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Sprouts
Sprouts Radio from the Grassroots is a 30-minute weekly program featuring radio programs produced at community radio stations or by other independent producers from across the country and sometimes around the world.
This past January, New York State enacted GENDA, the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act. Though the bill had passed the Democratically-controlled New York State Assembly many times, there weren’t enough votes in favor in the State Senate, and the bill stalled for years. Then came the “blue wave” election of 2018, when Democrats won a majority in the State Senate; within days of the beginning of the new session, GENDA was passed by both houses and signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo.
Before GENDA was enacted, a number of municipalities within the state had enacted transgender protections. But without a statewide law, those protections ended as soon as you stepped outside the city border.
Anti-discrimination laws generally identify “protected classes” of people who have been subject to discrimination because of a shared characteristic ” for example, race, religion, sex, and national origin. These laws bar discrimination in areas such as housing, employment, credit, and access to businesses open to the public.
In 2002, the state enacted SONDA, the Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act, which added sexual orientation as a protected class, thus barring discrimination against lesbian, gay, and bisexual people. But some proponents of SONDA believed that protecting transgender people would prevent the bill from passing, so trans protections were excluded. Even in relatively liberal New York State, enacting protections for LGBTQ people is not easy, and it took another 17 years ” until January of 2019 ” before GENDA finally became law in New York State, adding gender identity and gender expression as a protected class.
On this edition, OutCaster Alex talks with Juli Grey-Owens, a longtime transgender activist. Juli was on the board of directors of the Empire State Pride Agenda for six years before it closed and is now the Executive Director of Gender Equality New York. She is also a member of OutCasting’s Advisory Council.
Juli joined us for an interview in 2013 and provided a wide-ranging overview of trans identity. Also in 2013, we spoke with NY State Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, who sponsored GENDA. You can hear both programs on our website, outcastingmedia.org. We can make them available to you for broadcast on request.
Featuring:
Juli Grey-Owens, longtime trans activist and Executive Director of Gender Equality New York; New York State Assemblyman Richard Gottfried; youth participants Alex and Andrew
Credits:
OutCasting youth participants Andrew, Alex, Amalee, Dhruv, Lucas. Executive Producer: Marc Sophos.
