New York Passes Trans Sanctuary State Law: When Will The Governor Sign?

New York became the 13th state to pass a law declaring the state a transgender sanctuary state. The bill will now go to the governor, who could have months to sign it.

This past weekend, New York State edged closer to becoming the 13th state to enact a transgender sanctuary law, a critical step towards protecting trans individuals from out-of-state prosecutions. The proposed law, known as A6046B in the Assembly and S2475B in the Senate, delivers broad protections for transgender people against legal actions taken in other states, including child custody disputes where one parent is attempting to have the child removed due to them receiving gender affirming care.

If signed into law, this bill will mandate that courts reject the enforcement of child custody orders due to a parent's decision to provide gender-affirming care for their transgender child. It also mandates that the state refuse any out of state investigations, arrests, or extradition of transgender patients or providers who manage to reach the boundaries of New York State if those investigations and arrests are based on receiving or providing gender affirming care.

While the bill cleared both the Assembly and Senate this weekend, the peculiarities of New York's legislative system allow the governor to postpone signing it for several months. This has left activists curious and anxious about when she will take this important step.

The bill passed with a substantial majority in both the Assembly and the Senate. In the Senate, it secured a 44-18 vote margin, while it achieved a 98-47 vote margin in the Assembly. As with similar legislation, this bill asserts that New York will not assist out-of-state investigations wherein the provision or receipt of gender-affirming care is part of the purported criminal activity. Such individuals will neither be extradited nor arrested. Notably, it includes a separate set of provisions for child custody cases, ensuring that parents will not lose custody of their transgender children if another state issues a court order revoking their custody rights due to the provision of gender-affirming care.

See the child custody provision section here:

Provisions protecting custody of the parents of trans youth in the state.

These laws have grown increasingly important as transgender people and their families have begun fleeing states that criminalize their care and threaten their children. According to a report released yesterday by ABC News, families nationwide are departing from states that actively undermine the rights of their transgender members. States like Florida are banning most adult gender affirming care. Meanwhile, six states have passed laws defining transgender people out of all legal protections, including identification documents. The political landscape has grown increasingly fraught for trans people, and the risk level continues to rise on my anti-trans legislative risk map in several states.

Sanctuary laws provide several layers of legal protection and allow states to be proactive in protecting against the increasing willingness for states to increase their legal reach past their own borders. Indiana, Mississippi and Iowa are among several states that have introduced “aiding and abetting” clauses in their gender affirming care bans, which could hurt patients and providers seeking out of state care. This could include things like voice therapy and psychological care under some interpretations. Likewise, just this last legislative cycle, a bill in Montana would have charged people out of state with exposing people under 18 to “acts of transgenderism” on the internet. We have seen an increase in legislators calling for the parents of transgender youth to be charged with child abuse. These laws would block any such enforcement.

As the population of internally displaced political refugees continues to grow, it is possible that sanctuary laws will not be enough. Families with transgender members can often struggle to pack up and leave their home states. When they face the loss of their jobs in an already difficult housing economy, such a move may be cost-prohibitive. In the future, states passing these laws may need to turn towards economic assistance and refugee resettlement programs to handle the increase in people fleeing other states.

The bill now enters a phase of uncertainty as it awaits Governor Hochul's signature. The legislative procedure in New York permits the governor to postpone signing bills for an extensive period of time. For instance, a name change bill in 2021 took 293 days to secure a signature. Given the current urgent legal climate for transgender individuals across the country, some advocates are privately speculating about the potential duration of this waiting period.

Until the bill becomes law, transgender New Yorkers and those wishing to move there remain in limbo, eagerly hoping to join the increasing roster of states providing a secure haven for residents like them.