Paterson to Extend Protection to Transgender Employees

Paterson to Extend Protection to Transgender Employees
NY Times
By JEREMY W. PETERS
Gov. David A. Paterson is preparing to issue an executive order that would include transgender people in antidiscrimination policies that govern state agencies.

The order, which the governor plans to sign on Wednesday, represents the broadest protections ever extended to transgender public employees in New York State. A number of cities throughout the state, including Buffalo, Albany, Rochester and New York City, already prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity or gender expression.
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“It has been a long road, and I think New York is behind,” said Dru Levasseur, a transgender rights attorney for Lambda Legal, a national advocacy group. “So this will bring New York up to par with other states that are taking the lead on workplace fairness.”
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In issuing the executive order, Mr. Paterson is exercising the limits of his authority to impose legal protections on transgender people in New York. The order applies only to state employees who work under the authority of the executive branch. It does not apply to anyone in the private sector.