News
2006-12-15
N.J. lawmakers
pass transgender rights bill
The New Jersey
state assembly on Thursday passed a bill that would
make the Garden State the eighth in the nation to outlaw
The New Jersey
state assembly on Thursday passed a bill that would
make the Garden State the eighth in the nation to outlaw
discrimination based on gender identity or expression.
The bill, passed by the state senate on Monday,
now goes to Gov. Jon Corzine, who is expected to sign
it.
“The
legislation in New Jersey represents a huge civil rights
victory for transgender communities,” Mara
Keisling, executive director of the National Center
for Transgender Equality, said in a statement. “I
applaud the amazing efforts of the Gender Rights
Advocacy Association of New Jersey, Garden State
Equality, and local advocates who showed that when we
stand up for what’s right, we can win. While we
celebrate that one third of the U.S. population is now
covered, NCTE continues to fight for explicitly
transgender-inclusive protections on the federal
level.”
New
Jersey’s new law prohibits discriminatory practices
in employment, housing, and public accommodations
based on “gender identity or
expression”—the legislative language that
covers transgender people. Once signed, the state will
join California, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota,
New Mexico, and Rhode Island in legislating statewide
transgender-inclusive nondiscrimination protections. These
state-level laws, in addition similar
transgender-inclusive protections in the District of
Columbia and in over 80 cities and counties, now protect one
third of the U.S. population based on gender identity or
expression. (The Advocate)
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