Massachusetts Gender Identity Anti-Discrimination Initiative
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Massachusetts Gender Identity Anti-Discrimination Initiative is a state-wide referendum passed by Massachusetts voters in the 6 November 2018 mid-term election that prohibits discrimination in
public accommodations In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichk ...
on the basis of
gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent and consistent with the in ...
. The vote upholds language which was already present in the state anti-discrimination statute, defeating an attempt to veto it by public referendum. It is the first state-wide anti-discrimination statute passed by referendum supporting
transgender rights The legal status of transgender people varies greatly around the world. Some countries have enacted laws protecting the rights of transgender individuals, but others have criminalized their gender identity or expression. In many cases, transg ...
in the United States.


Statute

On July 7, 2016, “An Act Relative to Transgender Anti-Discrimination” (Senate Bill 2407) was passed by a voice vote in the Senate and 117-36 in the House. It was signed by
Governor of Massachusetts The governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the head of government of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The governor is the chief executive, head of the state cabinet and the commander-in-chief of the commonw ...
Charlie Baker Charles Duane Baker Jr. (born November 13, 1956) is an American politician serving as the sixth president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, since 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 72nd governor of Massa ...
the next day. It took effect on October 1, 2016. It amended Section 92A of chapter 272 of the General Laws to cover "gender identity" in "any place of public accommodation, resort or amusement that lawfully segregates or separates access...based on a person’s sex" such that all individuals shall be treated "consistent with the person’s gender identity." The places of "public accommodation" where discrimination is forbidden include, according to GLAD, "restaurants, libraries, hotels, malls, public transportation, and beyond," as well as "bathrooms and locker rooms."


Support for the "No" vote

Keep MA Safe opposed the 2016 anti-discrimination law and advocated its repeal. A press release on their website dated September 28, 2016, said that "hundreds of volunteers" had met the deadline to provide the 32,375 signatures required to get the question on the ballot. Their campaign finance report filed September 7, 2018, indicated that the group raised $286,000 since the campaign began in 2017. Of this, $106,300 was raised in 2018. An older group,
MassResistance MassResistance is an American organization that promotes Anti-LGBT rhetoric, anti-LGBT and Social conservatism, socially conservative positions. The group is designated an List of organizations designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as ant ...
, founded by Brian Camenker in 1995, feared that Keep MA Safe's campaign was inadequate. One month before the election, MassResistance began its own splinter campaign with its preferred, "admittedly more inflammatory alternative" message that gender is determined by sex, that transgender identity is a mental disorder, and that there should be no civil rights based on transgender identity. Several days after the election, MassResistance published an article undercutting Keep MA Safe's main argument. The claim that transgender women pose a threat in public bathrooms, MassResistance alleged, was an invention. MassResistance said that this "largely contrived" position had been used in the Massachusetts political campaign mainly because it appealed to emotion and had been used successfully when the city of Houston voted against housing and employment rights three years earlier; however, it had failed in Massachusetts. "Our side concocted the 'bathroom safety' male predator argument," MassResistance claimed.


Support for the "Yes" vote

Freedom For All Massachusetts, also known as "Yes on 3," formed to campaign for the "Yes" vote to preserve the existing anti-discrimination law. The political advocacy coalition included: * hundreds of large and small businesses, including Google, Facebook, Twitter, and healthcare organizations including
Boston Children's Hospital Boston Children's Hospital (formerly known as Children's Hospital Boston until 2013) is the main pediatric training and research hospital of Harvard Medical School, Harvard University. It is a nationally ranked, freestanding acute care children ...
; * hundreds of clergy and congregations; * 47 "sexual assault, domestic violence and women’s organizations"; * 28 higher education organizations; * 16 labor unions; * 172 nonprofit and advocacy organizations including the ACLU, the Anti-Defamation League, the Boston Bar Association, the Boston Public Library, the Massachusetts Public Health Association, the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, the Museum of Science, the National Association of Social Workers, National Organization for Women (Massachusetts Chapter), New England Philharmonic, Victim Rights Law Center (Massachusetts Chapter), Women's Bar Association (WBA) of Massachusetts, and multiple YWCAs; * "every major New England professional sports team" including the Red Sox, Celtics, Bruins, and Patriots, as well as the sports arena TD Garden; * 29 mayors, including those of Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, Worcester, Northampton, Framingham, Salem, and Lowell; * Massachusetts law enforcement organizations including the Chiefs of Police, Major City Chiefs, and Association of Minority Law Enforcement Officers; * the
Massachusetts Attorney General The Massachusetts attorney general is an elected constitutionally defined executive officer of the Massachusetts government. The officeholder is the chief lawyer and law enforcement officer of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The officeholder ...
Maura Healey Maura Tracy Healey (born February 8, 1971) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 73rd governor of Massachusetts since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she served as Massachusetts Attorney Ge ...
; * politicians from both parties in the state House and Senate; and * "the entire Massachusetts Congressional delegation." Freedom for All Massachusetts' campaign finance report filed September 7, 2018, indicated that the group raised $2.7 million since the campaign began in 2017. Of this, $1.8 million was raised in 2018. "Yes" was endorsed by the city councils of
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
,
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
, Somerville, Melrose, Arlington, Lexington, and
Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...
. It was "wholeheartedly" endorsed by ''
The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...
'' newspaper, and ''
The Salem News ''The Salem News'' (formerly ''The Salem Evening News'') is an American daily newspaper serving southern Essex County, Massachusetts. Although the paper is named for the city of Salem, its offices are now in nearby Danvers, Massachusetts. The ...
'' also urged a "Yes" vote.


Election result

The vote on November 6, 2018, affirmed the law, 67.8 percent to 32.2 percent (1,781,041 to 846,804).


Studies

Amira Hasenbush, Andrew R. Flores, and Jody L. Herman of the
Williams Institute The Williams Institute is a public policy research institute based at the UCLA School of Law focused on sexual orientation and gender identities issues. History The Williams Institute was founded in 2001 through a grant by Charles R. "Chuck" ...
at the
UCLA School of Law The University of California, Los Angeles School of Law (commonly known as UCLA School of Law or UCLA Law) is the law school of the University of California, Los Angeles. History Founded in 1949, the UCLA School of Law is the third oldest of t ...
determined that the anti-discrimination laws in several cities did not affect the local rate of crimes reported in restrooms. They examined Massachusetts cities before and after they passed such laws (which the cities had done to protect transgender people before the 2016 anti-discrimination law was applied statewide) as well as Massachusetts cities that never passed any such law. The study was published in Sexuality Research and Social Policy in July 2018. A 2013 study of transgender and gender-nonconforming adult residents of Massachusetts found that 65% of respondents had experienced discrimination in public accommodations (in some cases, regarding bathrooms) within the previous year.


Polling


See also

*
Bathroom bill A bathroom bill is the common name for legislation or a statute that denies access to public toilets by gender or transgender identity. Bathroom bills affect access to sex-segregated public facilities for an individual based on a determination o ...
* 2015 referendum on housing nondiscrimination for LGBT people in Houston, Texas *
LGBT rights in Massachusetts Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in the United States, U.S. state of Massachusetts enjoy the same rights as non-LGBTQ people. The U.S. state of Massachusetts is one of the most LGBTQ-supportive states in the country. ...
* 2018 voter initiative on transgender rights in Anchorage, Alaska *
List of U.S. ballot initiatives to repeal LGBT anti-discrimination laws Ballot initiatives to repeal LGBTQ anti-discrimination laws in the United States (U.S.) have been a recurring political strategy aimed at overturning legal protections for LGBTQ individuals at the state and local levels from 1974–2018. Ballot ...
*
Transgender rights in the United States In the United States, the rights of Transgender, transgender people vary considerably by jurisdiction. In recent decades, there was an expansion of federal, state, and local laws and rulings to protect transgender Americans; however, many righ ...
*
Trans bashing Violence against transgender people includes both physical and sexual violence targeted towards transgender people. Some believe the term should also apply to hate speech directed at transgender people and at depictions of transgender people in ...
*
United States elections, 2018 Elections were held in the United States on November 6, 2018. These midterm elections occurred during incumbent Republican president Donald Trump's first term. Although the Republican Party increased its majority in the Senate, Democratic incu ...


References

{{LGBT rights in the United States LGBTQ rights in Massachusetts 2018 Massachusetts ballot measures Transgender law in the United States Anti-discrimination law in the United States 2018 in LGBTQ history