Activists strategize for May 15 trans bill lobby day

In the run-up to its first lobby day, the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition (MTPC) held a meeting April 23 at the Democracy Center in Cambridge to talk to supporters about the pending legislation to make the state's non-discrimination and hate crimes statutes trans-inclusive and to train them to lobby in support of the bill. The meeting was part of a series organized by MTPC across the state; the organization has already held meetings in Northampton and Worcester, and it will hold another meeting in Lowell April 28. Gunner Scott, who this year replaced Diego Sanchez as one of the co-chairs of MTPC, told the audience of about 30 supporters in Cambridge that MTPC's lobby day, scheduled for May 15, will be a landmark in the transgender rights struggle in Massachusetts.

"It's going to be the first ever transgender lobby day in the state," explained Scott.

MTPC already has a strong track record of passing transgender rights legislation at the local level, having successfully campaigned for transgender non-discrimination ordinances in Boston, which passed its ordinance in 2002, and Northampton, which passed an ordinance in 2005. Yet the campaign to pass the current transgender rights bill is the first time MTPC has worked to pass trans-related legislation at the state level.

Laurie Wolfe, co-chair of MTPC's training committee, said for this first round of lobbying on the transgender rights bill the focus will be on showing lawmakers that there is strong support from the bill from the transgender community as well as from its allies and from the friends and loved ones of transgender people. To that end, she said MTPC is urging its supporters to focus on positive messages of support for the bill, rather than to talk about discrimination they or their loved ones have faced because of their gender identity or expression. MTPC is saving the stories of discrimination for the expected hearing later this year before the judiciary committee.

"We're not giving the horror stories ... These we will be saving for when we have an open hearing," said Wolfe.

She said the judiciary committee has not yet scheduled the hearing, but MTPC hopes the committee will consider their bill in the fall. Wolfe told attendees that the judiciary committee holds the fate of the bill in their hands. If they vote to pass the bill, it goes to the House and has a shot at coming up for a vote before the full House; alternately they could send the bill to a study committee, which would likely delay the legislation from coming up again until it expires at the end of the session.

MTPC is focused on turning out as many supporters as possible on May 15, to show that there is strong support for the bill. M. Barusch, MTPC's clerk, said that one of the myths about transgender civil rights legislation is that it is important to only a very small group of people, and a large turnout will help dispel that myth.

"It's really important that we're seen as a big presence on the Hill ... We're combating one of those myths of it not mattering to a lot of people," said Barusch.

Scott said as important as it is to get transgender people to tell their stories, it is just as important to get allies and family members of trans people involved. He said in the campaign to pass the transgender ordinance in Boston city councilors were deeply moved by the stories of parents and loved ones of members of the transgender community who wanted the city to protect the people they love.

"When we did the hearing in Boston the trans allies were the ones who made people cry," said Scott.

He said when MTPC was lobbying lawmakers earlier this year to sign on as co-sponsors of the transgender legislation, he asked his father, a Republican-leaning South Shore resident, to contact his legislators and urge them to sign on. He received a personal phone call from the lawmaker a few days later, and the lawmaker pledged to support the legislation.

For those who cannot attend the lobby day event May 15, MTPC is urging them to begin contacting their lawmakers by phone or by mail that day to ask for their support.

Wolfe said while MTPC is still assessing support for the bill in the legislature, the response they got from lawmakers while searching for co-sponsors indicates that even though the legislature may be unfamiliar with transgender issues, there are at least some lawmakers who are already very comfortable supporting the legislation. Wolfe said some lawmakers thought that the state already offered non-discrimination and hate crimes protection for transgender people, and they were surprised to learn that Massachusetts had never passed a transgender rights bill.

"It's almost a no-brainer kind of law, to extend it to everybody," said Wolfe. Beyond the legislation's three lead sponsors, Reps. Carl Sciortino (D-Somerville) and Byron Rushing (D-Boston) and Sen. Jarrett Barrios (D-Cambridge), it has 21 additional co-sponsors.

Laura Langley, co-chair of MTPC's legislative committee and leader of the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Bar Association's transgender committee, explained the legal impact of the bill. Langley said the bill would add the language "gender identity or expression" to the state non-discrimination protections in employment, housing, credit, public accommodations and public education, and it would also add that language to the protected categories in the state's hate crimes law.

According to Langley the legislation is in line with court precedent in the state. Multiple rulings from the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) and a superior court ruling have held that the state's ban on sex discrimination covers gender identity and expression. Langley said making that language explicit in the state's non-discrimination policy will make it clear to everyone who reads the law that discriminating against transgender people is against the law.

"What this bill does is make that clear," said Langley.