New Yorkers are celebrating Pride Month in a state that is a newly designated safe haven for trans youth, families and their health care providers.
The bill – which Gov. Kathy Hochul signed on Sunday ahead of New York City’s annual Pride March – is in contrast to a record number of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation being introduced nationwide.
“I stand together with champions of this movement who have joined us today to say no more,” Hochul said. “We will give you the template, rest of the country. We will show you what you need to do.”
More than 520 bills were introduced in state legislatures this year as of May, according to the Human Rights Campaign. And a record 70 bills have already been enacted this year, including 15 laws that ban gender-affirming care for trans youth.
In contrast, New York – where the Stonewall Riots took place decades earlier, igniting the movement – continues to maintain a political reputation for some of the most progressive legislation for LGBTQ Americans across the country.
And Hochul isn’t the first legislator to compare her state’s legislation to other’s: after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the so-called “Don’t Say Gay,” bill into law last year, New York City Mayor Eric Adams erected digital billboards encouraging Floridians to move to his city instead.
In her speech, Hochul referenced the challenges those in other parts of the world – including other states – face without having “the same rights that we do here in New York.”
“Throughout the past, we’ve had to march together, we’ve had to challenge the status quo, we’ve had to stand up against injustices in every form,” she said. “And we’ve won those battles.”
The safe haven bill ensures that trans children will not be separated from parents who help them seek out gender-affirming care and prohibits the local authorities from assisting other states’ investigations into families seeking legal gender-affirming care. It also protects the health information of people who come to New York for this kind of care – and the health care providers who choose to aid them.
In addition to the safe haven bill, Hochul also signed three new laws updating legal documents in the state previously containing “outdated and stigmatizing terminology” in regards to sexual orientation and gender identity. Earlier this month, the governor also appointed the first openly trans male judge to the New York State of Claims.
Civil rights groups applauded Sunday’s safe haven bill.
“In the face of nationwide attacks targeting transgender communities – and transgender youth in particular – this legislation ensures that New York will not participate in other states’ attempts to punish people for seeking or helping someone access gender-affirming care,” Donna Lieberman, the executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement.
Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, who co-sponsored the safe haven bill, said that the measure “welcomes transgender children and their families by protecting them and their physicians.”
“This legislation comes at a crucial time as right-wing lawmakers are waging a war against transgender children and their families across the country, with twenty states having already banned or restricted gender-affirming care for young people,” he said in a statement on Sunday.
But civil rights groups have also criticized New York City – and the state – for past actions and legislation concerning its LGBTQ residents. Last year, LGBTQ New Yorkers protested Adams’ hiring of two people to his administration with long histories of homophobic and transphobic remarks. And a recent decision from the Manhattan district attorney not to classify a string of attacks targeted at Manhattan’s gay bar scene as hate crimes led to some criticism.
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