The New York Senate ended its
legislative session on Friday without taking a vote on a transgender
protections bill.
The Gender Expression
Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA) seeks to ban discrimination based on
gender identity and expression in the areas of employment, housing,
education, credit and public accommodations. New York outlawed such
discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in 2002.
The measure faced its final legislative
hurdle in the Senate, which is controlled by a coalition of
Republicans and independent Democrats, after passage in the
Democrat-controlled Assembly for the sixth time in April.
The New York Times announced its
support for the measure in a June 12 editorial.
“New York should not lag on this
important civil rights issue,” the paper's editorial board wrote.
Gay rights groups lamented the loss.
“We were defeated by the adamant
refusal of the Senate leadership to bring the measure to the floor
for an up-or-down vote,” Nathan M. Schaefer, executive director of
the Empire State Pride Agenda, said in an email to supporters.
The defeat comes just days after
Delaware became the 17th state to approve a law protecting
transgender people.
(Related: Delaware
Governor Jack Markell signs transgender protections bill.)