Cancel Culture Comes For SUNY Geneseo Student
A recent report from The Daily Wire indicates that left-wing cancel culture has infiltrated the State University of New York at Geneseo. Owen Stevens, an education student in SUNY Geneseo’s graduate school, was reportedly suspended from mandatory teaching programs because he posted social media videos that the school deemed offensive. What, you may ask, was…
GOP Jumps On ‘Fairness For All’ Act
As Albany Update recently reported, LGBT advocates are pushing for federal legislation to reshape American society and marginalize or punish dissenting voices. Thankfully, the so-called Equality Act—which passed the U.S. House of Representatives on February 25, 2021—faces dim prospects in the U.S. Senate. However, the Equality Act is not the only pro-LGBT bill being promoted…
Bethany Christian Services Compromises Christian Principles
In May 2019, the Michigan office of Bethany Christian Services (BCS)—the nation’s largest Protestant adoption and foster care agency, with offices in 32 states—agreed to begin placing children in homes headed by same-sex couples. BCS did not take this step of its own accord; the State of Michigan made a policy change that would, if…
Pandemic Powers Should Be Ended, Not Extended
This post was updated on March 8, 2021. So far this year, there has been much speculation and discussion in Albany about curtailing the emergency powers that were granted to Gov. Andrew Cuomo last year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2020, the Legislature passed Chapter 23 of the Laws of 2020, a…
Reps. Reed, Katko Fold On Religious Liberty, Support So-Called Equality Act
On February 25, 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 5, the so-called Equality Act. The bill passed by a vote of 224-206 (unofficial). The Equality Act would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The bill would give biological males access to female-only spaces across the nation, would create unfair conditions…
DASA Expansion Mandates LGBTQ Agenda In Private Schools
On September 13, 2010, Gov. David Paterson signed the Dignity for All Students Act (DASA) into law. DASA contains a variety of provisions to address the problem of bullying in schools. It also bans discrimination and harassment against public school students on the basis of several criteria, including “sexual orientation” and “gender identity or expression.”…
‘Equality Act’ Passes House of Representatives, Moves to U.S. Senate
Rochester, NY—The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 5, the so-called Equality Act, today by a vote of 224-206 (unofficial). The Equality Act would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The bill would give biological males access to female-only spaces (including women’s shelters) across the nation, would create unfair conditions for female…
Clearing Up Congressional Confusion Concerning The ‘Equality Act’
The so-called Equality Act is expected to receive a floor vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday, February 25, 2021. The Equality Act is a deeply misleading piece of legislation. On its surface, the bill looks like an anti-discrimination measure; it would add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as anti-discrimination categories under federal…
National Coalition Launches ‘Promise To America’s Children’
A coalition of national-level and state-level organizations recently unveiled an important new initiative called the Promise to America’s Children. The Promise to America’s Children is a national movement encouraging lawmakers and parents to commit themselves to supporting laws that protect children’s health, children’s safety, and children’s relationships with their parents. The Promise to America’s Children…
Allied Organizations Unveil “Promise To America’s Children”
A coalition of national-level and state-level organizations, including ours, recently unveiled an important new initiative called the Promise to America’s Children. The Promise to America’s Children is “a national movement of parents and lawmakers to oppose legislation that harms children, like the Equality Act, and to create and support laws that will protect children’s health,…
Court Again Rejects Cuomo’s Religious Gathering Restrictions
In recent months, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s COVID-19 restrictions on churches and other houses of worship in cluster zones have met with disapproval from the Supreme Court of the United States and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. On February 8, Gov. Cuomo’s losing streak continued. U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto of the Eastern District of…
Biden Signs SOGI Order
Among a myriad of Executive Orders, Proclamations, and other directives issued by President Joe Biden during his first two days in office is an order establishing civil rights-level legal protections on the basis of “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” (SOGI). The Executive Order, which was not unexpected, directs the leaders of each agency under the authority…
President Biden’s Priorities
Corrected February 4, 2021 Joe Biden was inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States on January 20, 2021. President Biden’s actions thus far, together with his stated plans for his first 100 days in office, provide a clear picture of his priorities for the nation. It appears that those priorities involve dismantling many…
So-Called Equality Act Could See Life In New Congress
The Democratic Party’s takeover of Congress and the White House in the 2020 elections will have major repercussions for policymaking at the federal level in 2021. One piece of damaging legislation that could become law this year is the so-called Equality Act. The Equality Act would make sexual orientation and gender identity protected categories under…
Another Court Strikes Down Cuomo’s Religious Gathering Restrictions
Back in November, Albany Update commented on a U.S. Supreme Court decision (Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo) that struck down Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s arbitrary and excessive COVID-19 restrictions affecting houses of worship. The high court temporarily stayed the enforcement of Gov. Cuomo’s 10- and 25-person limit on in-person church attendance in certain COVID-19…
NYCF Releases 2021-2022 Legislative Agenda
At the beginning of the New York state legislative session in every odd-numbered year, New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms (NYCF) prepares its legislative agenda. This document is distributed to all 213 members of the New York State Legislature. NYCF’s legislative agenda lays out a set of policy priorities driven by our mission to influence legislation…