Chuck Lavine is a long-time supporter of LGBTQ rights. Since its introduction into the Assembly in 2007, Chuck has voted in favor of same-sex marriage in the state of New York and continued to support the legislation until it was finally passed and signed into law in 2011. Before same-sex marriage was legalized in New York, he also voted to pass a Senate bill in 2010 that would allow unmarried partners to adopt a child.
Since 2012, Chuck has been pushing a bill, which he co-sponsored, that would prohibit sexual orientation conversion therapy on patients under the age of 18. In January of 2019, the legislature finally passed the bill and Governor Cuomo signed it into law.
In 2010, Chuck sponsored a bill through passage of the state New York Assembly that would further prohibit gender identity discrimination in the state of New York. More specifically, it would extend existing anti-discrimination laws to include transgender people. Chuck is one the leading members of the state legislature advocating on behalf of New York’s transgender population and the broader LGBTQ community.