The South Asian Lesbian & Gay Association of New York City (SALGA) serves to promote awareness, tolerance, acceptance, empowerment and safe spaces for sexual minorities and people of all gender identities, who trace their heritage to South Asia or who identify as South Asian. Our mission is to enable community members to establish cultural visibility and take a stand against oppression and discrimination in all its forms.  We pledge to encourage leadership development, provide multi-generational support, work towards immigration advocacy, address health issues such as HIV / AIDS, and foster political involvement in the interest of creating a more tolerant society.

“GENDA” Passes Assembly

Posted: March 4th, 2010 | Author: Deen | Filed under: Blog | Tags: , , | No Comments »

ALBANY - The bill to protect transgender people under the State Human Rights Law was approved by the Assembly today by a vote of 91-40, with bi-partisan support.  The Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA) is now in the State Senate Investigations and Government Operations Committee.  If it passes the Senate, Governor David Paterson has said he will sign it into law.

“This is an important and overdue protection of human rights,” said Assembly Member Richard N. Gottfried, sponsor of bill, A.5710-A.  “The experience of transgender individuals, and the discrimination they face, are unique, and should be specifically identified and unambiguously rejected in our State’s civil rights laws, just like discrimination based on age, sex, sexual orientation, religion, race, disability, or ethnicity.”

The transgender community is not protected under current state law.

“By eliminating the fear of losing their jobs, homes, and fair treatment in communities across the state, we can make certain that every New Yorker receives equal opportunities regardless of gender identity,” said Gottfried.

Albany, Buffalo, Ithaca, New York City, and Rochester, and the counties of Suffolk and Tompkins have already enacted local GENDA laws.  Thirteen states, Washington, D.C., and over 90 other localities across the country have passed transgender-inclusive civil rights legislation.  Over 150 Fortune 500 companies, including 26 located in New York State, have policies in place to protect their transgender workers.

link: http://www.empirestatenews.net/News/20100303-3.html

New York should recognize out-of-state gay marriages, judge says

Posted: February 6th, 2009 | Author: NB | Filed under: Blog | Tags: , , , | No Comments »

SOURCE: NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

BY JOSE MARTINEZ
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Tuesday, February 3rd 2009, 5:54 PM

Same-sex marriages that are valid elsewhere should be recognized under New York law, a city judge has ruled, clearing the way for a Manhattan man to inherit the multi-million dollar estate of his late husband.

Manhattan Surrogate Judge Kristin Booth Glen ruled that Craig Leiby is the “surviving spouse and sole distributee” of longtime partner Kenneth Ranftle, who died only a few months after the couple’s wedding last year in Montreal, where same-sex marriage is legal.

Glen’s Jan. 26 ruling is the first by a New York judge that recognizes the right of a gay person to inherit a partner’s estate. Read the rest of this entry »

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