Unintended Consequences Hidden in NYS Ballot Proposal One, aka Equal Rights Amendment

By Mary Alice Miller

Voters will be asked to weigh in on six ballot proposals in the 2024 General Election. Five are derived from the NYC Charter Revision Commission, and available only to NYC voters. One is statewide, available to all NYS voters, and the most contentious of them all.

According to elections.ny.gov, the abstract of Ballot Proposal Number One (Amendment to Protect Against Unequal Treatment) states, “This proposal amends Article 1, Section 11 of the New York Constitution. Section 11 now protects against unequal treatment based on race, color, creed, and religion. The proposal will amend the act to also protect against unequal treatment based on ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, and pregnancy outcomes, as well as reproductive healthcare and autonomy. The amendment allows laws to prevent or undo past discrimination.”

Some activist groups are fiercely lobbying for Ballot Proposition One’s proposed protections against anti-abortion and anti-LGBT discrimination.
A communication from nyequalrights.org states, “We need to cement our fundamental rights and reproductive freedoms in the state constitution so they are permanently protected and cannot be rolled back by out-of-touch politicians in the future.” It goes on to state, “53 anti-abortion bills have been introduced by New York State politicians in the past decade alone. The only way to make sure those attacks can never become law is for us to pass Prop 1 this November.”

A statement from nyclu.org says, “Since Roe v. Wade was struck down by the Supreme Court, twenty-one states have either banned or restricted abortion care. There’s a full-blown assault on trans people’s rights, with hundreds of anti-trans bills introduced — and many passed — in state legislatures across the country just this year.”

But, abortion availability in NY has been law since before and during the 50 years of Roe v Wade, despite Republican governors and GOP majorities in the Senate and Assembly. Abortion access was strengthened in the 2019 NYS Reproductive Health Act. And marriage equality is also the law in NY. Neither are at risk in NYS.

Makenna McCoy, State Affairs Manager at Independent Women’s Voice (IWV) calls Prop 1 “a problematic amendment that would threaten the rights of seniors in the state. [It] would inadvertently endanger any rights, benefits, and services based on age. It opens the door for New Yorkers to abuse the services intended for the millions of older adults in the state.”

McCoy continued, “New Yorkers rightly do not want to be discriminated against based on their age, but sometimes age-specific benefits and services are necessary, especially when it comes to seniors. If Prop 1 passes, you can bet we’ll see challenges to senior housing, communities, benefits, and discounts from the state.”

IWV Senior Policy and Legal Analyst Inez Stepman calls Prop 1 an “anti-woman ballot measure” that “if passed, would force female-only spaces and opportunities to include men. This would include sports, prisons, locker rooms, and domestic abuse shelters. We must defend the opportunities, privacy, and safety of girls and women.”

Paula Scanlan attended the University of Pennsylvania and swam for the NCAA Division 1 swim team. Scanlan decided to speak up when the school agreed to allow trans-identifying swimmer Lia Thomas to compete on the women’s team and change in the women’s locker room in 2022.

Thomas competed on the UPenn men’s swim team for three years, then transitioned to the women’s team for the 2021-2022 season, winning first place in the 500-, 200-, and 100-yard freestyle events, becoming the first transgender woman to win an NCAA swimming championship. Thomas sought to compete in the 2024 Olympics, but World Aquatics regulations prevented Thomas from competing in elite women’s races.

In July 2023, Scanlan testified before Congress about how her university invalidated her feelings and silenced her dissenting viewpoints from the progressive hegemony. “I know women who have lost roster spots and spots on the podium,” said Scanlan. “I know of women with sexual trauma who are adversely impacted by having biological males in their locker room without their consent.”

Scanlan, who now serves as Legislative Liaison for IWV, said at an August press conference, “Men are not women. Boys are not girls. Allowing men into women’s locker rooms, sports teams, and prisons is not equality. New Yorkers must know what Prop 1 actually does—force female-only spaces and opportunities to include men and effectively erase women.”

In a statement, The Coalition to Protect Kids-NY, a ballot issue committee registered with the New York State Board of Elections, said, “Proposed changes to this language look to state unequivocally that laws and entities cannot discriminate based on the basis of new categories like age, gender identity, gender expression, and reproductive health care and autonomy. If entities cannot “discriminate” based on age and gender identity or expression, under the new amendment language, medical providers could be required to facilitate a child’s request to make permanent, life-altering “gender affirming” decisions and they would not need to consult with parents. Additionally, biological males would have a constitutional right to compete in girls’ school sports.”

In addition, the Coalition to Protect Kids statement said, “Laws that determine the legal age to purchase and/or consume alcohol or cannabis, determine elder abuse and statutory rape could all be weakened because they “discriminate” based on age.”

“There is a reason why we have single-sex sports. There is a clear difference between men and women,” stated Dana Hensley, parent, co-founder, Restore Childhood at a press conference. “This proposition will completely eliminate single-sex sports in New York State forever.”
A smaller and often silenced group may also be impacted by Prop 1. Women who married men then find themselves in a marriage to a man who transitions to a woman may find Prop 1’s anti-discrimination stance an impediment to divorce.

In a published article, Trans Widows’ Voices said “spousal consent was important in allowing marriages to be annulled before their partners officially change gender,” adding, “It also prevents heterosexual women being trapped in legally same-sex marriages they did not sign up to.” Trans Widows’ Voices has long advocated for women who have split or want to split from transitioning partners.

Voters are strongly encouraged to thoroughly research Ballot Proposition One before going out to vote.