Tom Abinanti is a leader in protecting and advancing civil rights.

He doesn’t just talk about it. He does it.

Protecting Your Civil Rights

No one should have to suffer discrimination.

Assemblyman Abinanti has joined with a majority of his colleagues to take important steps toward promoting tolerance and insuring fairness in our diverse community.

Child Victims Act

Assemblyman Abinanti supported the recently enacted Child Victims Act which gives childhood sexual abuse survivors an additional five years to seek criminal charges against perpetrators by changing when the statute of limitations clock begins to run. Under the new law, the five year period within which charges could be brought now starts when the victim reaches age 23, rather than 18.

For civil cases involving sex offenses against a child, the statute of limitations is now to be tolled and a lawsuit by a victim would be permitted up until the victim turns 55 years of age. The legislation includes a one-year look-back window for survivors who were not able to seek recourse under the old law.
The measure treats public and private entities equally by removing the old–law notice of claim provisions for public entities and further clarifies that public and private entities are subject to the look-back window.

Dream Act

Assemblyman Abinanti supported the recently enacted New York State DREAM ACT to ensure immigrant children are able to access higher education in order to fully participate in the state’s economy. The Act eliminates financial obstacles to obtaining state financial aid for many undocumented students in New York seeking to attend an institution of higher education. Under the new law. these students are eligible for general awards, performance-based awards, or New York State Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) funds

Genda

Assemblyman Abinanti supported the recently enacted Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA) to protect transgender and non-gender-conforming New Yorkers from discrimination. GENDA expands protections under the Human Rights Law by prohibiting discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression in considerations of employment, education, credit, and housing. In addition, this law adds offenses motivated by a person’s gender identity or expression to the hate crimes statute.

Conversion Therapy Ban

Assemblyman Abinanti supported the recently enacted ban on the practice of conversion therapy on patients under the age of 18.
The new law prohibits mental health professionals from engaging in efforts to change the sexual orientation of an individual under the age of 18. Any mental health professional who violates this prohibition is now subject to professional misconduct and its applicable penalties.

Marriage Equality

With a historic and bipartisan vote in both the Assembly and Senate, New York joined Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and the District of Columbia to become the largest state to legalize same-sex marriage. The Marriage Equality Law ensures that all married couples have the same basic legal rights with respect to property ownership, health care, hospital visitation, taxation, insurance coverage, child custody, pension benefits, inheritance, testimonial privileges and societal recognition of their love and commitment.

As a County Legislator, Tom Abinanti helped enact a broad-based Westchester Human Rights Law, and set up a Commission to help Westchester County residents who can’t even get in the door of the woefully backlogged State Commission.