To the Editor:

Re “Sewers, Curfews and a Ban on Gay Bias,” by Dan Barry (“This Land” column, Jan. 29): If Vicco, a small town in Kentucky — and 16 other states and the District of Columbia — can protect its residents from discrimination based on gender identity or expression, there is no reason New York can’t.

Most people would be shocked that in New York State you can lose your job or be evicted from your home because of your gender expression — and in Vicco you can’t.

It’s time for the New York Senate to stop blocking the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act, of which I am the sponsor and which would ensure that all New Yorkers are treated with the fairness and dignity everyone deserves.

DANIEL SQUADRON

New York, Jan. 29, 2013

The writer represents Manhattan and Brooklyn in the New York Senate.