Cuomo Signs Gender Recognition Act Into Law
Legislation allows New Yorkers to update gender markers on state ID
BY MATT TRACY
On the 10-year anniversary of marriage
equality in New York State,
Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation
giving New Yorkers the ability
to update their state identifi cation and birth
certifi cates with an “x” gender designation. The
law also waives an outdated rule requiring folks
to publish name changes in newspapers.
“The Gender Recognition Act eliminates barriers
that undermine the health, safety, and
equality of people because of their gender,”
Cuomo said as he delivered remarks at Chelsea
Piers on June 24. “It affi rms basic human dignity
and it ends discrimination… It allows each
individual to identify their own gender, not by
any government-designed form.”
The Gender Recognition Act also removes extra
medical hurdles for trans and non-binary
New Yorkers. Individuals will not be mandated
to show a doctor’s note when changing their
gender marker on their ID. The birth certifi cate
provision solidifi es policies in place in New York
State allowing minors to update their birth
certifi cate. In New York City, the law already
permits individuals to update birth certifi cates
with an “x” gender marker.
Refl ecting on the marriage fi ght, Cuomo acknowledged
State Assemblymember Daniel
O’Donnell — who led the Gender Recognition
Act in the State Assembly — as well as former
State Senator Thomas Duane, activist Cathy
Marino-Thomas, and Freedom to Marry founder
Evan Wolfson, among others.
“Remember where we were, marriage was
not legal for non-heterosexual couples,” Cuomo
said. “So the nation said, we offer you civil
➤ GRIMM, from p.12
Fourth Circuit agreed with the district court,
and denied the school board’s motion to have
the case heard anew by the full 15-judge appeals
court bench. The school board fi led a petition
with the Supreme Court seeking review
in February 2021.
Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito
announced that they would have granted the
petition to review this case.
A decision not to review a case is not a ruling by
the Supreme Court on the merits of the case, but
it takes on signifi cant weight because the Court
has consistently refused to intervene as lower
federal courts have ruled in favor of transgender
students in these kinds of school disputes, both
in cases where students are seeking the right to
use facilities consistent with their gender identities
DEAN MOSES
Gov. Cuomo signs the Gender Recognition Act into law.
unions. Almost like marriage. We offer you domestic
partnerships, almost like marriage, but
not exactly marriage, not full equality. It was
like saying you are three fi fths of a man, three
fi fths of equality almost equal, but not quite.
And New York said no. Almost equal was not
good enough because they’re almost equal is
not equal and we demand equality.”
O’Donnell, who was lead sponsor of the marriage
equality bill in the State Assembly, celebrated
his latest legislative victory.
“I am proud of our progress on LGBTQ rights
in the last 10 years and am deeply honored to
and in cases where groups of parents have
sued to challenge school boards that have sided
with transgender students, claiming a violation
of cisgender students’ privacy rights. Rulings
by the Third, Seventh, Ninth, and 11th Circuits
have generally agreed with the Fourth Circuit’s
legal analysis, which was set forth in a lengthy,
deeply researched opinion.
The Supreme Court’s denial of review in these
cases may also infl uence lower courts that are
considering challenges to state laws barring
transgender girls and women from competing
in women’s scholastic sports, since Title IX and
the Equal Protection Clause would take priority
over state statutes under the Constitution’s
Supremacy Clause.
As of June 28, the court had still not issued
decisions in several cases argued this term,
and had recently included in its conference
POLITICS
continue that work with the Gender Recognition
Act, which will make life safer for trans individuals,
reduce stigma, and affi rm trans individuals’
identities,” O’Donnell said. “Our work
for equal rights is far from over, but we have
proven that love is love, that trans lives matter,
and that we are ready for the fi ghts ahead.”
The Gender Recognition Act was led in the
State Senate by Brad Hoylman of Manhattan.
The bill passed the Assembly on June 8 and the
State Senate on June 10.
“Getting the Gender Recognition Act over
the fi nish line and signed into law is a wonderful
way to celebrate Pride month in New York,”
Hoylman said in a written statement. “Each
and every New Yorker should be recognized for
who they are by their government. But today, it
remains incredibly hard for many New Yorkers
to get the identifi cation documents they require
for travel, to get a job, and even to go to school.
This bill will change that...”
Among other speakers at the Chelsea Piers
event included out trans attorney and former
State Assembly candidate Kristen Browde, who
looked back on the gains for LGBTQ rights in
the last decade.
“You know, I don’t need to tell you that our
community’s relationship with government
has not always been easy,” Browde said. “It’s
still not easy. And as I look across this row of
people and I look at the people around here,
there’s no question that you know that we have
had to fi ght and we will continue to fi ght and
that equality is our goal and nothing less. But
if you think back 51 years ago, Marsha P. Johnson
and Sylvia Rivera… they’re not names we
know because it was easy. They fought and they
fought and they fought and they pushed...”
list a petition for review of the Washington
Supreme Court’s decision in Arlene’s Flowers
v. State of Washington, in which the state
court upheld a ruling that the proprietor of
Arlene’s Flowers, Baronelle Stutzman, violated
the Washington’s anti-discrimination law by
refusing to make fl oral decorations for a gay
wedding. The day after the court announced
its decision in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia,
attorneys for Arlene’s Flowers fi led a statement
with the Court urging it to grant review and
address the question the Court had avoided
answering in Fulton: whether businesses have
a 1st Amendment right to refuse services or
goods to same-sex couples. The Court will
probably round out its current Term within
the next few weeks and may yet put that case
on the hearing list for the new Term that begins
in October 2021.
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