One of many central proposals sponsored by Council Member Tiffany Cabán, would require the Mayor’s Workplace of Fairness and Racial Justice to supply public data on authorized protections out there to TGNCNBI people.
Picture by John McCarten/Metropolis Council pool
The Metropolis Council on Thursday permitted a broad legislative bundle aimed toward strengthening civil rights protections and healthcare entry for transgender, gender non-conforming, non-binary, and intersex (TGNCNBI) people, marking some of the complete native efforts within the nation to safeguard gender-diverse communities.
The slate of payments is available in response to a number of federal rollbacks by President Donald Trump’s administration. It additionally bolsters metropolis infrastructure and assist techniques for TGNCNBI New Yorkers and guests.
A few of the actions taken by the Trump administration to date threatening transgender rights have included makes an attempt to axe gender-affirming medical care, eradicating references to transgender individuals from federal web sites and databases, banning transgender individuals from serving within the navy, and terminating range, fairness, and inclusion packages.
Queens Council Member Tiffany Cabán, sponsor of one of many key measures, Introduction 1200-A, stated the laws “ensures people’s gender identities are seen, are affirmed, and marked in our city records.”
The invoice mandates that the Mayor’s Workplace of Fairness and Racial Justice present public steerage on authorized protections, hate crime assets, gender-affirming care, and authorized identify and gender marker modifications. A citywide media marketing campaign and a proper outreach report are additionally required.
On the steps of Metropolis Corridor Thursday morning, Cabán criticized hospitals like NYU Langone and Mount Sinai for beforehand halting youth gender-affirming care for kids according to Trump’s govt order, asserting, “I want to make it clear that here in New York City and New York state, it is the law to provide gender affirming care. An executive order does not supersede our city and state laws.”
Introduction 1201-A, sponsored by Brooklyn Council Member Shahana Hanif, expands town’s non-public proper of authorized motion to incorporate interference with gender-affirming care. The “Affirm Act” permits anybody touring to New York for care to counter lawsuits from states with anti-trans insurance policies.
“This bill will give our trans and gender non-conforming communities the legal power against those who attempt to criminalize or punish their care,” stated Hanif. “New York City is and must remain a safe harbor, a place of protection, dignity, and access for all who seek gender care in our five boroughs.”
Different measures embrace Introduction 246-A by Brooklyn Council Member Crystal Hudson, which mandates an “X” gender marker choice on metropolis varieties, and Introduction 1203-A by Council Member Chi Ossé, requiring a metropolis evaluation of companies for newly arrived TGNCNBI migrants. Ossé additionally sponsored Introduction 1204-A, ordering a Division of Well being research on well being inequities going through TGNCNBI and intersex people, with a well being agenda due by 2028.
Activists rallied alongside legislators forward of the passage of the bundle defending the rights of trans and gender-nonconforming New YorkersPhoto by John McCarten/Metropolis Council pool
The laws builds on the 2024 passage of New York State’s Equal Rights Modification, which added gender identification and different classes to the state structure’s listing of protected courses.
“This is the strongest package of trans safety bills passed in the country so far,” stated Diana Adams, govt director of the Chosen Household Regulation Middle, which consulted on the laws.
Along with the payments, the Council handed a number of resolutions urging state-level motion. These embrace requires stronger protections for private well being knowledge and stricter necessities for hospitals to observe trans well being care requirements.
Decision 771, launched by Manhattan Council Member Erik Bottcher, helps a state invoice that will improve protections for private well being knowledge. Decision 774, from Council Member Hudson, calls on the New York State Division of Well being to require hospitals to observe the World Skilled Affiliation for Transgender Well being’s Requirements of Care.
Queens Council Member Lynn Schulman sponsored each Decision 781, which seeks to restrict out-of-state entry to New York’s Prescription Monitoring Program knowledge for particular medicines, and Decision 793, which backs a invoice to permit sufferers to limit disclosures of delicate well being data associated to abortion and gender-affirming care.
“We want to make sure that people don’t have any of that sensitive data… misused against them,” Adams stated, emphasizing the broader democratic stakes: “Cities and states can set their own family policy, health policies, and human rights policies.”
Whereas celebrating the passage of the laws Thursday morning, Kei Williams, govt director of the New Satisfaction Agenda, stated that to fulfill the urgency of the second, the Metropolis should strengthen funding in trans healthcare, housing, and employment.
“Across the country, a tidal wave of anti-trans legislation is crashing down, targeting trans youth, criminalizing gender affirming care and threatening providers with legal action,” stated Williams. “These aren’t just policy debates. They are direct attacks on our safety, on our health, and on our right to exist. While extremists try to legislate us out of public life, New York must do the opposite. New York must protect. We must invest and we must lead.”
