In the 2024 election, New Yorkers will vote on Proposition 1, also known as the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). This amendment will expand New York’s constitutional protections against discrimination by adding new categories to ensure that every New Yorker is treated equally under the law.
What is Prop 1?
Flip Your Ballot - Protect Our Freedoms
Currently, the New York Constitution protects against discrimination based on race, color, creed, and religion. Prop 1 will expand these protections to include:
Ethnicity
National origin
Age
Disability
Sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression
Pregnancy outcomes and reproductive healthcare
This amendment is critical in fortifying the rights of all New Yorkers, ensuring equal treatment and protection against discrimination, no matter their background or personal decisions.
Why is Prop 1 Important?
While New York has strong laws protecting against discrimination, laws can change. Constitutional amendments, however, enshrine these rights permanently, making it much harder for political shifts to undermine them. By passing Prop 1, New Yorkers are safeguarding:
Reproductive rights: As states across the country roll back reproductive freedoms, Prop 1 will protect the right to access reproductive healthcare, including abortion, by explicitly including it in the constitution.
LGBTQ+ rights: Amid a wave of anti-LGBTQ+ laws in other states, this amendment ensures protections for individuals based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression.
Equal treatment for all: Prop 1 guarantees that no one can be discriminated against because of their ethnicity, national origin, or disability, ensuring that all New Yorkers are treated with fairness and dignity.
Debunking the Misinformation
As expected, right-wing opponents are using culture war dog whistles to scare voters away from the facts. They want to distract from the heart of the amendment with divisive rhetoric about topics like undocumented immigrants and women’s sports. These arguments are designed to confuse voters and shift focus from what Prop 1 really does: protect every New Yorker from discrimination.
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Some claim Prop 1 changes parental control over decisions about their children's healthcare, including gender-affirming care. This is false. Parental rights are governed by other well-established State and federal laws. Prop 1 has no effect on parents’ ability to be involved in their children's healthcare decisions
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Right-wing talking points have falsely suggested that Prop 1 would force schools to change who can play on sports teams. The amendment does not address sports participation at all. It aligns with Title IX, which already provides legal guidance on gender identity in sports.
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The rules for voting qualifications, including citizenship status, are governed by other parts of the New York Constitution. Prop 1 does not give voting rights to undocumented immigrants, as falsely claimed by opponents.
WILL establish constitutional protections against discrimination based on ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, and sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. It will also protect pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes, ensuring access to reproductive healthcare. These protections will be added to existing constitutional rights already protecting against discrimination based on race and religion
WILL protect abortion rights and reproductive healthcare. This includes access to birth control, abortion, and procedures like IVF. Prop 1 ensures that future state laws cannot ban or prosecute individuals based on pregnancy outcomes, like miscarriages. This protection became essential after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade
WILL protect LGBTQ+ New Yorkers by ensuring that future state laws cannot roll back current rights to equal treatment. LGBTQ+ individuals will be explicitly protected against discrimination under New York’s constitution
WILL protect older, disabled, pregnant, and LGBTQ+ New Yorkers from government discrimination in areas like hiring, pay, and promotion. It also ensures access to voting and public spaces for these groups, affirming that no one is left behind
WILL prevent discrimination across the board. Prop 1 is designed to strengthen protections against discrimination and ensure that programs fighting discrimination cannot be attacked in court under this amendment
By enshrining these protections into our constitution, we are protecting them from the whims of future legislatures. This is about defending our values and ensuring every New Yorker, regardless of background, can live free from discrimination.
Together, we can ensure that New York remains a state where equality, justice, and freedom are guaranteed for all.
By voting YES on Prop 1, you are standing up for equality, reproductive freedom, and protection from discrimination for all New Yorkers. Here’s what Prop 1 WILL do:
Why You Should Vote YES on Prop 1
Commit to vote yes and get a free yard sign
While Supplies Last
The Orange County Democrats have a limited number of “Vote Yes” yard signs to give away—and we hope to have more soon! Sign up below to pledge your vote for Prop 1, and we’ll deliver a yard sign to you. Let’s show Orange County and all of New York that equality matters. Your yard sign will help remind others to flip their ballot and vote YES too!