New York, NY —

Gov. David Paterson has signed an executive order protecting transgender state workers from discrimination in the workplace. The order is limited because it doesn't provide protection for those in the private sector. But the governor says today's signing should be seen as a stepping stone to broader protections.

"As much as I am delighted to sign this executive order I am aware that my action is incomplete. I still demand that the New York senate take up a gender equality bill and pass it immediately," Paterson says.

That bill is known as the Gender Expression Non Discrimination Act (GENDA) and would ban discrimination in housing, employment, and credit for all transgender New Yorkers. It's been passed in the state assembly but has not been taken up by the state senate.