Did A National Gym Owners Association Help Kill Trans Rights In New York?

Yesterday New York state's long-pending transgender rights bill, GENDA, died in the state Senate Judiciary Committee, one vote shy of passage. Many are blaming GENDA's failure on the bill's lone dissenting Democrat, the notorious Bronx homophobe Sen. Ruben Diaz.

But today we learned that the International Health, Racquet, and Sportsclub Association (IHRSA), a national gym owners consortium with hundreds of affiliate health clubs in New York, had lobbied against the bill, citing the worn-out complaints about men dressed as women in their locker rooms. IHRSA's objections were airing during the Senate hearing. Via Duncan Osbourne's Herd & Scene:

The association represents over 9,000 health clubs and 650 suppliers nationally with 285 member clubs in New York. It submitted testimony saying “while IHRSA unquestionably supports any legislation that guarantees equal protection for all citizens...we cannot support this legislation in its present form. We request that any legislation intending to protect the liberties of individuals, regardless of their gender identity or expression, be constructed in such a way that it does not encroach on the privacy rights of other citizens.” The issue? Bathrooms and locker rooms. The legislation would “prohibit a health club from preventing a health club user access to any locker room as long as their ‘expressed’ or ‘perceived’ gender identity is consistent with the sex to which the locker room is assigned,” the association asserted. The association wanted “the bathrooms or locker rooms of a health club, or a place of exercise established for the exclusive use of individuals of the same sex” exempted from the bill’s provision.

The problem with such an exemption is that it forever bans transgender people from these places which appears to violate the spirit if not the letter of non-discrimination laws. At first blush, the association’s stance would seem to be irrelevant as Republicans were probably going to oppose this bill in any case. What the association’s testimony did do was give opponents cover at the June 8 committee meeting. “One of the main arguments against this bill seems to be the issue of access, unfettered access to bathrooms, locker rooms,” said Senator George Winner, a Republican who represents four western New York counties, as he brandished the association’s testimony. “Is that a valid objection or valid point?”

Osbourne points out that IHRSA has lobbied similarly in Massachusetts, which is also considering adding transgender protections. IHRSA says they don't approve of discrimination in any form, but they want their locker rooms and "any place created for the exclusive use of individuals of the same sex" exempted from any trans rights bill.

Read Duncan Osbourne's full report.

False Arrests Protest At Mayor Bloomberg's House

Today a group of LGBT rights and sexual freedom activists gathered just down the block from Mayor Michael Bloomberg's Upper East Side mansion to protest the false arrests of gay men in NYC's adult bookshops. Robert Pinter, a victim of this campaign, gave interviews to a number of local and national newsmedia outlets as two dozen gay men marched with placards denouncing Bloomberg and the NYPD.

On hand were a number of familiar LGBT activists: Brendan Fay, Gilbert Baker, Ann Northrop, Father Tony, Eric Leven, John Weis and journalists Andy Humm and Duncan Osbourne. It was Osbourne's relentless pursuit of this story that brought the entire illegal campaign to light.

Also present were protest observers from the National Lawyers Guild and Susan Wright, the founder and spokesperson of the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom, with whom I had a chat about our mutual enemy, Peter LaBarbera. The NYPD was generally friendly and cooperative, although they did not allow the protesters within 100 feet of Bloomberg's home.

Curious passersby and tourists exiting Central Park took photos of the protest and were handed fact sheets about the action. Many of the men giving interviews to the press stressed that the entire "prostitution" campaign was in fact meant to close the city's adult businesses under nuisance abatement laws.

BELOW: Father Tony gets video of playwright George Tynan Crowley reading his special Valentine's poem to Mayor Bloomberg. Go to Father Tony's site for more on the rally, including photos and more video.

UPDATE: Robert Pinter tells his story to Eric Leven.

UPDATE II: The New York Times has published their coverage of the protest.

Saturday At Noon: Protest At Bloomberg's Home Over Gay Men Falsely Arrested For Prostitution

Tomorrow at noon there will be a protest at Mayor Bloomberg's Upper East Side home over the NYPD's practice of falsely arresting gay men for prostitution at the city's adult bookstores. Duncan Osbourne at Gay City News has been following this story for months; I first mentioned his coverage here in late October.

Basically, the cops are sending hot young guys into porn shops where they offer to pay much older gay men for sex off the premises. As ridiculous as that scenario may be, if the customer does leave with the young man, he is arrested outside. So far over 50 gay men have been arrested. Some have plead guilty in order not to go to trial. Others are vigorously denying the charge.

The protest is being organized by Robert Pinter, who was arrested in October. Pinter's story is here. The arrests have been condemned by several high-ranking NYC officials, including City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. Mayor Bloomberg lives at 17 E.79th Street near Central Park. I'll be there and get some photographs of the protest.