Issue Position: Human Rights

Issue Position

Everyone deserves to live with respect, no matter their race, ethnicity, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other aspect of their identity. As many of these rights are challenged nationally, we have an obligation to affirm and protect the rights of all New Yorkers. We must pass GENDA and the Child Victims Act, and ban the harmful practice of conversion therapy.

STATS
More than 80 percent of LGBTQ youth report experiencing harassment at school.

Incidents of hate crimes increased 18.9 percent between 2015 and 2016.
Conversion therapy is still legal in New York!
ACTION
Pass the Child Victims Act which would extend the statute of limitations for victims of child sexual abuse. This bill would allow victims to file criminal cases until age 28 and civil cases until their 50th birthdays.

Pass the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act which would prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression and would include gender expression under hate crime law.

Ban conversion therapy.

Recognize a third gender option for non-binary and gender non-conforming individuals including on driver's licenses and birth certificates.

Prohibit anyone convicted of a hate crime from purchasing a firearm.

Pass the Child-Parent Security Act to overturn New York's ban on paid surrogacy and make it easier for families who use a surrogate to have a child to be recognized as parents.

Source