MTPC is having a Press Conference & Community Action Day THIS Wednesday -- July 14th, 2010. Here is the message ICTE sent to our Facebook Group today:
Dear ICTE Supporters –
Good afternoon!
MTPC is having a Press Conference & Community Action Day THIS Wednesday, July 14th at 11:00 a.m. at the Massachusetts State House, Room A2.
You should have received a Facebook invite:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=135922613096027&ref=ts
Please attend, invite others, and otherwise publicize; and please write and gather letters. We particularly encourage clergy and lay leaders to attend, and to do so vested.
MTPC's announcement and press release are below our signatures.
Thank you for partnering with us to show how much people of faith support transgender equality!
Best wishes,
Mycroft Masada Holmes
Rev. Dr. Cameron Partridge
Co-Chairs, Interfaith Coalition for Transgender Equality (ICTE)
http://www.InterfaithCoalition.org/
http://www.interfaithcoalition.blogspot.com/
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MTPC Press Conference & Community Action Day
THIS Wednesday, July 14th, 2010 at 11:00 a.m.
Massachusetts State House -- Room A2
THE TIME IS NOW TO ACT FOR TRANSGENDER CIVIL RIGHTS
MTPC and the Transgender Civil Rights Coalition will be holding a press conference and Community Action Day at the Massachusetts State House on Wednesday, July 14th, 2010 at 11 am in Room A2. All transgender people and our allies are encouraged to attend.
MTPC and members of the Transgender Civil Rights Coalition will be urging legislators to pass House Bill 1728 / Senate Bill 1687 “An Act Relative to Gender Based Discrimination and Hate Crimes” before the clock runs out on formal session which ends at midnight on July 31st.
We urge you to attend the conference and join us in our mission to secure civil rights for all of Massachusetts’ citizens. Stand in solidarity with those who are continuously harmed by the legislature’s resistance to grant all its citizens legal protections necessary to ending discrimination and violence. This is the opportunity to show your support!
How to Act!
Tell the leadership about your dissatisfaction with the lack of movement on this bill.
The leadership must hear from you, it has been one year since the hearing before the Joint Committee on the Judiciary. We need you to write a letter to the Senate President and Speaker of the House, insisting that they move forward on voting on this bill. Sample letters are provided. We will be hand delivering these letters to House Speaker DeLeo and Senate President Murray after the press conference. Please email us or mail us your letter as soon as possible so we can print them out. Lets flood their offices with letters calling on them to pass this bill.
Use a template letter: http://www.masstpc.org/legislation/actionday.shtml
Send your letter to info@masstpc.org
Visit http://www.masstpc.org for more info
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PRESS RELEASE
LGBT and Women's Advocates Call for Passage Transgender Civil Rights Bill this Session
The Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition (MTPC) and partners of the Transgender Civil Rights Coalition will be holding a press conference at the Massachusetts State House on Wednesday, July 14th, 2010 at 11 am in Room A2.
MTPC and members of the Transgender Civil Rights Coalition will be urging legislators to pass H 1728/S 1687 “An Act Relative to Gender Based Discrimination and Hate Crimes,” before the end of formal session, which ends at midnight on July 31st. This press conference also marks the one-year anniversary since over 65 transgender adults, youth, families, allies, women’s groups, civil rights advocates, and LGBT advocates testified before the Joint Committee on the Judiciary
and over 100 pieces of written testimony were presented to the committee, in support of the bill.
H 1728/S 1687 will add Massachusetts to 13 other states, Washington D.C., and 125 counties and cities, including Boston, Cambridge, Northampton, and Amherst, that protect on the basis of gender identity and expression. This bill will make the protection of transgender people explicit, uniform, and visible to the general public. It will include gender identity and expression in the state’s non-discrimination statute and will amend existing hate crime laws to explicitly protect people targeted for violence and harassment.
“Transgender people continue to experience overwhelming amounts of harassment and discrimination, particularly in the workplace” said Gunner Scott, Executive Director of MTPC “In fact the 2009 National Transgender Discrimination Survey conducted by the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian task Force found that 97% of transgender people surveyed had experienced some form of harassment or mistreatment on the job due to their gender identity or expression. This is why we must pass this bill now. Not tomorrow or next session. Transgender people just can’t wait any longer for fairness in the workplace”.
In the same survey, 47% experienced an adverse job outcome, such as being fired, not hired, or denied a promotion. Additionally, transgender people experience double the rate of unemployment regardless of the economic climate, double the rate of poverty, with 15% of transgender people living on $10,000 or less a year. Transgender people face discrimination in housing situations as well. Of those surveyed, 19% were either currently homeless or had been in the past, 11% faced eviction, and 26% were forced to seek an alternative temporary space.
Polling shows that the voting constituents of Massachusetts support this bill. In statewide polling conducted by Lake Research Partners, more than four in ten voters have a very positive reaction (44% very, 76% positive overall) to legal protections in employment, housing, or other public accommodations for individuals who are transgender, with 73% wanting their legislators to vote in favor of the law. This bill garners support across the board, with 81% of women polled supporting the bill, 70% of men, 90% of Democrats, 74% of Independents, and 53% of Republicans. Another survey, conducted by Harris Interactive, showed that seven out of ten (71%) heterosexual adults agree that how an employee performs at their job should be the standard for judging an employee, not whether or not they are transgender.
“This is not a partisan issue, nor a political issue, but a basic human rights issue. Fear and hate have no place in determining public policy. Passing this bill is a chance for legislators to take a stand against discrimination. It is time for Massachusetts to join the growing number of places that protect the basic civil rights we all deserve,” said Gunner Scott. Other cities and counties, such as Missoula City, Montana, have recently passed similar legislation.
Some of the speakers at the July 14th press conference will include: Gunner Scott, Executive Director of MTPC, Christina Knowles of Mass. NOW, Rebekah Gewirtz of the National Association of Social Workers Massachusetts, and Arline Isaacson of the Massachusetts Gay and
Lesbian Political Caucus.
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About The Transgender Civil Coalition: The coalition is made of over 80 LGBT, civil rights, women’s groups, labor unions, faith, and student groups partnered with MTPC including Mass Lesbian and Gay Bar Association, Massachusetts Chapter of National Organization for Women,
Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus, Massachusetts Chapter National Association of Social Workers, Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD), MassEquality, and the Massachusetts Chapter of the ACLU.
About MTPC: The Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition (MTPC) is dedicated to ending discrimination on the basis of gender identity and gender expression. MTPC works for a world where persons of all genders are treated with respect and fully participate in all areas of
society, free from fear of prohibition, harassment or violence based on their gender identity and/or expression. Its members educate the public, advocate with state, local, and federal government, engage in political activism, and encourage empowerment of community members
through collective action.
