Time for NY leaders to support equal rights for transgender

Kelly Metzgar

June is LGBT Pride Month, a time when community members, family, friends and advocates of the transgender, lesbian, gay and bisexual communities come to acknowledge and celebrate the gift of diversity that is unique to each of us. Many communities host "Pride Parades" where community members outwardly profess their TLGB affiliation. This is a time to acknowledge the many accomplishments of TLGB members as well as the strides in our current social/political arenas.

We can look back on the SONDA legislation of the past decade which included sexual orientation as a part of New York state's current human rights laws. The end of the federal Defense of Marriage Act made way for the Marriage Equality Act, allowing all persons, regardless of their attractions, to enter into a marriage contract with the person "they" love rather than a person whom society dictates they "should." We have just recently seen the federal government put an end to the transgender exclusion clause in Medicare coverage to help enable transgender people to live the lives they were meant to live as the persons they know themselves to be. In 2010, the Dignity for All Students Act passed, allowing specific protections from discrimination and bullying on the basis of gender identity and expression in the state's public schools. The mayor of the city of Rochester, New York, Lovely Warren, announced just last month (May 2014) transgender city employees will now be eligible for transition-related medical coverage. Earlier this month, Gov. Cuomo announced an update to the state's policy around changing gender markers on birth certificates, removing the surgical requirement and making it easier and safer for transgender New Yorkers to match official documentation with their gender identity.

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