Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman has accused New York Governor Kathy Hochul of religious bigotry, alleging that a state law she approved forces Catholic nuns operating a hospice program to compromise their beliefs or cease caring for terminally ill patients. The controversy centers on the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, who run Rosary Hill Home, a Catholic hospice for the poor in Westchester County.
The order has filed a federal lawsuit, asserting that a 2024 law requiring the facility to affirm patients’ gender identity in matters of pronouns, room assignments, and restroom usage violates their constitutional rights. The law prohibits nursing and long-term care facilities from discriminating based on a resident’s actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or HIV status.
The Trump administration's Justice Department has intervened in the case, siding with the Dominican Sisters and claiming New York is engaging in religious discrimination at the 42-bed facility. Blakeman stated that Hochul's actions are "a disgrace" and that she is "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 further contended that Hochul, who is Catholic, "would rather leave dying people without care than allow Catholic nuns to practice their faith." He characterized the requirement to house patients contrary to their biological sex as "sick, un-American, and a total war on common sense." Rosary Hill Home's policies dictate single-sex rooms based on biological sex and separate bathrooms and floors by sex, which the lawsuit states conflicts with the belief that biological sex cannot be changed.
The nuns received three letters from the State Health Department informing them of their obligation to comply with the law. New York Attorney General Letitia James's office, which is defending the Hochul administration, has requested the case be dismissed, arguing that the governor has no direct role in the enforcement of the Residents’ Bill of Rights beyond her general duty to execute state laws. The state's filing also noted that the Residents’ Bill of Rights does not allow for facility-based exemptions for religious reasons.
In response, Hochul campaign surrogates accused Blakeman of siding with "homophobes" and of "weaponizing seniors’ health to score political points." Manhattan Assemblyman Tony Simone stated that Blakeman's stance aligns with those who wish to "eliminate same-sex marriage in America." Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal, who previously sponsored the transgender law as a state senator, also criticized Blakeman, calling his actions a "blatant and cynical attempt to demonize LGBTQ New Yorkers for short term political gain."
The dispute occurs as Blakeman, the Nassau County executive, has previously approved a law barring transgender athletes from competing against biological females in county-run sporting events. Governor Hochul, when signing legislation aimed at protecting seniors, stated in 2023 that "New York’s seniors should be able to live their lives with the dignity and respect they deserve, free from discrimination of every kind," specifically mentioning LGBTQIA+ and HIV-positive seniors as vulnerable populations. She added, "Hate will never have a place in New York."