Story behind Massachusetts civil rights legislation
Posted by LGBT Weekly Latest Issue, Trans Progressive Thursday, December 8th, 2011

Commentary: Trans Progressive
by Autumn Sandeen

http://lgbtweekly.com/2011/12/08/story-behind-massachusetts-civil-rights-legislation/

Recently, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick signed H.3810, "An Act Relative To Gender Identity" which added gender identity to the commonwealth's protected classes. To quote from the governor's official Web site, the bill is:

"Historic legislation to legally protect transgender individuals from discrimination in housing, education, employment and credit. The new law, signed at the State House [Nov. 23, 2011], also provides additional civil rights and protections from hate crimes.

"The transgender equal rights law will make Massachusetts the 16th state to treat transgender citizens as a protected class. The law modifies language in Massachusetts statutes to protect all individuals from discrimination, regardless of gender identities. This change will create equal protections for transgender individuals seeking employment, housing, credit and education. There are approximately 33,000 transgender residents living in Massachusetts."