Despite rumors of an organized anti-LGBTQIA+ protest, and amid concerns of a symbolic party line split, the Ulster County Legislature unanimously passed the Drag is Not a Crime Act last week.
The legislature’s vice chair Peter Criswell (D-City of Kingston) authored the proposed law, which as during its public hearing in June, garnered nothing but support from speakers prior to its passing on Tuesday, July 18. County Executive Jen Metzger has already stated she will sign the bill, at which point the county’s Human Rights Law will include “gender expression” among its protected classes.
“The already vulnerable populations of Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, and Asexual+ (2SLGBTQIA+) individuals have fallen under attack with introduction of discriminatory legislation across the United States,” reads the text of the proposed law. “The American Civil Liberties Union has identified the introduction of 452 anti-2SLGBTQIA+ bills in 2023, with more introduced every day, endangering the health, safety and well-being of non-heterosexual and gender non-conforming individuals.”
While the measure passed without comment as part of the legislature’s consent agenda, members of the public shared their support for the Drag is Not a Crime Act earlier in the meeting.
“Gender expression is not a trans or cis issue,” said Aspen Peck. “Gender expression is not a gay or straight issue. Gender expression is a human right. The right to express your gender and not be persecuted for it is no different from the right to express your religious practices and not be persecuted for it. It is the exact same as having the right to express pride in your country without having being prosecuted for it.”
Shay Kessler, a trans gay man, said he was forced out of a rewarding job as a youth martial arts instructor because of anti-trans bigotry, with co-workers refusing to use his preferred pronouns. He said his spirits rose the first time he attended a drag show.
“I felt safe, I felt loved, and I felt accepted,” Kessler said. “A feeling everybody deserves no matter what.”
Kessler said the prevalence of far right anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation and bigotry has made it harder to feel accepted elsewhere.
“I still go into men’s restrooms with extreme caution that someone is going to assault me; I just wanna pee and poo in peace,” he said. “And there are more stories like mine. Discrimination needs to end.”
Julie Novak said that everyone partakes in gender expression in some form or another.
“Gender expression and affirmation is a multimillion dollar business at the heart of capitalism that straight upper class people partake in and indulge in every day,” Novak said. “The suit you wear, the hair extensions you may or may not have, the Viagra you may take or not take, all of these things seriously are parts of gender expression and affirmation. You do not want those taken away from you. Just like I don’t want mine taken away. You do not want to force me to wear a dress.”
Chelsea Villalba explained what they believed a no-vote would mean.
“I’m here to talk about the reasons you’d vote no on protecting gender expression in the county code,” Villalba said. “You’d vote no if you think it is permissible for a child or adult to kill themselves or be killed, or be homeless because of hateful peoples’ opinions on how they dress…A no vote signals that the lives and challenges of black, brown, indigenous, poor, disabled and queer people in what is known as America do not matter to you because you are not affected because your inner circles look and live and act just like you.”
Rabbi Bryan Mann said that while some use religion as an excuse for anti-LGBTQIA+ bigotry, others who are devout in many different faiths feel otherwise.
“I’m a queer Jew,” Mann said. “My Judaism teaches me that queer people are magical, they are divine. My Torah, my understanding of Judaism is informed and inspired by the people who run the Trans Halakha Project, trans people who are creating Jewish law for our modern times. We have freedom of religious expression: That’s what freedom of religion is, that I get to practice Judaism and create Jewish communities in the ways that I understand it, and they get to create Christian and Catholic communities in the ways that they understand it.”
But Mann said gender expression wasn’t a religious issue.
“If it was, whose religion wins, mine or theirs?” he said. “This is about human dignity, and this is about if your understanding of constitutional values, of American values, which includes gender expression as a human right.”
The entire Legislature — save Joseph Maloney (D-Saugerties), who was absent — appears to have agreed, voting unanimously to move the Drag is Not a Crime bill forward.
Though legislators didn’t address the bill last week, in a June 14 Legislative press release, chair Tracey Bartels (unenrolled — Gardiner and Shawangunk) said she’d been deeply moved by the speakers during its June public hearing.
“Yesterday’s public hearing perfectly underscored the importance of this critical piece of legislation,” Bartels said. “With its passage next month, we will send a message to our neighbors that they are seen, valued and protected.”
In the same press release, Criswell said passage of the Drag is Not a Crime Act was critical.
“As we see increased blatant displays of intolerance and hate legislation targeting LGBTQ+ people passing around our country, it’s clear we need strong gender expression protections here in our county,” said Criswell. “We must codify gender expression into our human rights laws so that drag performers, and anyone of any gender expression expressing any gender, is protected.”
That protection is now in the hands of the county executive.
Join the family! 
