E M P I R E S T A T E P R I D E A G E N D A

PRESS RELEASE
16 West 22nd Street New York, NY 10010 (212) 627-0305 (212) 627-4136
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Press Contacts: Josh Meltzer (212) 627-0305

NYS Assembly passes bill banning transgender

discrimination
Assembly vote important step in putting pressure on Senate to act

Albany, New York, June 3, 2008 – Today the New York State Assembly voted 102-33 to amend the state’s
human rights law to include anti-discrimination protections based upon gender identity and expression. The bill
(A.6584a), known as the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA) bans discrimination against
transgender people in housing, employment, credit, public accommodations, and other areas of everyday life.

“The Assembly has solidly demonstrated once again that it is the leader on civil rights and providing equality
for our community where it didn’t exist before in New York,” said Empire State Pride Agenda Executive
Director Alan Van Capelle. “We thank Assemblymember Richard Gottfried for his sponsorship and steadfast
support of this bill. We also thank Speaker Silver and the Assembly Majority, the 74 cosponsors and the 102
Assemblymembers who passed this bill and understand the importance of providing an umbrella of anti-
discrimination protection for all New Yorkers.”

First introduced in 2003, GENDA has a record 74 co-sponsors this year in the Assembly, up from 69 last year.
The Pride Agenda, the over 200 organizational members of the GENDA Coalition and the LGBT community
have been working closely with Assemblymember Gottfried and other Assembly supporters to build the
momentum for passage that resulted in today’s vote.

“Transgender New Yorkers are in constant fear that they will lose their jobs, get kicked out of their home, or
simply be denied service when they go into a restaurant. It goes without saying that these members of our
community should be able to go about the business of living their lives openly and without fear,” said Pride
Agenda Executive Director Alan Van Capelle.

Transgender activist Melissa Sklarz of New York City said about today’s vote, “Thank you New York State
Assembly for standing up to say ‘no’ to discrimination against transgender New Yorkers. I can think of years
of personal struggle in the job market and workplace without any legal protection and am now hopeful that
there is a real chance that the next generation of transgender New Yorkers will not face these same difficulties.”

In terms of the Senate, the Pride Agenda’s Van Capelle said, “We now look to the New York State Senate to
close this gaping hole in the New York State Human Rights Law. Governor Paterson has already said that he
will sign this bill into law once the Senate acts.”

“My message to the Senate Majority is this: It’s now time to do what 78 percent of New York voters believe is
the right thing to do and end this discrimination once and for all this year. Thirteen other states already have
laws providing protections based upon gender identity and expression, along with 96 cities and counties. We
also know that the private sector is far ahead of government with 153 Fortune 500 companies, including 26

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based here in New York having policies in place that protect their transgender employees. Clearly, our state is
lagging behind.”

In the Senate, GENDA (S.3753a) is sponsored by Senator Tom Duane and has 17 cosponsors, up from 14 last
year. While none of the cosponsors are members of the Republican Majority, the Pride Agenda’s legislative
scorecard shows GENDA to have the support of 27 Senators, including three Republicans.

Contact Information for Local Transgender

Advocates Long Island:
Juli Owens
Albany/Capitol Region: (917) 647-9479
Moonhawk River Stone
(518) 506-1261 New York City:
Melissa Sklarz (Manhattan)
Buffalo: (347) 886-7961 (cell)
Patti Jones (212) 869-8926 x.5 (w)
(716) 839-2434 (h)
(716) 875-8233 (w) D’Angelo Johnson (Queens)
(347) 869-6625
Hudson Valley:
JoAnn Prinzivalli Rochester:
(914) 428-8447 Pam Barres
(585) 381-2121

NYS localities, states and NYS-based Fortune 500 Companies with Transgender Protections

A number of New York localities have already enacted their own ordinances prohibiting discrimination based on gender
identity and expression, including: Albany, Buffalo, Ithaca, New York City, Rochester (including the Rochester School
District), Rhinebeck (covering town employees only), and Suffolk and Tompkins Counties. Thirteen states and the District
of Columbia have passed laws that provide non-discrimination protections based upon gender identity and expression. They
are: Colorado (2007), Iowa (2007), Oregon (2007), Vermont (2007), New Jersey (2007), Washington (2006), Hawaii (2005),
Illinois (2005), Maine (2005), District of Columbia (2005), California (2003), New Mexico (2003), Rhode Island (2001)
and Minnesota (1993).

Support in the private sector and general public for these kinds of measures have been growing exponentially in recent
years. Currently, 153 Fortune 500 companies have policies in place that provide non-discrimination protections based upon
gender identity and expression. Twenty-six (26) are headquartered in New York State. They are: American Express
(NYC), Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. (NYC), Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYC), CBS Corporation (NYC), Citigroup (NYC),
Consolidated Edison (NYC), Corning (Corning), Eastman Kodak (Rochester), Estee Lauder (NYC), Goldman Sachs
(NYC), IBM (Armonk), ITT Industries (White Plains), J.P. Morgan Chase (NYC), Keyspan (NYC), Lehman Brothers
(NYC), Liz Claiborne (NYC), Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYC), Merrill Lynch (NYC), MetLife (NYC),
Morgan Stanley (NYC), New York Life Insurance (NYC), PepsiCo (Purchase), Pfizer (NYC), Starwood Hotels & Resorts
(White Plains), Time Warner, Inc. (NYC) and Viacom (NYC).
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Founded in 1990, the Empire State Pride Agenda is New York's statewide civil rights organization committed
to achieving full equality and justice for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) New Yorkers and our
families. The Pride Agenda fights for these objectives by: educating the public, elected officials and
policymakers; building coalitions and mobilizing allies; and, organizing and empowering the LGBT community.