Make the Road New York
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Respect for LGBTQ New Yorkers
MRNY combats institutional homophobia, transphobia, job discrimination, hate crimes, and harassment, while promoting LGBTQ inclusion and expression. We have:

  • Educated 8,500 high school students with our Safe Schools LGBTQ awareness and anti-bullying curriculum.

  • Led community reconciliation and education initiatives after homophobic and anti-immigrant hate crimes.

  • Fought systematic LGBTQ discrimination at major retailers, winning a landmark campaign to ensure equal opportunities for transgender employees at American Eagle Outfitters.

  • 2012 SPOTLIGHT: MRNY brought national attention to the harmful impact of the NYPD's stop-and-frisk tactics on transgender New Yorkers and trained 1,600+ youth and LGBTQ community members about their rights when stopped by the police.

Citizenship and Civic Engagement
MRNY connects disenfranchised communities into our democracy, increasing electoral participation through voter registration, education, and year-round, nonpartisan civic engagement activities. We have:

  • Helped 12,000 immigrants become citizens through classes, test prep, and application assistance.

  • Registered 20,000 immigrant, Latino, and African American voters.

  • Educated and mobilized 55,000 voters in local and national elections.

  • 2012 SPOTLIGHT: MRNY mobilized 20,000 new voters on Election Day as part of our new Campaign for Respect & Dignity, after registering 12,000 voters of color in NYC and Long Island and, with the Center for Popular Democracy, an additional 7,000 in Pennsylvania.

Safe Communities
MRNY works to ensure that immigrants, people of color and LGBTQ New Yorkers do not have to live in fear of police targeting, deportation, or discrimination. We have:

  • Prevented thousands of deportations and family separations each year, through policy change and direct representation.

  • Worked with national allies to win "Deferred Action" to grant work permits to 1.5 million undocumented youth.

  • Helped build a citywide coalition to end the NYPD's discriminatory stop-and-frisk policies.

  • 2012 SPOTLIGHT: MRNY launched an immigration law practice serving thousands with Deferred Action applications and hundreds more with deportation defense, permanent lawful status, and immigrant services fraud prevention. (Check out our Guide for Immigrant Youth at www.respectanddignity.org/dream)

Expanding Civil Rights | Promoting Health | Improving Housing
Winning Workplace Justice | Improving Public Education | Empowering Youth


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Historic Paid Sick Days Victory in NYC!

New York City just became the largest city in the U.S.to win paid sick days! On May 8, 2013, the City Council passed legislation to require paid sick days for one million New Yorkers. Without this critical legal protection, workers risk losing their jobs for taking a sick day. When workers go in to work sick, they put the public and their co-workers at risk of disease.

Starting April 2014, all workers will be protected from being fired if they must take a sick day to care for themselves or a sick family member, and workers at larger employers will receive 5 paid days of sick leave each year.

This major workplace justice and public health victory is the product of a four-year campaign led by courageous workers and small businesses who stood up for what’s right. We thank our partners at the Working Families Party, the NYS Paid Family Leave Coalition, SEIU 32BJ, the Progressive Caucus, Speaker Quinn and Council Members Brewer and Ferreras, for standing with us for NYC’s workers.