Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman is accusing Democratic incumbent Kathy Hochul of religious bigotry for enforcing a transgender rights law she approved that is forcing Catholic nuns who run a hospice program to choose between their beliefs or caring for indigent, terminally ill patients.
The controversy concerns the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne in Westchester County who run Rosary Hill Home — a Catholic hospice for the poor.
The order filed a federal lawsuit accusing the state of violating their constitutional rights with a 2024 law that requires the facility to affirm patients’ gender identity in regard to pronouns, room assignments and restroom usage.
The law bars nursing or long-term care facilities from discriminating against any resident based on the resident’s actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or HIV status.
But the Trump Justice Department recently intervened in the case on behalf of the Dominican Sisters, claiming New York is engaged in religious discrimination at the 42-bed hospice care facility.
“What Kathy Hochul is doing to the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne is an absolute disgrace. For over 120 years, these incredible women have done God’s work, providing unconditional love, comfort, and dignity to people in their final days,” Blakeman told The Post.
“They are saints walking among us, and they represent the absolute best of New York. Yet, Kathy Hochul is actually willing to shut them down, strip away their license, and throw terminal cancer patients out on the street—all to enforce her woke garbage.”
Blakeman said Hochul, who is Catholic, “would rather leave dying people without care than allow Catholic nuns to practice their faith.”
“Forcing these sisters to destroy the privacy of dying women by putting biological men in their rooms is sick, un-American, and a total war on common sense. I am drawing a line in the sand right now: this radical gender nonsense ends the second I become governor. We are going to protect the people who protect our most vulnerable, and we are bringing sanity back to this state.”
Rosary Hill Home’s policy put patients in single-sex rooms, biological males or females.
Male patients must room with male patients, and female patients must room with female patients.
Rosary Hill Home also separates its floors by sex, alternating men and women’s floors.
Rosary Hill Home’s bathrooms are segregated by biological sex, the suit states.
The idea that anyone can change their biological sex is contrary to Catholic belief, the suit said.
The Catholic nuns received three letters from the state Health Department informing them of their obligation to comply with the law, according to the suit.
State Attorney General Letitia James, whose office is defending the Hochul administration in court, asked that the case be thrown out and that Hochul’s name be removed as a defendant.
“The complaint must be dismissed as against the Governor. Plaintiffs fail to allege that she has any connection with the enforcement of the Residents’ Bill of Rights beyond her general duty to execute state laws,” said Assistant Attorney General Julia Busetti in a July 2 court filing with US District Judge Nelson Román in White Plains.
“The Residents’ Bill of Rights does not allow facility-based exemptions for religious or any other reason,” Busetti said.
Hochul campaign surrogates said it was Blakeman who is siding with “homophobes.”
“Bruce Blakeman wants to follow Trump’s lead to deny elderly LGBTQ+ New Yorkers the care they need when at their most vulnerable,” said Manhattan Assemblyman Tony Simone.
“Weaponizing seniors’ health to score political points is gross, and joining with homophobes who want to eliminate same-sex marriage in America is despicable. New Yorkers want leaders who unite us, not the extremism of Blakeman,” the Hochul surrogate added.
Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal, who sponsored the transgender law when he was state senator, also responded on Hochul’s behalf and put Blakeman on blast.
“Bruce Blakeman and the homophobes he campaigns with are opposed to marriage equality and even flying Pride flags. Now, they want to play politics with the lives of older LGBTQ New Yorkers. It won’t fly in New York,” Hoylman-Sigal said.
“New Yorkers can see through Blakeman’s blatant and cynical attempt to demonize LGBTQ New Yorkers for short term political gain. Our LGBTQ community refuses to be used as pawns in Bruce Blakeman’s latest culture war.”
Blakeman, the Nassau County executive, approved a law barring transgender athletes from competing against biological females in girls competitive sporting events at county athletic facilities.
When signing the law in 2023, Hochul said, “New York’s seniors should be able to live their lives with the dignity and respect they deserve, free from discrimination of every kind.”
“LGBTQIA + and HIV-positive seniors are among our most vulnerable populations, and today we are taking steps to ensure that all New Yorkers – regardless of who they are, who they love or their HIV status – find safety and support in places where they need it the most. Hate will never have a place in New York,” Hochul said.
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