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State Law Aimed at Transgender Discrimination and Hate Crimes
March 7, 2008
BOSTON -- While the future of House Bill 1722 -- which would expand the state's non-discrimination laws to protect all people regardless of their gender expression -- is uncertain, supporters say it is crucial in order to protect transgender people from the discrimination they face at work. The proposed law would add "gender identity or expression" to Massachusetts hate crime laws as well as to the employment, housing, credit, public accommodations and public education non-discrimination laws. The bill was discussed by members of the legal community, businesses and the public during a Judiciary Committee hearing this week.
Among the bill's supporters are local legal groups including the Boston Bar Association, the Massachusetts Bar Association and the Massachusetts Lesbian and Gay Bar Association.
"It says something powerful when both employee-side lawyers and employer-side lawyers agree on an issue," said Catherine Reuben, a Boston labor and employment lawyer. "We all want an environment where there is tolerance and non-discrimination. Just like diversity is good for business, non-discrimination on the basis of gender identity is going to be good for business."
Transgender people are often harassed after they have transitioned from one sex to the other, and at many workplaces they are sometimes outright fired. Nancy Nangeroni, a transgender advocate who helped write House Bill 1722, lived through workplace discrimination after she transitioned from male to female. Nangeroni, who is a Massachusetts Institute of Technology-educated engineer, made her transition to living as a female in 1993 while working at a software startup company. While excelling at work designing hardware, she was harassed by a number of her co-workers once she started living as a female. Nine months later she left the company.
"I hope this bill will make it possible for more transgender people to earn a respectable living and will encourage more companies to recognize the value of people who look different," said Nangeroni.
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