In recent weeks, New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) twice made a case for the rights of transgender people.
In signing an amicus brief urging the Colorado Supreme Court to preserve a lower court ruling in the most recent anti-discrimination case against Masterpiece Cakeshop late last month, James joined 18 other state attorneys general in signing an amicus brief. When a district court judge decided that Jack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop, had violated the state’s anti-discrimination laws by refusing to bake a blue and pink cake for a trans client after she informed him that it would celebrate her sex transition, the Colorado Court of Appeals upheld her ruling in January 2023. Phillips successfully appealed a past anti-LGBT+ discrimination case to the U.S. Supreme Court, and Colorado’s Supreme Court agreed to hear the most recent case in October.
“Simply put,” Denying service to anyone just because of who they are is improper discrimination,” James said in a statement. “Allowing this kind of behavior may destroy our country’s fundamental values of freedom and justice and set a dangerous precedent.”
She continued, “I am proud to stand alongside my fellow attorneys general against this blatant transphobic discrimination.”
Additionally, James’ office recently requested that Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman rescind his February 22 executive order, which forbids the Nassau County Department of Parks, Recreation, and Museums from issuing permits to transgender-specific women’s and girls’ sports teams. The New York AG’s office stated in a statement on March 1 that the executive order “violates clearly New York’s Civil and Human Rights Laws” against transgender women and girls.
“The rule of law prohibits discrimination against a person based on their gender identity or expression. In New York, there is no room for hate or prejudice,” according to James. “This executive order is blatantly illegal and transphobic. Nassau County must revoke the order right away, or we will not hesitate to take swift legal action.”
The executive order had “imposed increased scrutiny of members of teams designated for women or girls and does result in subjecting them to aggressive and improper inquiries or verification requirements that may endanger cisgender and transgender women and girls alike,” according to Civil Rights Bureau Chief Sandra Park in a cease-and-desist letter sent to Blak
eman on March 1. People on men’s and boys’ teams would not be subject to the same scrutiny under the executive order, according to the Daily Beast.
Nassau County was given five business days by James’ office to revoke the order or face additional legal action.
In recent years, James has consistently demonstrated herself to be a steadfast supporter of LGBTQ+ rights. In order to deny services to same-sex couples, she supported a federal court’s decision in 2021 to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a photographer seeking a religious exemption from New York’s anti-discrimination legislation.
In a statement released at the time, James said, “This court decision is a huge victory in our efforts to ensure that every New Yorker has equal access to and rights under the law.” “My office will always struggle to ensure that every New Yorker is treated equally under the law throughout our entire state,” according to my office.
Last February, James tweeted that the state does “not tolerate overt acts of hate against our communities” after surveillance footage showed a woman setting fire to a Pride flag outside a Manhattan restaurant.
A Drag Story Hour was held at Manhattan’s LGBTQ Center in March 2023 as part of a wave of anti-LGBT+ protests at all-ages Pride events and drag shows. After members of the Proud Boys and anti-LGBT+ protesters clashed with supporters outside the event, James’ office said in a statement that part of the purpose of the Drag Story Hour was to “denounce hate and combat rampant misinformation.”
“New Yorkers, including myself, have been left heartbroken and frustrated by the recent rise in anti-LGBT+ protests, rhetoric, and policies,” she said. “But I know better than someone that New Yorkers will always choose love, and New Yorkers will always choose joy when the choice is between love and hate, between pleasure and poison.”
