NYC passes 'Homeless Bill of Rights' granting right to shelter and protecting gender identity

New York Mayor Eric Adams allowed a "Homeless Bill of Rights" to become law over the weekend.
The law acknowledges the explicit right to sleep outdoors in public places, but not anywhere they like.
The law gives people the right to complain about shelter accommodations without repercussion and includes safeguards to prevent a person from being assigned to spaces that don't correspond to their gender identity.
The new law reiterates that New Yorkers have a right to shelter, a mandate in place since 1981 when a court ordered the city to provide temporary housing to anyone who asks for it.
The city's Department of Homeless Services is currently sheltering some 81,000 people, not including the thousands more housed by other agencies, such as those escaping domestic violence.