Photo credit: Freedom Massachusetts

GLAAD applauds Massachusetts’ move today to expand protections for transgender people to all statewide public accommodations*.

*In US law, public accomodations are generally defined as facilities, both public and private, that are open to or offer services to the general public. These include government-owned or operated facilities (e.g., hospitals, parks) and privately-owned or operated businesses (e.g., restaurants, hotels, gyms). 

This week, House and Senate members agreed to a revised version of a bill that would fully prohibit discrimination based on gender identity by providing public accommodation protections for transgender people. Massachusetts lawmakers voted with a bipartisan majority (117-36) to advance the transgender non-discrimination bill. On Thursday, the final bill (S2407) reached Republican Governor Charlie Baker’s desk and was signed it into law on Friday. #TransBillMA

The signing of this bill makes Massachusetts the 18th state to ensure full protections for transgender people from discrimination in public places, which include restrooms and locker rooms, where transgender people will be able to use the facilities consistent with their gender identity and be legally protected from discrimination. 

While in 2011 the Massachusetts state legislature added gender identity protections to housing, education, and employment, this new bill fills the gap in coverage left open in the bill’s first iteration, in which only discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation was publicly protected. 

The law is scheduled to go into effect October 1.

This legislative action is a significant step forward not only in protecting transgender people in public places, but also in affirming who they are in a statewide legal precedence.

“Let there be no doubt that today history was made in Massachusetts. The enactment of this law comes after ten long years of transgender people summoning the courage to step out the shadows to publicly advocate for their civil rights,” said Kasey Suffredini, Co-Chair of Freedom Massachusetts. “While we did so proudly, it should not be forgotten that many did so at great personal risk of losing a job, a friend, or ties with family. This is a victory for those brave people and indeed a victory for Massachusetts.”

Twenty-eight states still do not provide any legal discrimination protections for LGBT people and four states exclude gender identity from some or all of their non-discrimination policies.

For more information on this bill, visit: www.glad.org/current/post/ma-public-accommodations-q-a

For more information on state protections and non-discrimination laws, visit: www.freedomforallamericans.org/states/