Rep. Barney Frank Releases Testimony in Support of Massachusetts Transgender Rights Bill
by: Pam Spaulding
Wed Jun 08, 2011 at 20:26:59 PM EDT

http://pamshouseblend.com/diary/19411/rep-barney-frank-releases-testimony-in-support-of-massachusetts-transgender-rights-bill

Just hit the inbox from Rep. Frank's office. I uploaded the statement to Scribd.

    Congressman Barney Frank today released his testimony in favor of a Massachusetts bill which would extend legal protections which now cover gay, lesbian and bisexual individuals to also include transgender people.  The testimony was presented in writing to the Massachusetts Joint Committee on the Judiciary, which is holding a hearing on the legislation today.

    In his testimony, Frank draws parallels between struggles to achieve equal rights for transgender individuals and earlier battles for gay rights.  In 1973, when Frank was closeted gay man and a state representative in the Massachusetts legislature, he introduced the first gay rights bill in Massachusetts history.  The bill was defeated that year but Frank introduced it every session until he left the legislature.  It was defeated every time.  The first gay rights bill was finally passed in Massachusetts in 1989, when Frank was already a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives.