Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Rights Committee

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Rights Committee addresses legal and policy issues in legal institutions and in the court system that affect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer individuals. Our Committee has issued reports in favor of proposals to expand LGBTQ rights, while also opposing proposals to increase opportunities for discrimination. We joined numerous other City Bar Committees in supporting the repeal of Civil Rights Law 50-a, which shielded disclosure of police misconduct records, until it was successfully repealed in June 2020. In early 2020, we held an event on intersex rights and put forth a report supporting an education campaign on medically unnecessary surgeries for intersex children, a bill which the City Council passed in April 2021. In addition, we updated and reissued our report supporting the repeal of New York’s law against loitering for the purposes of prostitution, popularly known as the “Walking While Trans Ban” because of its discriminatory impact, primarily on transgender women of color, which the law was ultimately repealed in February 2021.

Our Committee also submitted significant policy recommendations to the Biden-Harris administration on the best ways to support LGBTQ individual’s and protect LGBTQ rights. We also have written in support of the Gender Recognition Act, to allow gender markers on state identification to properly reflect people’s identities, which passed in June 2021. Besides issuing reports, our Committee has sponsored numerous CLE panels around topics such as protecting LGBTQ workers, trans and nonbinary legal advocacy, name changes for transgender and nonbinary clients, and LGBTQ housing rights. We also sponsored and hosted the City Bar’s first CLE panel on criminalization and stigma in the sex trade which discussed the importance of advocating for sex worker rights. Our Committee is comprised of a diverse group of law students and attorneys from private practice, the corporate sector, public interest, government, and academia.

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