New York City imposes fines up to $250,000 for refusing to call trans person ‘ze’ or ‘hir’
by Steve Wetherbe, LifeSite:
New York City’s human rights commission says it will fine New York employers and landlords up to $250,000 for using the wrong pronoun to refer to a transgender person.
The New York City Commission on Human Rights’ “Guidance on Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Expression” interprets existing human rights laws against discrimination based on gender to include gender expression, defined as “actual or perceived sex and shall also include a person’s gender identity, self-image, appearance, behavior or expression,” regardless of someone’s biological sex.
The guidance extends protections preventing, for example, landlords from refusing to rent to women, so that now they can’t refuse to rent to women who say they are men, regardless of how they present.
However, the “guidance” goes further by adding to the list of offences that of “intentional or repeated refusal to use an individual’s preferred name, pronoun or title. For example, repeatedly calling a transgender woman ‘him’ or ‘Mr’ after she has made clear which pronouns and title she uses.”
For any of these human rights offences, the maximum fine is $125,000, unless the offence is “the result of willful, wanton, or malicious conduct” – in which case the maximum is $250,000.
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