POLITICS
Hochul Signs Two Bills to Protect Trans New Yorkers
Bills provide traffi cking relief, require utilities companies to respect names and pronouns
BY MATT TRACY
Flanked by LGBTQ activists
and out elected offi
cials, Governor Kathy
Hochul on November 16
signed two pieces of legislation
aimed at protecting traffi cking survivors
and requiring utility, water
works, and telephone companies
to respect names and pronouns of
customers.
The governor signed the bills at
the LGBT Community Center in
Manhattan, where she hailed both
measures as two of the state’s latest
efforts to update laws in order
to remove barriers for transgender
New Yorkers. Notably, the event
came during Transgender Awareness
Week and just four days before
Transgender Day of Remembrance.
“As we witness attacks on LGBTQ
rights and protections around
the country, New York is once again
declaring that we are a state for all
— one where we don’t needlessly
criminalize victims and where
our trans, gender non-binary, and
gender non-conforming communities
are affi rmed,” Hochul said in a
written statement.
One of the bills, known as the
START Act, allows for the vacating
of convictions stemming from
crimes that were committed as a
result of sex traffi cking, labor traffi
cking, and other forms of traffi cking
— which is a key point because
the legislation broadens a similar
2010 New York State law that
was limited to sex work-related
offenses. Sometimes, for example,
victims get charged for possessing
false documents after their traffi
ckers confi scate their legal documents,
according to the bill.
The new law will also protect the
confi dentiality of victims, which
further removes roadblocks for
folks seeking employment, housing,
or education.
“During National Transgender
Awareness week, the notion
of building visibility around the
structural challenges experienced
by trans and gender non-conforming
New Yorkers has to be more
Governor Kathy Hochul, surrounded by LGBTQ leaders, signs a pair of bills at the LGBT Community
Center in Manhattan on November 16.
than a gesture,” State Senator Jessica
Ramos of Queens, who carried
the legislation alongside Assemblymember
Richard Gottfried
of Manhattan, said in a written
statement. “We have to legislate
in a way that honors and protects
their rights as members of our
community. The START Act gives
survivors of traffi cking the fresh
start they deserve — lessening the
barriers to employment, improving
access to appropriate immigration
legal remedies, and helping break
cycles of trauma for thousands of
survivors across our state.”
Meanwhile, the other bill,
spearheaded by two out lawmakers
— Assemblymember Jessica
González-Rojas of Queens and
Brad Hoylman of Manhattan —
requires utility, water works, and
phone companies to recognize the
pronouns and names of customers.
Ex-governor Andrew Cuomo
had faced pressure over the summer
from dozens groups of LGBTQ
groups who were pushing him to
sign the bill, known as the Affi rming
Gender Identity in Utilities Act,
including Destination Tomorrow,
Hetrick-Martin Institute, Black
Trans Nation, GLSEN – Lower
Hudson Valley Chapter, and the
Newburgh LGBTQIA Center.
Advocates had stressed that the
OFFICE OF GOVERNOR KATHY HOCHUL/DON POLLARD
bill would prevent customers from
being misgendered, deadnamed,
or otherwise targeted by traumatic
forms of discrimination. Furthermore,
customers looking to update
their names and pronouns with
companies have encountered requirements
to produce court orders
to show their information.
“At a time when we are witnessing
a record number of murders
of trans people, particularly
trans women, and of anti-LGBT
pieces of legislation being introduced
and passed in other states
across the nation, New York must
take leadership and stand against
hate,” González-Rojas said in a
written statement. “I’m proud to
have sponsored legislation which
will ensure that transgender people
are respected by utility corporations
as they do business in our
state.”
Hoylman echoed González-Rojas’
statement, saying, “Nobody
should suffer the indignity of being
‘deadnamed’ or being referred
to by their non-affi rmed name or
gender. And with 2021 being the
most deadly year for transgender
and non-binary people since the
Human Rights Campaign began
recording this data, our new law
sends an important message of
support to the 78,000+ transgender
and gender non-conforming
people across New York State.”
Speaking at the podium before
the bills were signed, New Pride
Agenda executive director Elisa
Crespo described the bills as a
“small but important gesture of
respect that goes a very long way
in the lives of trans and gender
non-conforming people.” She also
focused her remarks on voicing a
call to action in light of Transgender
Awareness Week and Transgender
Day of Remembrance.
“I ask you to dig deep inside of
yourself and ask yourself what you
have done to protect and better the
lives of trans people,” Crespo said.
“What have you really done to be
a better ally in every sense of the
word? Remember that Trans Week
of Awareness is about resilience, it
is about solidarity, it is about organizing
and moving forward while
honoring the lives of those that we
have lost. It is not about tokenizing
trans people and asking them
to deliver remarks; that is not solidarity…
To that end, we must not
rest on our laurels… I ask everyone
in this room to recommit yourself
to trans liberation and unapologetically
fi ght alongside us even
when it is not politically expedient
to do so.”
The bill-signing event featured
a range of elected offi cials, leaders,
and celebrities — including
“Pose” star Dominique Jackson
— and the new laws drew praise
from a several leaders in the state,
including National Trans Bar Association
co-chair Kristen Browde,
New York Civil Liberties Union executive
director Donna Lieberman,
Sanctuary for Families executive
director Judy Harris Kluger, activist
and founder of Trans Equity
Consulting Cecilia Gentili, and
Princess Janae Place executive director
Jevon Martin, among many
others.
Several incoming members of
the LGBT Caucus were on hand to
welcome the legislation, including
Tiffany Cabán and Lynn Schulman
of Queens, Erik Bottcher
of Manhattan, and Chi Ossé of
Brooklyn
November 18 - 24, 2 4 021 | GayCityNews.com
/GayCityNews.com
