New York S 2912: Establishes the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender long-term care facility residents' bill of rights

Bill Text

STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                         2912--C
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                    January 30, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by Sens. HOYLMAN, KENNEDY, RIVERA, SKOUFIS -- read twice and
          ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee  on
          Aging  --  committee  discharged,  bill  amended, ordered reprinted as
          amended and recommitted to said committee -- reported  favorably  from
          said committee, ordered to first and second report, ordered to a third
          reading,  amended  and  ordered  reprinted, retaining its place in the
          order of third reading -- recommitted to the  Committee  on  Aging  in
          accordance  with  Senate  Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill
          amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said  commit-
          tee
        AN  ACT  to amend the public health law, in relation to establishing the
          lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender long-term care facility  resi-
          dents' bill of rights
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1.  The public health law is amended by adding a  new  article
     2  46-C to read as follows:
     3                                ARTICLE 46-C
     4       LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER LONG-TERM CARE FACILITY
     5                          RESIDENTS' BILL OF RIGHTS
     6  Section 4670. Definitions.
     7          4671. Unlawful actions.
     8          4672. Recordkeeping.
     9          4673. Protection of personally identifiable information.
    10          4674. Resident privacy.
    11          4675. Training.
    12          4676. Application.
    13          4677. Violations.
    14    § 4670. Definitions. For the purposes of this article:
    15    1."Gender  identity  or  expression"  shall  mean a person's actual or
    16  perceived gender-related identity, appearance, behavior, expression,  or
    17  other  gender-related  characteristic  regardless of the sex assigned to
    18  that person at birth, including, but not limited to, the status of being
    19  transgender.
         EXPLANATION--Matter in  (underscored) is new; matter in bracketsitalics
                              [] is old law to be omitted. 
                                                                   LBD01537-08-0

        S. 2912--C                          2
     1    2. "Gender-nonconforming" shall mean a person whose gender  expression
     2  does  not  conform  to  stereotypical expectations of how a man or woman
     3  should appear or act.
     4    3. "LGBT" shall mean lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.
     5    4.  "Long-term care facilities" or "facilities" shall mean residential
     6  health care facilities as defined in subdivision three of section  twen-
     7  ty-eight  hundred  one of this chapter, adult care facilities as defined
     8  in subdivision twenty-one of section two of the social services law, and
     9  assisted living residences, as defined in article  forty-six-B  of  this
    10  chapter,  or any facilities which hold themselves out or advertise them-
    11  selves as providing assisted living services and which are  required  to
    12  be licensed or certified under the social services law or this chapter.
    13    5.  "Long-term care facility staff" or "facility staff" shall mean all
    14  individuals employed by or contracted directly with the facility.
    15    6. "Resident" shall mean a resident or patient  of  a  long-term  care
    16  facility.
    17    7.  "Transition"  shall  mean  to  undergo a process by which a person
    18  changes physical sex characteristics or gender expression to  match  the
    19  person's  inner sense of being male or female. This process may include,
    20  among other things, a name change, a change in preferred pronouns, and a
    21  change in social gender expression, as indicated by hairstyle, clothing,
    22  and restroom use. Transition may or may  not  include  hormone  use  and
    23  surgery.
    24    §  4671. Unlawful actions. 1. Except as provided in subdivision two of
    25  this section, it shall be unlawful for  a  long-term  care  facility  or
    26  facility  staff to take any of the following actions wholly or partially
    27  for a discriminatory reason  on  the  basis  of  a  person's  actual  or
    28  perceived  sexual  orientation,  gender identity or expression, or human
    29  immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status:
    30    (a) deny admission to a long-term care facility, transfer or refuse to
    31  transfer a resident  within  a  facility  or  to  another  facility,  or
    32  discharge or evi