New York Assembly Passes Gender Recognition Act

Governor Andrew Cuomo is expected to sign the ‘Gender Recognition Act’ into law that would make it easier for New Yorkers looking to change their name or gender markers on legal documents. The ‘Gender Recognition Act’ eliminated some laws that posed safety risks for transgender, nonbinary and gender nonconforming people who changed their information. Previously, New York law required people who change their information to publish their old and new names along with their address in a court-designated newspaper.

Charlie Arrowood, a counsel to the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund’s (TLDEF) Name Change Project stated; “For a trans person, especially if their birth name and new name are visibly gendered in a way that makes clear that they are trans, with all of the information that goes into a publication … that is effectively a target on [their] back.”

Source: Democrat and Chronicle