New York Appeals Court Allows Gender Identity Amendment to Go on State Ballot

New York Attorney General Letitia James speaks during a press conference at the Office of the Attorney General in New York on Feb. 16, 2024. Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images

An amendment to the New York Constitution will be on the November ballot after the state’s high court rejected a challenge to the state legislature’s approval procedure.

The amendment adds language to Article 1, Section 11 of the New York Constitution. Its current language protects people from discrimination based on their “race, color, creed, or religion.”

Proposition 1 would expand the equal protection laws to “sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy.”

New York GOP Chair Ed Cox issued a statement shortly after the Court of Appeals ruling, stating that the state’s court of last resort “was wrong” in its decision to allow what has been called the New York Equal Protection of Law Amendment (ERA) on the ballot.

He said the amendment would make gender identity a constitutional right that would open the door for males to compete in female sports.

“The amendment applies to all persons and would give minors the right to puberty blockers and transgender surgeries without parental consent,” Mr. Cox said.

“Now the voters will decide in November on the so-called ‘Equal Rights Amendment,’” he said. “This amendment is a Trojan Horse that would grant illegal immigrants access to benefits paid for by taxpayers, as well as open the door to noncitizen voting.”

In May, a state Supreme Court Justice ruled that the New York state legislature failed to follow the correct procedure when adopting the ERA language, also known as Proposition 1 as it appears on the ballot.

New York Attorney General Letitia James appealed the decision to the Court of Appeals, which sided with the state on July 11.

The constitutional amendment passed in the state legislature in 2023 and was supported by Democrats and progressive organizations such as Planned Parenthood of Greater New York.

Wendy Stark, president of the New York chapter of Planned Parenthood, voiced support for the legislature’s decision.

“It is imperative that New York adds an extra layer of protections to the state constitution that will prohibit discrimination based on ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, and sex—including sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression,” she said.

Republican Assemblywoman Marjorie Byrnes filed a lawsuit in 2023 challenging the legislature’s procedure in adopting the amendment which led to the lower court’s ruling that the ERA should be removed from the ballot.

Organizations formed in support and in opposition to the ERA, such as the New Yorkers for Equal Rights (NYER) and the Coalition to Protect Kids-NY (CPK), respectively.

The NYER said that the amendment would increase legal protection for those in danger of losing it.

“We need a constitutional amendment so our rights and freedoms are permanently protected in the State constitution—no matter who is in office,” the NYER said in a press release.

The CPK labeled the amendment the “Parent Replacement Act” and argued that the amendment would take give the state authority over children.

“If these poorly written one-size-fits-all additions to the amendment pass, each of these common sense guard rails that protect kids could be deemed unconstitutional under the New York State Constitution,” the CPK said. “The proposed amendment opens the floodgates for the New York State Government to wield more authority than parents regarding important decisions for their minor children.”