The next generation of MLK’s, only in drag.
Via Mass Live
For Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, transgender rights today is like gay marriage a decade ago: the next big battle for equality.
“Transgender rights is the important next battleground for civil rights,” Healey, a Democrat, said in an interview with The Republican / MassLive.com. “We need to do more, and we need to do better in this state, starting with a public transgender accommodation bill.”
Healey, the nation’s first openly gay attorney general, has made gay rights a priority since taking office in January. She led 16 states and Washington, D.C., in filing a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court asking the justices to establish gay marriage nationwide. She asked Massachusetts residents to share their stories about gay marriage, for use in the Supreme Court brief. She is now setting the stage for what could be a battle with the Republican administration of Gov. Charlie Baker over a transgender public accommodations bill, which would require accommodations for transgender people in public places, like restaurants.
“It’s a priority for me, and it’s where we need to be when it comes to civil rights,” Healey said.
The public accommodations bill is the current legislative priority of gay rights groups in Massachusetts. In 2011, the Legislature passed a bill adding non-discrimination protection for transgender people in employment, housing, credit, education and similar areas. But a mention of public accommodations got stripped out during debate. The public accommodation provision drew opposition from those who dubbed the bill “the bathroom bill,” out of fear that it would require public places to allow a transgender man to use a women’s bathroom and vice versa.
A standalone transgender public accommodations bill, sponsored by Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, D-Boston, is pending before a legislative committee. Western Massachusetts co-sponsors include Sen. Ben Downing, D-Pittsfield, Sen. Eric Lesser, D-Longmeadow, Rep. Gailanne Cariddi, D-North Adams, and Rep. Jose Tosado, D-Springfield.