WNY News Now

(WNY News Now) – Albany, N.Y. – Governor Kathy Hochul has signed legislation S.1783A/A.372A, introducing the Long-Term Care Facility Residents’ Bill of Rights for LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers and individuals living with HIV.

The bill, prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, expression, or HIV status, ensures equal rights for residents in long-term care facilities.

“New York’s seniors should be able to live their lives with the dignity and respect they deserve, free from discrimination of every kind,” Governor Hochul said. “LGBTQIA + and HIV-positive seniors are among our most vulnerable populations, and today we are taking steps to ensure that all New Yorkers – regardless of who they are, who they love or their HIV status – find safety and support in places where they need it the most. Hate will never have a place in New York.”

 Legislation S.1783A/A.372A combats discrimination and mitigates the isolation that many elder LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers and those living with HIV face in long-term care facilities. This legislation builds on existing protections from discrimination already established in New York’s Human Rights Law by prohibiting long-term care facilities and their staff from making discriminatory decisions based on a resident’s actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity or expression or HIV status, such as:

• Denying admission to a long-term facility
• Transferring or denying a transfer within a facility or to another facility
• Discharging or evicting a resident from a facility

SAGEServes, the direct services division of SAGE, Executive Director Darcy Connors said, “The New York State LGBTQ+ and HIV Long Term Care Bill of Rights will help combat the stigma that unjustly impacts New Yorkers living with HIV and empower LGBTQ+ elders to be open about their identities without fear of discrimination in long-term care settings. LGBTQ+ elders and those living with HIV have waited far too long for these safeguards that enable them to age with the dignity and respect they deserve. Thank you Assemblymember Bronson and Senator Hoylman-Sigal, for championing this landmark legislation through the state legislature, and Governor Kathy Hochul for signing it into law in recognition of World AIDS Day.”