Boston Globe Endorses Transgender Civil Rights Bill after Gov. Candidate Threatens Veto
April 20, 2010 10:07AM
Jeremy Pittman
http://www.hrcbackstory.org/2010/04/charlie-baker/There's an interesting flare-up in Massachusetts over proposed legislation to expand the state's existing hate crimes and anti-discrimination laws to include gender identity and expression. Ever since Massachusetts passed the nation's second statewide anti-discrimination law applying to sexual orientation in 1989, activists have been pressing to expand the law to more fully protect transgender and gender variant people. These efforts have picked up steam over the past few years, and HRC has supported the efforts of pro-equality legislators and groups like the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition and MassEquality to push this critical legislation over the finish line.
Now, with the bill still pending in the Massachusetts Legislature's Joint Committee on the Judiciary, it appears that transgender people are going to be an issue in this year's campaign for governor. At the Republican state convention this past weekend, gubernatorial candidate Charlie Baker said he would veto the bill if elected. He referred to the bill as a "bathroom bill," using a scare tactic that has become all too common when considering the civil rights of transgender people.
