Members of the transgender community rallied on the steps of the Nassau Legislature Sunday to demand protections for the rights of transgender people on Long Island and across the state.
Advocates say that unlike Suffolk County, there is currently no language in Nassau County's civil rights laws protecting transgender people.
The group is calling for the same protections already afforded to the rest of the residents of Nassau County.
Legislators like Laura Curran say that for six years, fellow Democrats have proposed a change in the law, but it has never made it to the floor of the Republican-controlled Legislature.
"It's such a simple fix," she says. "It's such an easy thing to fix to make sure that everyone is protected, that everyone is included in our civil rights law."
There are also no specific protections on the books in New York state law. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has introduced regulations to ban discrimination against transgender people, but advocates say it's not enough.
Nassau County Legislature presiding officer Norma Gonsalves told News 12 that the county's human rights law already clearly and unequivocally provides a protection that the transgender community seeks.