On January 10, 2018, the New York City Human Rights Law was amended with respect to its definitions of “sexual orientation” (N.Y.C. Admin. Code § 8-102(20)) and “gender” (id. § 8-102(23)) to effectively broaden those terms.
The NYC Human Rights Law, inter alia, prohibits discrimination (in various forms) “because of the actual or perceived … gender [or] … sexual orientation … of any person.”
Amended § 8-102(20) provides:
The term “sexual orientation” means an individual’s actual or perceived romantic, physical or sexual attraction to other persons, or lack thereof, on the basis of gender. A continuum of sexual orientation exists and includes, but is not limited to, heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, asexuality, and pansexuality.
Amended § 8-102(23) provides:
The term “gender” shall include actual or perceived sex, gender identity, and gender expression including a person’s actual or perceived gender-related self-image, appearance, behavior, expression, or other gender-related characteristic, regardless of the sex assigned to that person at birth.
The amendments, shown in markup form here, will take effect on May 10, 2018.