Campaign to Win GENDA in New York State!

There is hope that the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA) has enough votes to pass in the New York State Senate and Assembly in the upcoming weeks.

The time is now to get active and push for the bill to come up for a vote. Empire State Pride Agenda urges you to...

1. Call Senator Tom Duane, lead sponsor of GENDA, at (518) 455-2451. Ask Senator Duane to bring the bill to the floor for a vote in February.

2. Call your own Senator to tell them that you expect them to bring GENDA (S.2406) to the floor and vote in support of it. You can find your State Senator's Albany phone number here.

Here are some talking points for your calls:

-Due to difficulty with job discrimination, one-fifth of transgender New Yorkers have incomes below $10,000 a year.

-28% of transgender New Yorkers have experienced a serious physical or sexual assault motivated by hate.

GENDA has widespread support, 78% of New York voters, Unions representing 2.1 million working New Yorkers, 30 Fortune 500 companies based in cities like Rochester, Corning, New York City and White Plains, and 547 clergy and lay leaders representing over 20 different denominations.

New York Marriage Inequality Protest Tonight!

After marriage equality suffered a 24-38 loss in the NY state senate, advocates are now protesting the outcome and demanding full equality for all residents.

Tonight marks the second rally in response to the vote and is organized by Marriage Equality New York. NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn is also expected to be among the crowd. Signs and noise-makers are highly encouraged.

Thursday, December 3, 2009
6:00pm - 7:30pm
Union Square - North End (17th Street)
17th Street & Broadway
New York, NY

New York Senators On The Fence or Opposed to Same-Sex Marriage

The New York State Senate is in limbo, with a 31-31 split, nobody knows which party is in control, and what legislation will make it before the session ends.

20 senators publicly stated their support for equal marriage, 32 are needed to pass the bill.

The following list of senators are either on the fence or opposed. If you are resident of their district please call, email, and write them and encourage friends and family to follow suit!

On the fence:

3. Brian X. Foley, D-Long Island (Blue Point)
4. Owen H. Johnson, R-Long Island (West Babylon)
6. Kemp Hannon, R-Long Island (Garden City)
13. Hiram Monserrate, D-NYC (Jackson Heights)
15. Joseph Addabbo, Jr., D-NYC (Ozone Park)
19. John Sampson, D-NYC (Brooklyn)
24. Andrew Lanza, R-NYC (Staten Island)
36. Ruth Hassell-Thompson, D-Bronx/Westchester (Williamsbridge)
38. Thomas Morahan, R-Rockland/Orange (Clarkstown)
40. Vincent Leibell, R-Westchester (Patterson)
42. John Bonacic, R-Delaware/Sullivan/Orange/Ulster Counties
43. Roy McDonald, R-Upstate (Wilton)
49. David Valesky, D-Upstate (Syracuse/Onondaga/Madison Counties)
55. James Alesi, R-Upstate (East Rochester)

Opposed:

1. Kenneth LaValle, R-Long Island (Port Jefferson)
2. John J. Flanagan, R-Long Island (East Northport)
5. Carl Marcellino, R-Long Island (Syosset)
8. Charles Fuschillo, R-Long Island (Merrick)
9. Dean Skelos, R-Long Island (Rockville Centre)
10. Shirley Huntley, D-NYC (Jamaica)
11. Frank Padavan, R-NYC (Bellerose)
12. George Onorato, D-NYC (Astoria)
22. Martin Golden, R-NYC (Bay Ridge)
27. Carl Kruger, D-NYC (Brooklyn)
32. Rubén Díaz, D-NYC (Soundview)
39. Bill Larkin, R-Westchester (New Windsor)
41. Stephen Saland, R-Westchester (Poughkeepsie)
44. Hugh Farley, R-Upstate (Schenectady)
45. Betty Little, R-Upstate (Queensbury)
47. Joseph Griffo, R-Upstate (Rome)
48. Darrel Aubertine, D-Upstate (Cape Vincent)
50. John DeFrancisco, R-Upstate (Syracuse/Onondaga Counties)
51. James Seward, R-Upstate (Milford)
52. Thomas W. Libous, R-Upstate (Binghamton)
53. George H. Winner, Jr., R-Upstate (Elmira)
54. Michael Nozzolio, R-Upstate (Fayette)
56. Joseph Robach, R-Upstate (Greece)
57. Catharine Young, R-Upstate (Olean)
58. William Stachowski, D-Upstate (Hamburg)
59. Dale Volker, R-Upstate (Depew)
61. Michael Ranzenhofer, R-Upstate (Clarence)
62. George Maziarz, R-Upstate (Newfane)

Use the New Yorkers for Marriage Equality form to identify your state senator and call them urging for their support.