NY Gov. Cuomo to outlaw transgender ‘discrimination’ by executive fiat
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| English: Andrew Cuomo, 11th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and 64th New York State Attorney General as a candidate for Governor of New York, outside of City Hall, little American flags on his tie. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
New
York Governor Andrew Cuomo says he will create statewide regulations
"protecting" transgender people.
"The
fair, legal interpretation and definition of a person's sex includes gender
[self-] identity," Cuomo said at a fundraiser in Manhattan.
At
the Empire State Pride Agenda fundraiser on Thursday, Cuomo said his newly
imposed law will be enacted by executive order within a week. The sweeping new
transgender rule will force compliance in the workplace, in the housing
industry, and in public services and facilities. It will impact public and
private retail stores, hospitals, education and recreation facilities, rental
establishments, and other businesses.
Cuomo
will be the first governor to compel transgender "discrimination"
laws by executive fiat. Other states have enacted such laws through voting in
their legislatures. But gay activists in New York were frustrated because the
state's transgender bill had been stalled for years.
New
Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms (NYCF) accused Cuomo of "overstepping
his bounds" as governor. "Gov. Cuomo intends to effectively amend the
Human Rights Law without consulting the State Legislature," NYCF explained
in a press release. The conservative organization vowed to fight the executive
decree, to the point of suing the state if necessary.
"The
words of the Constitution of the State of New York mean something," NYCF
stated. "The Governor cannot be allowed to usurp the role of the State
Legislature, and the needs of women and girls cannot be brushed aside in a
craven attempt to curry favor with transgender activists."
New
York State Conservative Party (NYSCP) Chairman Michael Long also criticized
Cuomo for going around the legislature to unilaterally enact a law he couldn't
get passed legitimately. "He's starting to consider himself the Czar of
New York," Long commented to the Daily News,
"[w]hich he is not."
When
contacted by LifeSiteNews,
the NYSCP explained that all citizens should be protected from discrimination,
but the transgender bill hasn't passed the state legislature because
conservatives oppose "setting up special categories of people to give them
special privileges and rights."
Gay
activists are "thrilled." The host organization called Cuomo's
pro-homosexual executive decree idea "historic" and noted, "This
sends a message to the country that you can extend protections by any means
necessary." Nicholas Schaefer added that when legislative and judicial
means don't come out in your favor, executive strong-arming indicates that
"there are many ways to get a solution in the fight."
"I
hope that other governors and other leaders follow Cuomo's example," Schaefer
said. Cuomo
said 2002 anti-discrimination legislation for homosexuals was
"flawed" and needed to add transgenders to those specially protected
by the state.
New
Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms also lobbied against the state's proposed
transgender "Bathroom Bill," explaining that the bill "would
force New York employers to accommodate cross-dressing employees in the
workplace, would make New York businesses liable for real or invented
transgressions upon a civil right to 'gender identity or expression,' and would
give intact biological males who assert female gender identities access to
women's locker rooms, changing areas, and restrooms in places of public
accommodation, thus compromising the privacy and safety of women and
girls."
"The
women of New York should ask themselves one question," NYCF advises.
"Would you feel safe if men were allowed to enter women's locker rooms,
changing areas, and restrooms while you were using them?"
NYCF
continues, "The husbands, fathers, grandfathers, uncles, and brothers of
New York should ask similar questions: Do you want men to be allowed to enter
women's locker rooms, changing areas, and restrooms when your wives, daughters,
granddaughters, nieces, and sisters are using them?"
"Should
men who identify as women be allowed to see your female relatives when they are
undressed? Should such men be allowed to undress in front of your female
relatives?"
Cuomo
also pushed the legalization of same-sex marriage through New York's divided
legislature, setting a precedent that many states, and President Obama,
followed.
In
July, Obama's defense secretary announced that the Pentagon is moving to allow
transgenders to serve openly in the military by early next year.
After
Cuomo decrees the new transgender law, there is a 45-day consultation period
before it goes into effect.
Despite
being fanatically pro-abortion and anti-marriage, Cuomo still claims to be a
Roman Catholic Christian. New York Archbishop Timothy Cardinal Dolan admitted that he and the governor "differ"
on issues, but the Cardinal said he would not question that Cuomo is "a
Catholic in good standing."
