Shocking! and With Photos! SOON! VERY SOON (Transgender rights bill before Mass. Legislature)

[Ian David]

Thursday, March 06, 2008
Shocking! and With Photos! SOON! VERY SOON

OK, Tuesday after the public hearing on several bills in the Mass legislature I went to MassResistance's website to read their take on the hearing. I was teased with "later on tonight we'll have a full report with PHOTOS!"

Then yesterday I read "We'll have a full report with Photos today", later yesterday they posted "Full report tomorrow morning" and now today we read:

To be posted very soon (with photos). It was an unbelievable spectacle. A sham of a "public hearing" - clear collusion between the committee chairmen and homosexual lobby featuring parade of long-winded transgender activists, while pro-family people had to wait over 9 hours to testify!


Come on Brian, there really can't be that many gay activities going around since Tuesday that you can't even get a summary of the events at the hearing (it's always more fun to read these things through a demented mind). Unless Amy, the researcher, is putting it together and she's exhausted after she finished her !!! 130 page!! report on transgender rights.

<snip>

Then again, you probably would have mocked Michelangelo's David as obscene. I'm sure you both are happy now that the only people who read your hate are the people you are writing about. They rest of the world just thinks you're nuts. Well, we think you're nuts too but we're enjoying your meltdown.

More:
http://massresistancewatch.blogspot.com/2008/03/shocking-and-with-photos-soon-very-soon.html


See also:



Patrick backs bill to protect rights of transgendered
Antibias statutes would be amended

By Megan Woolhouse
Globe Staff / March 5, 2008

Governor Deval Patrick said yesterday he supports a bill protecting transgendered people from discrimination, legislation similar to laws already enacted in more than a dozen states.

"Massachusetts has a rich history of protecting the civil rights of all its citizens," Patrick said in a letter that was read to a legislative committee at a State House hearing. Yet "transgendered people continue to face serious discrimination in the workplace, in schools, and in public accommodations."

"The proposed legislation represents another step forward in achieving fair and equal treatment for all," he said.

The bill proposed by state Representative Carl Sciortino, a Somerville Democrat, would add the terms "gender identity and gender expression" to existing antidiscrimination and hate crime laws in Massachusetts. Transgendered people are people transitioning to a sex different than the one they had at birth. Some wear clothes of the other sex, while others have undergone hormone replacement therapy or sex-change surgery.

More:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/03/05/patrick_backs_bill_to_protect_rights_of_transgendered/


And:


Heavy hitters go to bat for transgender civil rights bill
by Laura Kiritsy
Bay Windows
Friday Mar 7, 2008

Gov. Deval Patrick, Attorney General Martha Coakley and Congressman Barney Frank came out in support of House Bill 1722 at a March 4 hearing on the bill before the legislature’s Joint Committee on the Judiciary. The bill would add gender identity and expression to the state’s civil rights laws.

"I am pleased to submit this letter in favor of laws prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity and gender expression," wrote Gov. Deval Patrick in a brief letter that was submitted to the committee. "Less than a year ago we celebrated the historic victory for marriage equality, ensuring that gays and lesbians enjoy the freedom to marry the person of their choice, and preserving Massachusetts’ place as a leader in the fight for civil rights and equality. The proposed legislation represents another step forward in achieving fair and equal treatment for all."

MassEquality Campaign Director Marc Solomon praised Patrick for supporting HB 1722, which came just hours before the 1:00 p.m. start of the judiciary committee hearing. "Deval is the real deal and he knows the meaning of equality and social justice and has been fighting for it his whole life," said Solomon. "It’s terrific. It’s a strong statement that the governor of the Commonwealth stands with all parts of the LGBT community."

"As Attorney General, I am committed to protecting the civil rights of all people in the Commonwealth, and to enforcing our antidiscrimination and hate crimes laws to their fullest extent," Coakley wrote in her testimony. "... HB 1722 reflects the fact that the Commonwealth is stronger when every person may live, work, attend school, and access places of public accommodation without being discriminated against, harassed, threatened or assaulted."

Bay Windows broke the news of Coakley’s support for the bill yesterday.


More:
http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=glbt&sc2=news&sc3=&id=71273

And

Attorney General Martha Coakley comes out for civil rights protections for transgender community
by Laura Kiritsy
Bay Windows
Friday Mar 7, 2008


In a move that will likely give momentum to the nascent effort to amend the state’s civil rights laws to provide protections based on gender identity and expression, Attorney General Martha Coakley is supporting House Bill 1722, a proposal to put those protections on the books. Coakley will give testimony supporting the bill to the Joint Committee on the Judiciary, which will hold a public hearing at the State House on March 4.

Coakley spokeswoman Emily LaGrassa confirmed today that Coakley will submit written testimony in support of the bill. But LaGrassa declined to elaborate on why Coakley is supporting the bill or to release a copy of her testimony in advance of the hearing. "We generally don’t comment on testimony until it’s actually been submitted," said LaGrassa.

As the state’s top law enforcement officer, Coakley is the highest ranking and most influential official to voice support for the bill, which was filed by state Reps. Carl Sciortino (D-Medford) and Byron Rushing (D-Boston). Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, who signed an ordinance prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity and expression in 2002, has also written to judiciary committee co-chairs Sen. Robert Creedon (D-Brockton) and Rep. Eugene O’Flaherty (D-Charlestown) in support of H.B. 1722 (See Pressing the flesh," Jan. 24). Congressman Barney Frank will also submit written testimony supporting the bill.

Marc Solomon, the campaign director for MassEquality, one of the organizations leading the effort to pass H.B. 1722, praised Coakley’s leadership on the issue. "When Martha Coakley stands up for something, she fights for it and we are so proud and gratified to have her fighting for equality for transgender people in Massachusetts. It’s a sea change from where we’ve been in the past. It’s so great to have the attorney general - the lead civil rights spokesperson in Massachusetts - fighting on behalf of our community."

More:
http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=glbt&sc2=features&sc3=&id=71272