestic violence counselor
TWITTER/ @BRADHOYLMAN
with that group narrowing its focus
earlier this year to prioritize
the repeal of the loitering law as a
fi rst step toward achieving justice
for sex workers who have long been
swept up in the criminal justice
system despite engaging in consensual
work.
“The LGBT movement was
founded by trans women of color,”
the Walking While Trans coalition
wrote in a tweet on June 10 directed
at Governor Andrew Cuomo,
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie,
and Senate Majority Leader Andrea
Stewart-Cousins. “It’s Pride
Month. We should be celebrating
freedom for our trans siblings, not
walking away from it. We must Repeal
at the Anti-Violence Project.
There will be performances by
Janelle Monáe, Deborah Cox, Billy
Porter, Luísa Sonza, and more. Also
making an appearance will be Wilson
Cruz, Miss Richfi eld 1981, and
Margaret Cho, among others.
Regarding the annual Trans Day
of Action, the Audre Lorde Project
said in an April 27 announcement
that the team has instead decided
to “do a cyber shift” this year by
focusing on connecting folks to resources,
helping folks get released
the #WalkingWhileTrans ban
now. Vote on, pass and sign it into
law!”
Minutes later, the Stonewall
Democratic Club of New York City,
a citywide queer political club, copied
and pasted the same tweet and
posted it, seemingly in an attempt
to create a coordinated message
directed at political leaders.
A long list of organizations statewide
also nudged state lawmakers
even further on June 3 with
a letter addressed to Cuomo and
legislative leaders urging them to
include repealing the loitering law
when considering criminal justice
packages. Those groups included
Make the Road New York, Housing
Works, GAPIMNY — Empowering
Queer & Trans Asian Pacifi c Islanders,
the New York Transgender
Advocacy Group, the Sylvia Rivera
Law Project, VOCAL-NY, and numerous
others.
While other criminal justice initiatives
have recently been enacted
in the wake of protests over police
conduct, the robust base of support
for the repeal of the “Walking
While Trans” ban has not yet
yielded fl oor votes. Should it pass
both chambers, Cuomo is expected
to sign it into law. He pledged
his support for the effort in early
February.
A timetable, however, remains
unclear. While Hoylman voiced his
desire to bring the repeal effort to
the Senate fl oor, the lead sponsor in
the lower house, Assemblymember
Amy Paulin, could not be reached
for comment for this story.
from prison and detention centers,
and ensuring that members have
food to eat and places to stay.
The Criminal Queerness Festival,
produced by Adam Odsess-Rubin’s
National Queer Theater and
Dixon Place, is featuring a range
of virtual play readings, panels,
workshops, and cocktail parties.
The festival, which spotlights the
work of playwrights and other artists
from around the globe who are
facing censorship, began June 9
and continues until June 29.
June 18 - June 24, 2 26 020 | GayCityNews.com
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