Statement by State Senator Brad Hoylman on Governor Cuomo’s Executive Action on Transgender Rights

NEW YORK – Senator Brad Hoylman (D-Manhattan) released the following statement in response to Governor Cuomo’s announcement today of executive action to protect transgender New Yorkers from discrimination:

“Transgender rights are part of the unfinished business of the LGBT civil rights movement in New York and I commend Governor Cuomo for taking this bold and courageous step of enacting housing and employment protections for transgender people through regulation. Because of the Governor's actions today, soon thousands of New Yorkers will no longer be considered second-class citizens simply because they identify as transgender. 

“The Gender Expression Nondiscrimination Act (GENDA), sponsored by Senator Squadron and Assembly Member Gottfried, has been blocked from consideration for years by the Republican majority in the State Senate. As the only openly-LGBT person in the Senate, I'm extremely grateful to Governor Cuomo for taking this historic step and look forward to working with him, advocates, and my Democratic Senate colleagues to codify his actions in a future legislative session."