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.)