ACT OUT! lobbies local politicians

Hayley Tsukayama News Editor

Seven Vassar students from ACT OUT! traveled to the New York Legislature on Nov. 15 to lobby Poughkeepsie-area legislators to co-sponsor a bill that would amend civil rights for gender discrimination.

The suggested amendment, the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA), would explicitly protect against discrimination based on “gender identity or expression.” Such a law would protect those who identify with a gender different from their assigned biological sex, such as individuals who have undergone sexual reassignment surgery.

According to ACT OUT! co-President Julia Golomb ’08, the amendment would not only protect transsexual and transgender individuals from discrimination, but would also shield individuals identifying with less extreme gender-variant identities such as “butch women and effeminate men.” The amendment would classify offenses based on gender identity or expression as hate crimes.

According to the Empire State Pride Agendas, 13 states, including California and Illinois, have passed similar legislation. New York City, Albany, Buffalo, Ithaca and Rochester have passed gender identity or expression non-discrimination acts, as have Suffolk and Tompkins counties.

Students’ efforts to have the bill passed at the state level have been met with mixed results. In a report to the ACT OUT! executive board, both student groups said that the representatives were very polite and willing to listen to their concerns.

Students from ACT OUT! and the Bard College student organization Trans Action Initiative visited two local politicians, hoping to discuss and gain support for the bill. Golomb, Alison Abreu-Garcia ’08, Leslie Hamilton ’10 and Casey Katims ’10 visited 100th district representative Tom Kirwan’s office.

Kirwan’s constituency includes residents of the City of Poughkeepsie, as well as areas in Orange and Ulster Counties.

Clare Ciervo ’09, Albert Apodaca ’08 and Katt Tolman ’09 joined Bard students Jaan Williams, Christina Bearer and Nicholas Schwartz to speak with Marcus Molinaro of New York’s 103rd district. Molinaro represents Dutchess and Columbia counties, including Annandale-on-Hudson. The students visiting Molinaro were later joined by Bard’s Dean of Students Erin Cannan.

Kirwan, a Republican, said he could support the bill for moral reasons. “My biggest concern is the bathroom situation,” said Kirwan. He explained that he was specifically “concerned that men might make claims [to be women] just to get into the ladies’ restroom.”

Kirwan acknowledged that this was a “hardly cosmic” issue, but a practical one he felt was not properly addressed. He was concerned that the bill would make it difficult for businesses to fire transgender or transsexual employees, regardless of the quality of their work.

He did, however, acknowledge that there was a generation gap on issues involving gender and sexuality. “For example,” he said, “on the gay marriage thing, I’d imagine if I went to Vassar most of the folks would be in favor of it. But if I went to the AARP, it would be different. It’s just an age thing.”

Overall, the students who visited Kirwan’s office were pleased with their reception. Kirwan agreed, saying “It went well. It was a nice change of pace, as this isn't my number one topic,” Kirwan said. He added that he is still unsure as to whether or not he will support GENDA because he had not yet read through the bill.

Republican Assemblyman Marc Molinaro was pleased with his visit with the students as well. “I admire the fact that they would walk into an office where they might not expect the best reception. I appreciate their sincerity and interest.”

Molinaro has a mixed voting record on gender issues. He explained that any hesitation he felt over voting for GENDA was due to concerns that previous bills did not define gender, resulting in a discrepancy with past legislation. As this bill explicitly defines the phrase as “gender identity, self image, appearance, behavior, or expression,” Molinaro said that he does “intend to support GENDA” because it does not group identity and expression with gender.

He also sees GENDA as an extension of the current Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act, which he supported. “All individuals deserve protection under the law,” he said, “whether there are those who accept [certain lifestyles] or not, everyone should live without fear of discrimination.”

ACT OUT! and Trans Action Initiative visited the offices as members of the Hudson Valley Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgendered Questioning (LGBTQ), a local advocacy organization for LGTBQ rights. ACT OUT! also petitioned in the College Center in the days leading up to the visits, collecting 130 signatures from Vassar students, staff and faculty in support of the bill.