The Deblasio pronoun story isn't false:
.... Today’s guidance lists several ways employers, landlords, and business owners could violate the Law on the basis of gender identity and expression, including:
- Intentionally failing to use an individual’s preferred name, pronoun or title. For example, repeatedly calling a transgender woman “him” or “Mr.” when she has made it clear that she prefers female pronouns and a female title.
- Refusing to allow individuals to use single-sex facilities, such as bathrooms or locker rooms, and participate in single-sex programs, consistent with their gender identity. For example, barring a transgender woman from a women’s restroom out of concern that she will make others uncomfortable.
- Enforcing dress codes, uniforms, and grooming standards that impose different requirements based on sex or gender. For example, enforcing a policy that requires men to wear ties or women to wear skirts.
- Failing to providing employee health benefits that cover gender-affirming care or failing to provide reasonable accommodations for individuals undergoing gender transition, including medical appointments and recovery, where such reasonable accommodations are provided to other employees. (Federal and New York laws already require certain types of insurance to cover medically-necessary transition-related care.)
Violations of the New York City Human Rights Law could result in civil penalties of up to $125,000 for violations, and up to $250,000 for violations that are the result of willful, wanton, or malicious conduct. There is no limit to the amount of compensatory damages the Commission may award to a victim of discrimination.
New York City’s Human Rights Law now goes further in protecting the rights of transgender and gender non-conforming people than many large municipalities with gender identity protections. Cities such as Washington, D.C., San Francisco, CA, and Philadelphia, PA, do not articulate such specific protections under their laws.
The provision on dress code and grooming standards issued today goes further than even U.S. federal courts in protecting the rights of New Yorkers. Federal courts have upheld employment policies that require female bartenders to wear make-up or male servers to wear ties. Now, the Commission on Human Rights will find it a violation of the law if employers enforce strict dress codes and grooming standards for men and women based on gender or sex stereotypes.
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Experts estimate that roughly 25,200 transgender and gender non-conforming people call New York City home. According to a recent survey, 75 percent of transgender or gender-non conforming New Yorkers reported harassment and mistreatment in the workplace, 20 percent were refused a home, 17 percent were refused medical care, and a staggering 53 percent were verbally harassed or disrespected in a place of public accommodation, including hotels, restaurants, buses, airports and government agencies because of their gender identity.
http://www1.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/961-15/nyc-commission-human-rights-strong-protections-city-s-transgender-gender |
