Transgender and gender non-conforming New Yorkers have hopes and chase dreams. They go to school. They have careers. They raise families. And they deserve the basic civil rights protections that others take for granted.
Consider the following people's stories to get better a understanding of why GENDA matters.
Kym Dorsey

Kathryn
Kathryn has lived and worked full-time as a woman since 1999, but because of an extensive cardiac history, she cannot take the hormones that are crucial to male-to-female sexual reassignment surgery. “My gender is female, my name is legally female, but my biological parts are male,” Kathryn said. In December 2011, Kathryn was treated at the Albany Medical Center for acute respiratory failure. In the emergency room, she was given a hospital wristband with her correct (female) name and gender. After a long wait, Kathryn was moved to a room with a female roommate. But the nurse there told Kathryn that since she had not had surgery, she would have to be relocated to an all-male room, which was unacceptable to Kathryn, who has lived as a woman for more than a decade. As part of the nurse's evaluation, the nurse asked Kathryn whether she had any rashes or sores, and requested that Kathryn lower her trousers for a visual inspection of Kathryn's groin area. Kathryn, who was ill, did not want to appear uncooperative. She complied with the nurse's request, which Kathryn found exceedingly difficult and embarrassing. Kathryn was permitted to remain in the room to which she had been assigned, but an hour later, the nurse returned with a new wristband, identical to the first save for a change of gender, from F to M, for male. When she demurred, Kathryn was told to express her concerns to the patient assistance department. “Listing me as male on all paperwork made each doctor, technician, nurse and orderly entering my room overtly aware that I was not a ‘normal' woman,” Kathryn said. “I had to correct pronoun usage with almost everyone; I find this degrading.” Kathryn is a female member of Blue Cross/Blue Shield insurance; it is unknown if the hospital's claims, made on behalf of a male patient, were denied, based on incorrect gender. Source: ESPA's Transcribe ProjectMoshay Moses
