Transgender Equal Rights In Massachusetts

The Transgender Equal Rights Bill has gone into effect in Massachusetts. This means for the first time in the state’s history transgender residents will be included in the state’s civil rights laws. The Commonwealth estimates there are about 33,000 transgender residents in Massachusetts but by protecting them & their families the state becomes safer for all its citizens. This is just the beginning of more legislation that needs to pass but a great beginning. In February 2011, a report found that 76 % of transgender people in Massachusetts have been harassed on the job because of their gender identity, 20 % have lost their job because of their gender identity & 17 % have been denied a promotion because they are transgender. Massachusetts has finally join the ranks of 15 other states, the District of Columbia, & 136 cities & towns around the country in protecting transgender people in the workplace, housing, education, credit & hate crimes. However the bill doesn’t include public accommodation protections. What that means is that the bill doesn’t protect transgender people in public spaces such as subways, hotel lobbies, gas stations, coffee shops & hospitals. So the law creates an imperfect situation where a Starbucks is not permitted to fire its transgender barista because of their sexual orientation but is within its rights to refuse service to a transgender customer. Obviously we have more work to do. Updates to Come…:)