Deborah Glick

As a representative of Lower Manhattan for over 30 years, Deborah Glick has been a strong advocate for civil rights, reproductive freedom, animals and environmental preservation, the arts, and tenants’ rights. Glick’s recent legislative accomplishments include the passage of the Reproductive Health Act, codifying Roe v. Wade in New York State law, for which she was the lead sponsor; a bill requiring courts to consider the best interest of a companion animal when determining custody of the pet during a divorce proceeding; the renewal of the Loft Law, which brings formerly commercial buildings up to residential code and protects current tenants, many of whom are artists, from eviction; and a bill authorizing New York City to expand a life-saving speed safety camera program, allowing speed safety cameras to be installed in hundreds of school zones, an initiative proven to significantly reduce traffic crashes near schools. Glick was the first openly LGBTQ member of the State legislature and was a leader in the fight for marriage equality. She has championed numerous bills establishing the rights of LGBTQ people and couples and was the primary sponsor of a Ban on the harmful practice of Conversion Therapy, and the Hospital Visitation Act, which established the rights of domestic partners to care for loved ones in medical facilities. She fought to pass the Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act (SONDA), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, and the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA), which protects transgender and gender non-conforming New Yorkers from discrimination. Glick chairs the Assembly Committee on Environmental Conservation and also serves on the Ways and Means, Rules, and Governmental Operations Committees. Glick was born and raised in Queens, New York, and has lived in Greenwich Village for over 40 years. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Queens College and a Master of Business Administration from Fordham University.