In Massachusetts “An Act Relative to Transgender Anti-Discrimination” went into effect October 1st prohibiting discrimination on the basis of gender identity in public places. Now opponents of transgender equality are trying to strip our transgender community of these critical protections & have gathered enough signatures to get the issue on the ballot in 2018. Deborah Shields, Executive Director MassEquality stated, “The Secretary of the Commonwealth confirmed that anti-transgender advocates collected the minimal number of signatures required to put a question seeking to repeal S.2407 on the statewide ballot in 2018. This law passed with bipartisan support in the legislature & with the overwhelming support of thousands of businesses, faith leaders, women's advocacy & anti-violence groups & fair-minded residents across the state. However, it takes less than 1% of the Commonwealth's population to force this commonsense update of our state law onto the ballot in two years’ time. The people of Massachusetts have a deep & long history of promoting fairness & inclusion. If the question of whether to continue to treat transgender people as equal members of our society ends up before Massachusetts voters in 2018, we are confident they will vote to retain the law and affirm the values of justice & equality that are the hallmarks of our Commonwealth.” The transgender anti-discrimination law was passed by both the Senate & the House by wide margins. The bill was signed into law by Governor Baker on July 8th making the Commonwealth the 18th state to do so.
For More Info: freedommassachusetts.org
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