US Rep. Kennedy: Time to strengthen transgender protections
Posted by WHDH
Posted: May 07, 2015 2:15 PM CST
Updated: May 07, 2015 5:24 PM CST
http://www.whdh.com/story/29006899/us-rep-kennedy-time-to-strengthen-transgender-protections
U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy is pressing state lawmakers to approve legislation strengthening legal protections for transgender people.
BOSTON (AP) Kennedy, a Democrat, said Massachusetts lags behind 17 other states and Washington, D.C., which have updated public accommodations laws to include transgender people. Among the states with tougher protections, he said, are several in New England: Maine, Vermont, Connecticut and Rhode Island.
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It might be time for all of us to be contacting our state legislators. Also perhaps contact groups working for expansion of protections for transgender-people. As the article points out, discrimination in employment is prohibited, but not public accommodations. Take Illinois for example, while there is a new Republican governor, the state legislature has a veto proof majority of Democrats, and Democrats have been traditionally more favorably oriented to protecting LGBTQ rights. Perhaps it's time to contact Michael Madigan, Speaker of the House and ask, why they are not doing more to protect all citizens rights, but especially those who are transgender?