More than half the legislature signs on to trans rights bill

After an aggressive lobbying campaign advocates managed to convince 21 senators and 83 House members, a majority in both chambers, to sign on as original co-sponsors of the transgender rights bill. The deadline for adding original co-sponsors was 5 p.m. on Feb. 11. This year marks a major increase in support for the bill from the last session - the first time the bill was filed - when it garnered just 25 sponsors. The bill would add gender identity and expression protections to the state's non-discrimination and hate crimes laws. The lead sponsors in the House are state Reps. Carl Sciortino (D-Medford) and Byron Rushing (D-Boston); it was filed in the Senate by Sen. Ben Downing (D-Pittsfield).

Gunner Scott, executive director of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition (MTPC), the lead organization in the coalition to pass the bill, said the amount of co-sponsorships the bill received makes him hopeful about the bill's prospects this session.

"I think this is super-amazing and it feels extremely empowering from the perspective of being a trans person to see this number of legislators standing up and cosponsoring this bill. We as an organization have put a lot of time and effort and resources into this, and it's great to see the fruits of those labors, as well as that of all the coalition partners," said Scott.

Sciortino praised the coalition, particularly MTPC and MassEquality, for their work in securing co-sponsors. He said he believes getting co-sponsorships from a majority of the legislature puts the bill in a strong position going forward.

"I've never seen another bill on any issue that has this level of co-sponsorship this session, so this is really a fantastic position to be in to have this level of support for the bill right out of the gate," said Sciortino.

Marc Solomon, executive director of MassEquality, said his organization used the relationships it had built with lawmakers during the marriage battle to win co-sponsorships, and it also relied on its grassroots supporters to lobby lawmakers to co-sponsor the bill. Solomon said MassEquality let lawmakers know that their decision about whether or not to co-sponsor would be taken into account by MassEquality in future endorsements.

"We sent out a letter the other day that we sent out to supporters of marriage equality that makes clear that we will have a scorecard and that original co-sponsorship of the bill will be part of the scorecard going forward," said Solomon.

Senate co-sponsors:

Stephen Buoniconti (D-Springfield)
Harriette Chandler (D-Worcester)
Sonia Chang-Diaz (D-Boston)
Cynthia Stone Creem (D-Newton)
Kenneth Donnelly (D-Arlington)
Ben Downing (D-Pittsfield)
Jamie Eldridge (D-Acton)
Susan Fargo (D-Lincoln)
Anthony Galluccio (D-Cambridge)
Pat Jehlen (D-Somerville)
Brian Joyce (D-Milton)
Thomas Kennedy (D-Brockton)
Michael Knapik (R-Westfield)
Thomas McGee (D-Lynn)
Mark Montigny (D-New Bedford)
Anthony Petruccelli (D-Boston)
Stanley Rosenberg (D-Northampton)
Karen Spilka (D-Framingham)
Richard Tisei (R-Wakefield)
Susan Tucker (D-Andover)
Marian Walsh (D-Boston)

House co-sponsors:

Geraldo Alicea (D-Charlton)
Willie Mae Allen (D-Boston)
Brian Ashe (D-Longmeadow)
Cory Atkins (D-Concord)
Demetrius Atsalis (D-Hyannis)
Ruth Balser (D-Newton)
Carlo Basile (D-Boston)
Jennifer Benson (D-Lunenberg)
Bill Bowles (D-Attleboro)
Garrett Bradley (D-Hingham)
William Brownsberger (D-Belmont)
Antonio Cabral (D-New Bedford)
Linda Dean Campbell (D-Methuen)
James Cantwell (D-Marshfield)
Katherine Clark (D-Melrose)
Cheryl Coakley-Rivera (D-Springfield)
Thomas Conroy (D-Wayland)
Michael Costello (D-Newburyport)
Steven D'Amico (D-Seekonk)
Robert DeLeo (D-Revere)
Stephen DiNatale (D-Fitchburg)
Paul Donato (D-Medford)
Lori Ehrlich (D-Swampscott)
Mark Falzone (D-Saugus)
Ann-Margaret Ferrante (D-Gloucester)
Linda Dorcena Forry (D-Boston)
Gloria Fox (D-Boston)
Sean Garballey (D-Arlington)
Anne Gobi (D-Spencer)
Mary Grant (D-Beverly)
Patricia Haddad (D-Somerset)
Lida Harkins (D-Needham)
Jonathan Hecht (D-Watertown)
Kate Hogan (D-Stow)
Kevin Honan (D-Boston)
Louis Kafka (D-Stoughton)
Jay Kaufman (D-Lexington)
John Keenan (D-Salem)
Kay Khan (D-Newton)
Peter Kocot (D-Florence)
Peter Koutoujian (D-Waltham)
Stephen Kulik (D-South Deerfield)
Jason Lewis (D-Winchester)
David Linsky (D-Natick)
Barbara L'Italien (D-Andover)
Timothy Madden (D-Nantucket)
Liz Malia (D-Boston)
Ronald Mariano (D-Quincy)
Paul McMurtry (D-Dedham)
Michael Moran (D-Boston)
Charles Murphy (D-Burlington)
Harold Naughton (D-Clinton)
James O'Day (D-Worcester)
Matthew Patrick (D-Falmouth)
Sarah Peake (D-Provincetown)
Alice Peisch (D-Wellesley)
Denise Provost (D-Somerville)
Kathi-Anne Reinstein (D-Revere)
Robert Rice (D-Gardner)
Pam Richardson (D-Framingham)
John Rogers (D-Norwood)
Byron Rushing (D-Boston)
Jeffrey Sanchez (D-Boston)
Rosemary Sandlin (D-Agawam)
Tom Sannicandro (D-Ashland)
John Scibak (D-South Hadley)
Carl Sciortino (D-Medford)
Stephen Stat Smith (D-Everett)
Frank Smizik (D-Brookline)
Theodore Speliotis (D-Danvers)
Thomas Stanley (D-Waltham)
Ellen Story (D-Amherst)
William Straus (D-Mattapoisett)
David Sullivan (D-Fall River)
Benjamin Swan (D-Springfield)
Stephen Tobin (D-Quincy)
Tim Toomey (D-Cambridge)
Cleon Turner (D-Dennis)
James Vallee (D-Franklin)
Marty Walz (D-Boston)
Steven Walsh (D-Lynn)
James Welch (D-West Springfield)
Alice Wolf (D-Cambridge)