Massachusetts voters in 2018 will determine the fate of a law established in 2016 that protects transgender individuals from discrimination in public accommodations.
Keep MA Safe, an organization in opposition to the law, collected 34,231 state-certified signatures in support of their effort — about 2,000 signatures over the amount required to place the initiative on the 2018 ballot — according to the group’s website. The Keep MA Safe ballot question committee will ask if Massachusetts should keep or repeal the transgender protections law.
The organization is looking to repeal the law because members believe it endangers the safety of women and children by allowing for individuals to take advantage of the measure, according to the site.
“[The law opens women and children] to whomever wants to be there at any given time, and also to sexual predators who claim ‘confusion’ about their gender as a cover for their evil intentions,” according to the site.
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker signed the bill into law in 2016, ultimately protecting transgender individuals in public accommodations such as bathrooms, locker rooms and changing facilities, according to a press release from Baker’s office.
Chris Bobel, an associate professor of women’s and gender studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston, wrote in an email that the law should stand as a concrete measure to protect transgender individuals, and that opposition to acts like these are often rooted in ignorance.
“The opposition to the law reminds me of support for policies and executive orders that discriminate against immigrants and Muslims,” Bobel wrote. “I see parallels here — stereotyping, assumptions, fear of the unknown, and scapegoating — all lead to targeting some groups of people and compromising their rights.”
Matt Wilder, a spokesperson for the Freedom for All Massachusetts coalition, said the transgender accommodation protection law is important because it comes down to preserving basic human rights.
“We would never discriminate against someone based on … the color of their skin or whom they love,” Wilder said. “Massachusetts passed the law here in 2017 that protects transgender people in places of public accommodation — the one last area that the law in Massachusetts did not protect them.”
Wilder addressed those in opposition of the law — people who feel as though sharing public accommodations with transgender adults places younger individuals at risk — and said their fears are not substantiated.
“I’d ask them to look at the facts, and the facts are that there has been no incidence like that, so what the opposition in this campaign are trying to do is create a campaign of fear and misinformation,” Wilder said. “There’s really no data that supports any of that happening.”
The organization’s goals moving forward are to educate the public further, and to continue to grow support for the measure, Wilder said.
“We’re going to get as many people on board in support of our coalition as possible,” Wilder said. “And we’re going to continue to communicate to the voters of Massachusetts who this law really is about and try to reinforce with them the the fact that the folks who want to repeal this are really mounting a misinformation and fear campaign that’s not based in any truth.”
Several Boston residents said they believed the transgender accommodations law should be preserved since it serves as a protection of human rights.
Judy Shankman, 61, of Back Bay, said the rights of transgender people should be protected, but sometimes having a person disclose their gender is important.
“They should absolutely have [protections], no question whatsoever,” Shankman said. “I work in health care … I’m a nurse, so I think that sometimes it’s important to know [an individual’s gender] so I think that in some instances it’s a legitimate question.”
Lauren Martin, 31, of Back Bay, said transgender rights should be protected in the state.
“Everything’s equal,” Martin said. “I think that everyone should have the same rights.”
Jem Martin, 23, of Back Bay, said the transgender protection law is crucial, especially since they characterizes themselves as transgender.
“Transgender rights are very important,” Martin said. “As someone who identifies on the transgender spectrum, you know [it] impacts me directly. We need to keep laws that protect our transgender people.”
