LGBTQ protections in NY: Strong legal and constitutional safeguards

MANHATTAN, N.Y. (PIX11) -- What protections are in place for New York State's LGBTQ population amid the recent Trump Administration Executive Orders?

Micah Schneider, who is the Director of Programs at the LGBT Network, told PIX11 News, "We have the right to a legal name change, and there is the Gender Expression Nondiscrimination Act. GENDA is very strong, and the attorney general has already come forward and said we are enforcing GENDA and GENDA matters."

Robert Vitelli, the CEO at the LGBT Network, said, "protections for LGBT people based on sexual orientation, sexual expressions, and gender identity were cemented into the New York State Constitution this year. It would take an act of the New York State Legislature to overturn that; that would be seismic."

President Trump has signed a number of anti-transgender Executive Orders, including "Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government", the "Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation", the "Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling", as well as "Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness."

Allie Bohm, the Senior Policy Counsel at the New York Civil Liberties Union, said, "The executive branch executes the laws, it doesn't get to make the laws. What these executive orders order, in many cases, is unconstitutional and may violate federal statutory law. So if people take one thing away from this segment, it's that they should not be complying in advance with the Executive Orders."