New York extends anti-discrimination protection to transgender state employees

New York Governor David Paterson has issued an executive order extending anti-discrimination policies to gender identity for state employees. Some background info from the Human Rights Campaign:

An executive order prohibiting discrimination in state employment is the furthest extent to which any governor is able to exercise his or her executive power. Extending protections to private employees must be accomplished by the state legislature. New York joins eight other states in which an executive order, administrative order, or personnel regulation prohibits discrimination against public employees based on sexual orientation and gender identity: Delaware, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

In addition, twelve states and the District of Columbia prohibit full employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity: California, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.  Nine more states, including New York,  prohibit employment discrimination based only on sexual orientation. For an electronic map showing where employment non-discrimination stands in the states, please visit: www.HRC.org/State_Laws.

-SS