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Susan Scheid's avatar

Thank you for this call to action. FYI, New York State has also passed a proposed amendment to its constitution that will appear on the ballot in November. The bill is touted as protective of abortion rights and the Ds hope it will help drive out the vote in the 2024 election. What appears not to be widely known is that the bill also re-defines sex to include “gender identity” and “gender expression,” neither of which is itself defined. I don’t know whether, at this point, there is any effort afoot to address this before it gets on the ballot. If there is, and anyone knows about it, it would be great to know who is the contact point.

I would also like to hear from anyone, who knows how the legislative process works, whether there is a way, even now, to push for a change in the legislation prior to its appearance on the ballot. For example, while not a perfect solution, could a push could be made to make a “technical amendment” under which “gender identity” and “gender expression” are included as separate characteristics, rather than subsumed within the word “sex”? There is an excellent article in Sullivan and Todd’s book, “Sex and Gender,” entitled “Sex, Gender, and Equality in the United States: Confusion, Conflict, and Consequences,” by Callie H. Burt, that walks this issue through and proposes this type of solution in re the US Equality Act, which appears equally applicable to the proposed NYS Constitutional amendment.

FYI, the language of the NYS amendment as it will appear on the ballot is:

A. No person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws of

this state or any subdivision thereof. No person shall, because of race,

color, ETHNICITY, NATIONAL ORIGIN, AGE, DISABILITY, creed [or], reli-

gion, OR SEX, INCLUDING SEXUAL ORIENTATION, GENDER IDENTITY, GENDER

EXPRESSION, PREGNANCY, PREGNANCY OUTCOMES, AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTHCARE

AND AUTONOMY, be subjected to any discrimination in [his or her] THEIR

civil rights by any other person or by any firm, corporation, or insti-

tution, or by the state or any agency or subdivision of the state,

PURSUANT TO LAW.

B. NOTHING IN THIS SECTION SHALL INVALIDATE OR PREVENT THE ADOPTION OF

ANY LAW, REGULATION, PROGRAM, OR PRACTICE THAT IS DESIGNED TO PREVENT OR

DISMANTLE DISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF A CHARACTERISTIC LISTED IN THIS

SECTION, NOR SHALL ANY CHARACTERISTIC LISTED IN THIS SECTION BE INTER-

PRETED TO INTERFERE WITH, LIMIT, OR DENY THE CIVIL RIGHTS OF ANY PERSON

BASED UPON ANY OTHER CHARACTERISTIC IDENTIFIED IN THIS SECTION.

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Kathleen's avatar

Thank you for the call to action!! Also -Check out Democrats Informed About Gender!

https://di-ag.org/

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