JFB testimony to the Maine Judiciary Committee: "The 'Wacky' Professor"By Jenny Boylan
Yesterday, I spoke to the Maine legislature's Judiciary committee. A bill has been proposed to "exempt" transgender people from protections under the Maine Human Rights Act, which went into effect six years ago. Currently, Maine protects GLBT people from discrimination, and this includes a so called "public accommodations" provision of the very sort that was, in part, the deal breaker in the Maryland law that was shelved last week. (Although I should make it clear that the Maine law has been on the books for six years without problem, and the proposed legislation is to REMOVE the protection for trans people; Maryland currently has no such provisions and the shelved legislation would have put these protections into place.)
There's a lot to say about my day at the State House, but the thing I was really left with was how much the bill–and the overall acceptance of trans people is about
passing.
A supporter of the bill (remember that "supporting" means being against trans rights; "opposing" means being for them) said as much. One of the Senators asked, "If a trans person has had surgery, and appears to be female in every sense, how would you be able to know they were in violation of the law?" And the supporter of the bill–another Republican legislator–said, "Well, if I have no way of telling, the person wouldn't be in violation." He then looked around and said, "I mean, if you can't tell, what's the difference?"
So if I break a law and no one knows it I'm really not breaking a law. I just love political common sense!also at
http://www.jenniferboylan.net/2011/04/13/jfb-testimony-to-the-maine-judiciary-committee-the-wacky-professor/
