2007/2008 Legislative Session
Key LGBT Bills
Legislative Scorecards
The Pride Agenda also supports the following bills (listed in numerical order):
- “Safe and Fair Treatment for Youth (SAFETY) Act” (A.1613/Scarborough)
Prohibits bias-based harassment, bullying and discrimination, including on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and expression, in juvenile justice and other facilities operated by the Office of Children and Family Services.
- Replacing marriage with civil unions (A.2021/Glick)
Does away with marriage in New York state law and replaces it with civil unions.
- Bereavement leave for domestic partners (A.2196/Glick)
Prohibits employers who provide funeral leave to employees from denying leave on the same basis to same-sex committed partners.
- Family care leave for domestic partners (A.2309/Glick)
Allows employees to use sick time to care for a sick family member, including domestic partners.
- “Healthy Teens Act” (A.2856/Gottfried)(S.1342/Winner)
Creates a grant program to provide age-appropriate, medically accurate, LGBT culturally competent sex education in New York public schools.
- Health coverage for surviving domestic partners of state employees (A.2883/Brennan)
Makes surviving spouse or domestic partner of state employee who died prior to retirement eligible to use earned but unused sick leave to continue health insurance.
- Availability of domestic partner insurance (A.3251/O’Donnell)(S.3873/C. Johnson)
Requires insurance companies to sell domestic partner insurance policies on the same basis as spousal insurance coverage.
- Prohibiting sexual orientation discrimination in insurance (A.3483/Gottfried)
Prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in insurance underwriting.
- Removing tax on domestic partner benefits (A.3614/O’Donnell)(S.1833/Duane)
Makes domestic partner benefits (like spousal benefits) exempt from state and local taxes.
- Domestic partnership legislation (A.3869/Glick)(S.1992/Schneiderman)
Creates a domestic partnership mechanism for New York State with concomitant rights.
- Designation of medical decision-maker on hospital admission form (A.3976/Perry)(S.1981/Parker)
Requires hospital admission forms to allow patients to designate a domestic partner to make medical decisions on a patient’s behalf.
- Accidental death benefits for domestic partners of line of duty officers (A.5709/Glick)
Extends survivor benefits to domestic partners of in the line of duty public employees.
- Workers Compensation survivor benefits for domestic partners (A. 5845/John)
Permanently amends workers compensation law to provide survivor benefits to domestic partners of employees killed on the job, retroactive to September 11, 2001.
- Equal access to Family Courts for domestic partners (A.6060/Weinstein)(S.6783/Winner)
Expands the definition of family to allow access to Family Courts for same-sex partners and unmarried domestic partners for things like orders of protection.
- Medical decision-making by domestic partners (A.6993/Gottfried)
“Family Health Care Decision Act,” creating legal authority for relatives and friends (including domestic partners) to make medical decisions when patients are unable to do so for themselves.
- Prohibits sexual orientation discrimination in state contracting (S.1807/Duane)
Adds sexual orientation as a prohibited discrimination category for parties contracting with the State of New York for goods or services.
- “Dignity for All Youth Act” (S.2831/Duane)
Authorizes the NYS Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) to establish policies and procedures affording all children in OCFS facilities such as juvenile detention centers an environment free of harassment and discrimination.
The Pride Agenda opposes the following bill:
- New York State Defense of Marriage Act (A.4978/Seminerio)(S.2800/Maltese)
Makes marriage between two persons of the same sex absolutely void.