Somerville State Representative supports transgender anti-discrimination law
The Somerville News, by Ben Johnson
April 15, 2009
Somerville State Representative Carl M. Sciortino has been instrumental in pushing forward a legislative bill that promises to protect transgender citizens from discrimination and hate crimes in Massachusetts.
Sciortino filed the bill, called "An Act Relative to Gender-Based Discrimination and Hate Crimes," this January with 104 legislative cosponsors, including Speaker of the House Robert A. DeLeo. "We hope to get this bill in the Governors office as fast as we can," says Sciortino.
With overwhelming support in both the House of Representatives and the State Senate, this bill will likely pass the floor vote with ease. "A lot of our legislators and cosponsors are very proud to push forward this civil rights bill," explains Sciortino.
The bill, if it passes into law, will incorporate gender identity and expression in the Massachusetts' non-discrimination statute. It will also explicitly protect transgender citizens who have been the victims of violence and harassment. Perpetrators of hate crimes against transgender citizens will be subject to the same penalties as those who commit hate crimes for race, religion, or disability.
Currently Boston and Cambridge have citywide laws protecting transgender citizens from discrimination but there is no such state law.
According to the Massachusetts transgender Political Coalition (MTPC), between 2002 and 2006, 6.3% of hate crimes in the national Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender community were towards transgender people, which is a surprisingly high number given the small size of the transgender population.
In the greater Boston area fewer than 25% of transgenders are employed full time and only 20% have part time work. In all, 55% of transgenders claim to have been homeless at one time or another. This new bill will ensure that transgender citizens will not lose their jobs or be denied employment because of their gender expression.
"This bill will make explicit the commonwealth's commitment to providing people of diverse gender identities and expressions equal protection under the law," says the MTPC website, "It will guarantee transgender and gender non-conforming people the opportunity to contribute to their communities and to the local economy."
Washington D.C. and thirteen states have already enacted similar laws to protect transgenders from discrimination in the work place and on the street. But in spite of the growing support for such laws there are some who oppose extending this civil right to transgenders.
Unofficially dubbing these laws "Bathroom Bills," many opponents claim that by allowing equal civil rights to transgenders, governments will soon have to open all bathrooms to both men and women. The underlying fear is that the bill will become a means for sex offenders and other criminals to defend their crimes.
"This is a bill that has generated some level of controversy," says Sciortino, "But this is a civil rights bill plain and simple. This bill will not protect criminals."
Sciortino has known people who are transgender in his lifetime. He believes it is unacceptable that they receive no protection from violence and discrimination in state law; that their civil rights are not protected. But Sciortino has high hopes that "An Act Relative to Gender-Based Discrimination and Hate Crimes" will pass soon and ensure the rights of many unprotected Massachusetts citizens.
"Having Massachusetts pass this legislation will be a good thing," Sciortino explains. "It will put our state on the forefront of the contemporary civil rights movement."