New York is one of ten states that has abortion on the ballot in November — but unlike other states, the New York amendment centers around discrimination and would enshrine protections, not just for abortion, but for “gender identity and gender expression.”
Opponents of the measure, called the Equal Rights Amendment or Proposal 1, have warned that the proposed amendment would enshrine the right for males to play on female sports teams in public schools.
“Prop 1 will force schools to include biological males on female sports teams, jeopardizing the fairness of athletic competitions,” the New York State Republican Party says on its website. “It will compel shared locker rooms and bathrooms and make it nearly impossible to reverse 2024 NYS Department of Education regulations allowing boys on girls’ sports teams based on their chosen gender. These regs also allow boys — regardless of chosen gender — to play on girls’ teams if the school does not offer a boys’ team in a selected sport.”
The warning was even verified by left-leaning fact-checker PolitFact, which published a piece last week deeming the claim “mostly true.” The fact-check reads:
Though protections for trans athletes to compete on teams that align with their gender identity already exist in the law, Prop 1 could strengthen those protections, because they would be part of the state constitution, said Elana Redfield, federal policy director at the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles. “It’s more robust,” Redfield said.
A constitutional amendment would make it more difficult for opponents of these protections to reverse the law, said Jacqueline Drohan, a lawyer who is chair of the New York State Bar Association’s Task Force on the Treatment of Transgender Youth in Sports.
New York Democrats passed the Equal Rights Amendment for the second time last year, giving it the green light to go before voters in November.
The amendment, which will appear as Proposal 1, states:
No person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws of this state or any subdivision thereof. No person shall, because of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, creed, religion, or sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy, be subjected to any discrimination in their civil rights by any other person or by any firm, corporation, or institution, or by the state or any agency or subdivision of the state, pursuant to law.
Nothing in this section shall invalidate or prevent the adoption of any law, regulation, program, or practice that is designed to prevent or dismantle discrimination on the basis of a characteristic listed in this section, nor shall any characteristic listed in this section be interpreted to interfere with, limit, or deny the civil rights of any person based upon any other characteristic identified in this section.
The measure would need a simple majority to pass.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.