|
Public
Employee Press LAGIC
members trek to capital for Equality and Justice Day District Council 37 sponsored a bus to Albany
April 29 for Equality and Justice Day, a mass lobbying effort organized by the
Empire State Pride Agenda advocacy group.
While lesbian, gay, bisexual
and transgender (LGBT) members of DC 37 have participated for years in the annual
trek to lobby state legislators on issues affecting the gay community, DC 37 LAGIC
Committee Chair Judith Arroyo, a nurse and president of Local 436, said this was
the first time the union sponsored the trip.
The lobbyists focused on three
bills that would protect LGBT youth, recognize same-sex marriage and end discrimination.
The Dignity for All Students Act would ensure that public schools have an environment
free of harassment and discrimination based on race, national origin, ethnic group,
religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender (including gender identity and
expression) and sex. The Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act would outlaw
discrimination against transgender people. The group continues to lobby lawmakers
for marriage equality and recognition of same sex marriages to give gay marriage
partners the same rights and protections as married heterosexuals.
Last
year the ESPA convinced the state Assembly to pass the Dignity for Students Act
and the marriage equality bill, but neither made it to a vote in the Senate. This
year, the advocacy group targeted the Senate and lobbied 173 lawmakers including
Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and Minority Leader Malcolm Smith for support.
The
LGBT lobbyists and allies shared their stories and made the case for marriage
equality, safety in schools for LGBT youth and transgender nondiscrimination protections.
These personal interactions are crucial in building support, said the Prideagenda.org
Web site.
Its important because there are certain rights that
married couples have simply because they are married, explained Arroyo.
If a married person is injured on the job, gets Workers Comp and dies,
the spouse continues to receive the benefit. But not in a domestic partnership.
Empire
State Pride Agenda also sponsors Pride in Our Union, a program that encourages
New York unions to be free of discrimination and to bargain and advocate on behalf
of LGBT members. The organization is building a coalition of unions that
will work in solidarity for respect for diversity and advance the goal of social
and economic justice for all.
Arroyo said, We are trying to gain
equal rights. | |