MTPC’s Next Legislative Priorities
On November 16, 2011 an Act Relative to Gender Identity passed in the House and the Senate extending civil rights and hate crimes protections to the state’s transgender residents in areas of employment, housing, credit/lending, and public education. The Act Relative to Gender Identity also updated Massachusetts Hate Crimes laws to include gender identity.
The final version of the Act Relative to Gender Identity, originally filed as Transgender Equal Rights Bill, that was passed by the legislature did not include protections within public accommodations section of the non-discrimination laws. MTPC and our coalition partners fought hard to try to get public accommodations restored in the Senate version of the bill in 2011, and wecwere unsuccessful in doing so.
MTPC is committed to getting public accommodations protections for our transgender youth, adults, and families. MTPC plans on introducing a bill for the 2013 legislative session for those public accommodations protections. Please watch this page for updates about this upcoming campaign over the next year.
MTPC expresses our deepest gratitude to our community members, who have spent countless hours educating their legislators and the general public about the issues transgender people face and we look forward to working with all of our community members and allies in continuing to move Massachusetts forward with positive legislation, polices, and practices.
MTPC thanks all of the members of the Transgender Equal Rights Coalition including MassEquality, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), National Association of Social Workers (NASW), ACLU of Massachusetts, MassNOW, Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus, Massachusetts LGBTQ Bar Association, Jobs with Justice, and Interfaith Coalition for Transgender Equality for their tireless work on behalf of transgender equal rights.
Nationwide, 16 states, Washington D.C., and over 140 counties and cities have passed legislation to ban this discrimination in their communities — including Boston, Cambridge, Northampton, and Amherst, and now Massachusetts in the areas of employment, housing, credit/lending, and public education.
Public Accommodations Discrimination in Massachusetts
The Massachusetts findings from the 2009 National Transgender Discrimination Survey by by the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force:
- 58% transgender adults were verbally harassed in a place of public accommodation, including hotels, restaurants, buses, airports and government agencies
- 22% transgender adults were denied equal treatment by a government agency or official
- 24% of transgender adults who have interacted with police reported harassment by officers
- 50% reported being uncomfortable seeking police assistance when needed
Transgender Discrimination in Other Areas
From the 2009 National Transgender Discrimination Survey – Key Findings by the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force:
- Double the rate of unemployment: Survey respondents experience unemployment at twice the rate of the population as a whole.
- Near universal harassment on the job: Ninety-seven percent (97%) of those surveyed reported experiencing harassment or mistreatment on the job.
- Significant losses of jobs and careers: Forty-seven percent (47%) had experienced an adverse job outcome, such as being fired, not hired or denied a promotion.
- High rates of poverty: Fifteen percent (15%) of transgender people in our sample lived on $10,000 per year or less?double the rate of the general population.
- Significant housing instability: Nineteen percent (19%) of our sample have been or are homeless, 11% have faced eviction and 26% were forced to seek temporary space.
Hate Crimes statistics from 2002-2006 found that transgender victims of hate crimes comprised over 6.3% of the total number of anti-LGBT hate crime victims — a number completely disproportionate to their actual population.
A 2006 Greater Boston area survey found that fewer than 25% of transgender women were employed full-time, only 20% held part-time employment, and 55% had been homeless at some point. Transgender people in Massachusetts have reported losing their jobs, being harassed by landlords, feeling unsafe in their own schools and even being turned away from local emergency rooms.
Public accommodations protections makes explicit the Commonwealth’s commitment to providing people of diverse gender identities and expressions equal protection under the law, and guarantee transgender and gender non-conforming people the opportunity to contribute to their communities and to the local economy. This law is about fairness.
About the legislation
Coming in 2013
How You Can Help Now
It’s as easy as picking up the phone. We show you how, step by step. [learn more]
More Resources
Learn more about Massachusetts government and state law, state senators and representatives, and leading trans and GLBT legal and activist resources. [learn more]
Join the Transgender Equal Rights Coalition
MTPC leads a statewide coalition of partners to educate communities, legislators, and policy makers on issues facing transgender youth, adults, and our families.
Please become a Transgender Equal Rights Coalition Partner. Current Transgender Equal Rights Coalition Partners are listed here on our website, and in printed materials. Partners will also receive opportunities such as invitations to forums, educational sessions, and media exposure.
[Transgender Equal Rights Coalition Partner Form]
What We Learned in Advocating for Transgender Equal Rights from 2007-2011
A majority of Massachusetts residents support the protection of rights for transgender people, as demonstrated by this poll taken in November of 2009.
The Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition applauds the many policy makers who supported “An Act Relative to Transgender Equal Rights” from 2007 -20111 including:
- Governor Deval Patrick
- State Attorney General Martha Coakley
- Congressman Barney Frank
- Suffolk County Sheriff Andrea Cabral
- Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conely
- Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino
- Cambridge City Council
- Northampton Mayor Clare Higgins
- Boston City Council
A majority of Massachusetts residents support the protection of rights for transgender people, as demonstrated by this poll taken in November of 2009.
There is a statewide coalition of individuals, bar associations, unions, schools, businesses, congregations, leaders of faith, and community groups supporting this legislation as well.
History of Transgender Equal Rights Legislation In Massachusetts
In 2007, “An Act Relative to Gender-Based Discrimination and Hate Crimes” was first introduced. This legislation was to add Massachusetts to the list of states that have provided equal opportunity to people of all genders and amend existing hate crimes laws to include transgender people was introduced by Representative Carl Sciortino and Representative Byron Rushing. The bill was sent to the Judiciary Committee, which held a hearing on it in March 2008. Although testimony in support of the legislation was overwhelming, ultimately the committee sent the bill to study, where it stayed until the end of the 2007-2008 legislative session.
In 2009, the legislation, “An Act Relative to Gender Based Discrimination and Hate Crimes,” was re-introduced into both the House (H.1728) and Senate (S.1687), and again referred to the Joint Committee on the Judiciary. A hearing was held on July 14, 2009. In March 2010, the Judiciary committee was granted an extension, until May 7, to consider the bill. In late April, 2010, an amendment (#274) to the House budget bill was submitted, attaching this legislation to the budget bill, but this method of passage was not acted upon. The 2009/10 legislative session ended without action on this legislation.
In 2011, the bill was under a new title, “An Act Relative to Transgender Equal Rights.” The content of the bill was the same as the past bills filed in 2007 and 2009. Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz joined Sen. Ben Downing as lead senatorial sponsors. House lead sponsors remained Rep. Carl Sciortino and Rep. Byron Rushing.
“An Act Relative to Gender Identity” 2011 passed the House and Senate in November of 2011 and was immediately signed into law on November 23, 2011 by Governor Deval Patrick, then a ceremonial signing was held on January 19, 2012.
