By staff writers Tim Knauss and Michelle Breidenbach

Syracuse, N.Y. -- The Syracuse Common Council this afternoon passed a local law extending civil rights to all people regardless of “gender expression.”

Councilors voted 7 to 1 to approve a law that prohibits discrimination based on a person’s “actual or perceived sex, or their gender identity or expression.”

Fourth District Councilor Khalid Bey cast the only no vote. Councilor-at-Large Helen Hudson was absent.

The measure amends the city’s existing Fair Practices Law, which was passed in 1990 to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Syracuse joins Buffalo, Ithaca, Rochester and six other New York municipalities that have passed similar legislation. Advocates plan to bring their case to state legislators in Albany in 2013.

The Syracuse law prohibits discrimination in employment, public accommodations, housing, school, commercial space and public services. The law provides victims with legal grounds to sue in civil court.

Councilor-at-Large Jean Kessner sponsored the legislation, and six voting councilors signed on as co-sponsors.

Bey was the only councilor to vote no. His concern was about the use of restrooms, particularly women's restrooms, by people who identify as women, but have a male anatomy. Bey said he polled 70 people, mostly women, who almost unanimously said they would be uncomfortable with that.



He said everyone was sympathetic to an anti-discrimination effort. But they wanted any new law to more carefully consider everyone's comfort and rights.



"I just feel that there needed to be further consideration for those who are not part of the transgender community, women in particular," he said.



Council President Van Robinson said Bey has a point, but it was not enough to stop him from supporting the legislation. As council president, Robinson did not vote, but took the opportunity to talk about his experiences as an African-American man in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Robinson said he remembered being denied the right to eat in restaurants, learn in certain schools or work at some companies and knows the pain of name calling.



"Hopefully this legislation will bring us a step closer to the dream of Martin Luther King, where people are judged solely on character and not race, creed, color, gender, transgender or sexual preference," Robinson said.



Councilor-at-Large Kathleen Joy said people should not be denied a job, an apartment, a loan or services at a restaurant just because somebody objects to diversity.



"You know, in this country, if legislators and other leaders focused solely on protecting constituents from being uncomfortable or from discomfort, we would never have ended segregation of buses, schools, restaurants, or even in restrooms," Joy said.



Supporters held signs and filled the seats in City Hall Monday afternoon. Advocates for the young and old said the new law would give people more confidence to be themselves.



"It's civil rights," said Kim Dill, executive director of SAGE Upstate, which advocates for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender elders. "It's about being able to move freely in society."



Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner said she would sign the law.



"It is an honor to serve as mayor of a city that has such a commitment to diversity and protecting our transgender brothers and sisters," she said in a prepared statement. "This legislation will continue our longstanding efforts to ensure all Syracusans are able to live and work in a safe environment and send the message that we are a community which cares and will not tolerate discrimination."

Contact Michelle Breidenbach at mbreidenbach@syracuse.com or 315-470-3186. Contact Tim Knauss at tknauss@syracuse.com or 315-470-3023.



Syracuse gender expression rights law