HONOREE
JOANN PRINZIVALLI
PIONEERING TRANSGENDER RIGHTS ADVOCATE,
NEW YORK TRANSGENDER RIGHTS ORGANIZATION
Joann Prinzivalli is an attorney and activist with a long record of
transgender advocacy and civil rights work — in Westchester County,
New York City, and across the state.
Immediately after the State Legislature approved the Sexual
Orientation Non-Discrimination Act in late 2002 without providing
protections for transgender and gender-nonconforming New Yorkers,
Joann wrote the fi rst draft of the Gender Equality Non-Discrimination
Act (GENDA) to cure that omission.
The fi ght for GENDA was a long tough slog. During those years,
Joann was an early member of the New York Association for Gender Rights Advocacy (NYAGRA) working group.
She later organized the New York Transgender Rights Organization (NYTRO), which was dedicated to grassroots
transgender activism statewide and in local communities centered on advocacy for GENDA and other trans-inclusive
legislation.
It was not until Democrats captured control of the State Senate in 2018, in that year’s blue wave, that GENDA fi nally
won passage — in the opening days of the new legislative session in January 2019.
In Westchester County, Joann was the co-founder of the transgender support group at The LOFT, the LGBTQ community
center in White Plains where she has served on the board. She has been a member of the Westchester County
Executive’s LGBT Advisory Board since its inception in 2002, and wrote the trans-inclusive language adopted for the
county’s Human Rights and Fair Housing Laws.
Joann has also served as a board member, secretary, and chair of the New York Civil Liberties Union Hudson Valley
regional chapter. In White Plains, she is a Democratic Party district leader.
In 2009, Joann initiated a lawsuit to compel the New York City Board of Health to revise its rules for city-born
transgender people to amend their birth certifi cate to refl ect their gender identity. She successfully defended against the
city’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit, which was then taken up by the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund. That
looming suit was instrumental in helping transgender activists negotiate with the state in 2014 and the city in 2015 to
dramatically reduce the burden of the requirements facing trans people wishing to correct their birth certifi cate.
From 2007 until 2015, Joann added a transgender presence to the board of the Paul Rapoport Foundation, which
provided support for programs and organizations addressing LGBTQ social services, healthcare, legal rights, and
community empowerment throughout the New York metropolitan area.
Professionally, Joann Prinzivalli is the chief counsel for Insignia National Title Agency, a title insurance agency located
in Manhattan. She previously worked as vice president and chief underwriting counsel for Stewart Title Insurance
Company and has more than 37 years of experience with title insurance underwriters and agents.
Joann received her bachelor’s degree from Notre Dame College of Staten Island and, in 1978, her J.D. from St. John’s
University School of Law, where she was editor of The Forum.
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