September 18, 2023
Albany, NY

Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Delivers Remarks at the Clinton Global Initiative

Governor Hochul: “Another child should not be born in the world who faces the kind of discrimination that members of our community receive today. It's just not right. So, let's keep it going. These are not all the answers, but you're here. A community of people who belong to this extraordinary enterprise, the Clinton Global Initiative.”

Hochul: “In New York, we don't cower to the bullies and the dark forces. We fight back together. We fight back because we're so proud in this state of the countless transformational movements that were born right here.”

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul delivered remarks at the Clinton Global Initiative.

VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.

AUDIO of the event is available here.

PHOTOS of the event are available on the Governor's Flickr page.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Good morning. A frequently quoted line from Dr. Martin Luther King is, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” We've all heard that. But bending toward justice is not always predetermined. It's not inevitable. Sometimes it takes some good people to make sure that happens. And time and time again, there have been dark forces that are trying to push it in the other direction. Who don't have the same values that we believe describe what should be happening with this arc of justice.

So, for years, we've been experiencing this underground sense that there is this hatred and people whose hearts are filled with bigotry and trying to exclude others because they don't understand them and they're just a little different. And for a long time, it stayed, it was here, but it was a little bit under the surface. But what we're experiencing today is the coming out of those forces in a way that is just so reprehensible. But as I said, we have a lot of good people on our side, the ones that are going to keep pulling that arc of justice, the moral arc of the universe in the right direction.

That's what the Clinton Global Initiative is all about. And I thank Chelsea Clinton for her role, extraordinary role in this. Continuing the legacy of President Clinton, Secretary Clinton. My God, what would this country be without leaders like that? Still today, gathering us, bringing us together. Pushing us to find answers and not accept the status quo. Or that that arc is going to continue on its own. I don't want to say in the right direction, the left direction, which is the proper one.

So, by spotlighting this issue this morning, it is calling this out. Because everyone wants to see what's on the agenda for CGI, what are the topics that are going to be – the hot topics. When you put the challenges faced by the LGBTQ community on the docket, it's a statement. It's also a statement that we've gathered the kind of people here and those watching that have the power to help affect change.

We're not here to have a nice policy discussion about, “How are things going?” We're talking about change. Change is not words, it's taking steps. That's what I want to talk about here today. When we think about all of what's going on. It's a well-funded, coordinated effort to destroy the rights of the LGBTQ community, but particularly, and as a mom this is really hard, the attacks on our kids, our trans kids, particularly. My God, don't you have anything else to do? You're picking on children? Picking on young people who are struggling internally themselves, trying to find themselves? Who am I? And yet the bigots and the far-right extremists are hell bent on keeping this up because they think it scores political points.

They don't care who the collateral damage is. We don't care if we hurt you. We don't care that our hate speech is pushing you to consider suicide. We don't really care about that. But we think this is going to play well in the red states and help their political ambitions. How pathetic is that? How pathetic is that?

So, I also know a little bit about being a Governor. I know our former President was a Governor as well. When you're a Governor, you've got a lot on your plate. You have to worry about protecting people, public safety, making sure transportation systems work, take care of the homeless, take care of our people, take care of health care, education.

The fact that you are a Governor of a state, and you still find the time to wake up every day and it's like, “How can I attack the LGBTQ community?” You ought to have enough to do, other Governors. That's just a statement from one Governor to Governor. Just right here. Right here. So, they're the ones stoking the flames of hatred and division. The leaders of our country are doing this. They're not saying, “Oh my gosh, this is going on in my state and turning their eye.” They're the ones that are stoking the flames. They don't want to solve problems. They don't want to lift people up. They don't care.

Now, what I'm talking about is out there. We're in New York. In New York, we don't cower to the bullies and the dark forces. We fight back together. We fight back because we're so proud in this state of the countless transformational movements that were born right here.

The women's rights movement, Chelsea and I were just talking about when we were campaigning for her mom up in Seneca Falls – 1848 was the year when 300 brave women and a few enlightened men like Frederick Douglass gathered to say, “No more,” to stand up for women's rights. Years later, the birth of the labor movement and worker protections happened here after the Shirtwaist Triangle fire. Hundreds of people killed. So, the women's rights movement, the labor movement, protecting workers’ rights, the environmental justice movement started right here. And the NAACP started here. If you're keeping score, I'm keeping a lot of score. I'm claiming civil rights too.

But we're so proud that 54 years ago, some really courageous people stood up and said, “We're sick and tired. We just want to be together. We just want to dance. We want to have some fellowship, feel a kinship with other people that understand us. We just want to gather at a place called Stonewall.”

And the battle raged, went on for days. And finally, those didn't know it at the time, and some are still with us today. They didn't know it then, but that was the seed that was planted for a movement. That we know here in New York, we have a special, special responsibility to make sure that the flames that started that day grow even higher.

And that's what we have to do. In New York, it starts here, and it spreads across the country. So, this is the stand up and fight back moment. This is it. And I want to talk about how government actually has a role to play. And we're talking about the role of responsibility of businesses, and we'll talk about that.

And I want to talk about, Sarah Kate Ellis and I were just talking about what companies can do, and she is so right, but we are very focused on our trans, non-binary, and gender non-confirming communities because, number one, they're the most vulnerable, they're most likely to be unsheltered, most likely to need healthcare, most likely, as I said, to attempt suicide, 50 percent of LGBTQ youth considered suicide, imagine that. Half of all the kids were thinking seriously that I'm better off dead than alive because it's so hard to be alive. That hurts. They're also most likely to be physically attacked.

This is a place where there's an intersection. An intersection where people that are marginalized come together in one. It also multiplies then. People that are vulnerable already and because they're living their true self are exposed. What can government actually do?

First of all, the issue of the day, the topic of the hour – out in all the other states, is how to stop people from getting their gender affirming care: "Oh, let's not let that happen. That's going to be the fall of civilization, right?" We made New York a safe haven. You come here; we'll protect you. We'll make sure that there are no prosecutions, no one gets sent back to your state. We'll protect the doctors, the providers, the supporters, the family, and the individuals seeking this care. We said if you come here, other states won't be able to touch you.

That's the definition of a safe haven right here in the State of New York. We also have a lot of LGBTQ youth. They don't get health care; they don't have homes. We changed our human rights law to include gender identity and expression, making it illegal for employers, banks, creditors, and landlords to discriminate against them.

We also want to make investments. You know, for every $100 given to an LGBTQ organization, statistics show that 4 cents go to trans organizations. We can fix that. We can help out there. So, my first budget, I've been Governor just a couple years now. We doubled the amount of money going toward these organizations and making sure that we have more money toward this than any administration in history.

We also set aside funding specifically for the trans community, the Lorena Borjas Transgender Wellness and Equity Fund. That's to help particularly these communities, but very much so in the youth suicide prevention space. And I've met with these kids so many times. I'm not just the first female Governor of New York. I'm the first mom. So, I feel these things deeply. I'm also grandma too. So, when I go to these places, I go to the Ali Forney Center, go to the Bea Arthur Residence and sit with kids and hold their hands and just tell them they're going to be okay, and I see in their eyes this sense of being lost a little hopeless. I feel compelled to act let them know they matter to us. They're important. They've got a great future. There'll be a place for them.

You’ve got to give people hope sometimes. I've gone to the Harvey Milk School, sat with kids there, sat in roundtables, talked about them, especially around the time of the pandemic because they were so disconnected from their normal support system. They were so alone and a lot of them just took a deep dive emotionally. And so, we want to make sure that we have resources for them because if you give them that sense of you're going to be okay, we start turning the corner. So, we put more money into those programs as well, especially to help with suicide prevention programs.

Then I go from the kids. Then I think about our seniors. Now, people like my Uncle Kevin, served proudly in Vietnam, came back, came out in the 1960s, tough time. But Uncle Kevin wasn't allowed to marry. Uncle Kevin didn't have any children. In the normal progression of life, people take care of their parents as they get older, right? I mean, how many of us are helping out with our parents? Who's going to help these individuals who weren't able to have a family? So, we focus on senior housing. And I've been really proud that we've been able to allocate money for senior housing, especially gender affirming housing, bringing a place where they can count on people who are understanding of what they've been through. And so, we're investing in those. I went to the Stonewall House, the nation's first and largest LGBTQ and senior housing development. And it makes people feel so accepted, so welcome, so understood. And that's what matters.

Also, let's just get rid of all the policies that are in government that don't allow people to identify the way they choose. I was a county clerk a long time ago, about 15, 17 years ago. These were not popular topics back then. And I'm not even talking New York City, I'm talking Upstate New York. Those who know the politics of our state. Interesting. But I was a county clerk, and a friend came in to me from the LGBTQ community and says, “You know, how come we have to identify this way on our government forms?” I said, “Hey, you don't anymore. I'll fix it. I'll change it.” I just literally just changed it. I'm not sure it was even legal, I just changed it. That was as a county clerk, but then as I was Governor, a man named Luca Maurer came into my office. He spent years trying to take his dead name from his marriage certificate. He was told the only way to do it was get divorced and remarry. Okay, that's a great government solution. Thank you very much. That's preposterous. We changed the policy. You don't have to do it anymore. We also allow people to choose X on a driver's license and others documents because... who cares? Really? Who cares? Do what you want.

So, these small changes send a big message. Any way we can find a space where people are feeling that this is stacked against them, we'll just change it. And other states should change it too. This is not a big deal. The world didn't collapse when we allowed you to put an X on your driver's license.

So, to other states out there, this is a simple playbook. It's not radical. It's called taking care of your people. It's what we're supposed to do in government, right? It's our job. I wish everybody saw it the same way. And actions speak louder than words, and I want to talk about businesses right now. Some of you are involved in the business community.

I commend those who stand up during Pride and support the colors, support the cause. And to those who felt the need to back down because of pressure, I say, “Come on back up. There's still room for you. Stand up and show courage.” Because people are watching, we're watching. I learned as a young activist on my college campus, the power of when you can use voices to get businesses to change their policies, great things can happen.

And I'm referring to, and I'm this old, we were fighting apartheid back in the 70s. And I, as head of student government and representative of the board of trustees, we decided that our university should no longer be investing in companies that are doing business in South Africa because you're supporting apartheid. It was a nationwide movement, starting on college campuses, when we got our universities to feel the shame to divest their holdings, all of a sudden it started collapsing. They began pulling out of South Africa. That's how a few committed people, activists, can make a difference. That's what I'm calling on our business community to do right now.

Stand up the way they did back then. You don't understand the power that you have. It's extraordinary. Just imagine, you get government, enlightened governments like here in New York, others follow. You get enlightened businesses, doing the right thing, others follow. All of a sudden, they add up the fact that there's so much, so many more of us, the good people, trying to do the right thing, compared to the haters. And maybe someday we start driving the haters back underground where they belong. Until they have a change of heart, then you can come back up. But until that day, until that day, just keep it to yourself. Just keep it to yourself. You don't have to tell us. You don't have to make other people feel bad because you're insecure yourself. That's what it is. You're threatened. You're basically threatened.

We can change that, because we have no choice. We have to change that. Another child should not be born in the world who faces the kind of discrimination that members of our community receive today. It's just not right. So, let's keep it going. These are not all the answers, but you're here. A community of people who belong to this extraordinary enterprise, the Clinton Global Initiative.

It's a global problem, but it starts right in people's hearts. We start changing people's hearts, we start changing policies, we start changing people's attitudes, we start changing government leaders who don't get it. And that's how we change the globe. That's how we make an impact. And that's what this is all about.

So, to all those who feel under siege, under attack, there are a lot. I can't tell you how many times I have to help lift up the Jewish community because of antisemitism, and the Asian community because of hate crimes, and the black and brown communities that are feeling so under siege and discriminated against still to this day, and the LGBTQ community.

There are so many people on our side. That's what scares them over there. Let's bring it all together. Let's envision a world, a better nation. We actually can accept each other, not be threatened. Tolerance. And that's what we're trying to teach in our schools right here in New York. Acceptance of others starts in one individual, and it can blossom outward.

That is my expectation for New York. That is my expectation for this great country. And again, I thank the Clinton family for their unwavering commitment to making sure the moral arc of the universe bends in the right direction and it starts in rooms like this. Thank you, everyone.

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