Res. No. 664

Resolution calling on Congress to pass, and the President to sign, S. Res. 144/H. Res. 269, recognizing the duty of the Federal Government to develop and implement a Transgender Bill of Rights to protect and codify the rights of transgender and nonbinary people under the law and ensure their access to medical care, shelter, safety, and economic security.

Council Members Hudson, Cabán, Schulman, Ossé, Farías, Richardson Jordan, Brewer, Ung, Hanif, Restler and Gutiérrez

 Whereas, According to a 2022 study by the University of California at Los Angeles’s Williams Institute, an estimated 1.6 million people in the United States (U.S.) over the age of thirteen identify as transgender; and

Whereas, In November 2022, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) reported that 32 transgender and gender-nonconforming people in the U.S. died as victims of hate crimes; and

Whereas, According to the Trans Legislation Tracker, 2023 marks the fourth consecutive “record-breaking” year of increased legislative efforts to disenfranchise transgender people from accessing basic healthcare services, uniform legal recognition and protection, employment, educational and athletic opportunities, and the right to openly exist in public life; and

Whereas, According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU),  between January and March of 2023, 450 bills-from primarily southern state legislatures-were introduced and advanced to committees, with nearly two dozen bills passed into law that restrict freedom of expression and access to equal opportunities for LGBTQ+ individuals; and

Whereas, The ACLU report compared the 450 anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced within the first three months of 2023 to the total of 315 bills, previously introduced by state legislatures during the entire 2022 session, and noted the alarming and growing trend away from ensuring civil rights with respect to public services, accommodations, employment, housing, and health care for the LGBTQ+ and transgender community; and

Whereas, According to HRC, anti-transgender legislation has sought to limit discussion of LGBTQ+ topics in schools, restricted gender-affirming health care, and serves to prevent transgender children from playing sports on teams or using bathrooms that align with their gender identities; and

Whereas, A PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll report found 43 percent of Americans to be in support of criminalizing gender-transition-related medical care for minors as opposed to 54 percent who oppose such laws; and

                     Whereas, S. Res. 144, sponsored by U.S. Senator Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and H. Res. 269, sponsored by U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-WA-7), was introduced on March 30, 2023-the International Transgender Day of Visibility-in order to create a comprehensive framework of protections to ensure medical care, shelter, safety and economic security in response to escalating attacks upon the transgender community; and

                     Whereas, According to the New York State Department of Health, in 2022, New York State was home to over one million adults who identify as LGBTQ+,  with an estimated 0.5% of New York State adults identifying as transgender or gender non-confirming; and

                     Whereas, According to HRC, the “epidemic” of violent incidents targeting the transgender and gender non-conforming community in New York City has resulted in at least 11 fatalities in 2023; now, therefore, be it

                     Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls upon Congress to pass, and the President to sign, S. Res.144/H. Res.269, recognizing the duty of the Federal Government to develop and implement a Transgender Bill of Rights to protect and codify the rights of transgender and nonbinary people under the law and ensure their access to medical care, shelter, safety, and economic security.

LS 9583

5/15/23

CD