Protection To A 'T'

While we watch states like Virginia work overtime to remove the LGBT community from laws against discrimination, up in New York state they are focusing on protecting the T in LGBT.

The New York State assembly passed a bill yesterday that would protect transgender people under the state's Human Rights Law. The 91-40 vote on the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act [GENDA] actually came into being with bipartisan support.

Hmmm, maybe they could teach that to US Congress.

Now, this is the third time GENDA has passed in the assembly though it has yet to pass in the Senate, and embattled Governor David Paterson recently issued an executive order to ban discrimination based on gender identity and expression for state employees.

Currently, there are only 13 states and Washington, D.C. that have laws to protect transgender people from employment, financial, public accommodation, and housing discrimination.

But we could all take a page from the New York assembly's book.