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The MA Transgender Equal Rights Bill's hearing is TODAY!

The MA Transgender Equal Rights Bill's hearing is TODAY, at 1:00 p.m. in the Statehouse’s Gardner Auditorium. This is the public hearing before the Joint Committee on the Judiciary, which we need to vote the bill onwards to be voted on by the full legislature.

Everyone is welcome to attend, and allowed to sign up to testify. However, please be aware that:

• Attendance is much more needed for Transgender Equal Rights Lobby Day on Thursday June 23rd.
• We ask that you not bring signs, or engage with anyone who antagonizes you.
• Although the hearing should be much shorter and simpler than our previous ones (which were quite complex and several hours), we can't know how long it will be, the order or timing of speakers, etc.; there will be many other bills being heard today, though far fewer than our previous hearing days.
• To make our presentation as short and sweet as possible, we need to focus on our pre-planned themed panels of speakers.
• We will present all written testimony to the Committee (the letters we have been asking supporters for all year).
• Although the opposition will have to follow the rules, their speakers may (as during the last hearing) say upsetting things about transgender people, (non-trans) women, etc. This can be particularly painful for allies, and for those who weren't around back when such things were much more commonly said about GLB people, women, etc.

If you can't attend, here's how you can help (yesterday's MassEquality email): http://eepurl.com/d_mA5

I will be attending, and ICTE will be presenting a faith-themed panel of three clergy. And here is my written testimony:

June 8, 2011

Senator Cynthia S. Creem and Representative Eugene L. O’Flaherty

Joint Committee on the Judiciary

Rooms 405 and 136

State House

Boston, MA 02133

Dear Senator Creem and Representative O’Flaherty,

My name is Mycroft Holmes, and I am a transgender person and leader who lives and works in greater Boston, where I was born and have always lived. I love Boston and the rest of Massachusetts; this has always been my home and I hope it always will be.

I’m an interfaith transgender leader -- Chair of the Interfaith Coalition for Transgender Equality (ICTE), member of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition’s (MTPC) Steering Committee, and Emeritus Founding Chair of the Keshet’s Transgender Working Group (TWiG); I’m also a board member of Congregation Am Tikva (Brookline).

Founded in 2007, ICTE is a gathering of clergy, lay leaders and organizations that organizes the Massachusetts faith community in support of transgender social justice. As the interfaith partner of MTPC, ICTE focuses on faith-based work in support of the Transgender Equal Rights Bill (An Act Relative To Transgender Equal Rights, House Bill 502 / Senate Bill 764).

ICTE created and has submitted to you several updates of our Declaration Of Religious And Faith-Based Support for the bill – you received the latest version today, signed by hundreds of Massachusetts faith communities, clergy, lay leaders and other individuals. We organized Transgender Faith Action Week in April – more than 100 faith communities participated. The Week included a clergy press conference at the Statehouse where four faith leaders -- the Episcopal Church’s diocesan bishop, an Episcopal priest, a United Methodist pastor, and a rabbi – spoke in support of the bill. You will hear testimony from some of our other supportive clergy at today’s hearing, and at Transgender Equal Rights Lobby Day on the 23rd. The Massachusetts faith community wants to see this vital legislation passed this session.

Ever since I was a small child, I wanted to work in criminal justice. After public school in Brookline and Newton, I attended Northeastern University as a Criminal Justice major. The university was supportive, but classes, campus life and housing were very challenging. After my sophomore year, I tried to participate in the cooperative education program -- students are placed in jobs in their majors during their next three years, helping them pay tuition and living expenses and find employment in their field after graduation. The co-op department was supportive, but the employers wouldn’t even communicate with me, never mind interview me.

Because I was transgender, I was the only one of the 200 criminal justice students who wasn’t placed in a job. Without the financial support and experience of co-op, I had to leave Northeastern.

It was devastating to learn that I couldn’t pursue my dream because I was transgender, and that I had no legal recourse. The day my co-op advisor called to tell me I couldn’t be placed, and the details of the discrimination, I understood what it meant to be a member of a group of citizens that don’t have civil rights.

And I realized that my calling was to be a transgender leader. I’ve had a wonderful career, and have a bright future. But very little of my career work has been or is funded – I’ve always needed other full-time paid work, and I’ve continued to experience employment discrimination because of my gender identity and expression, leading to underemployment and unemployment.

My life partner is a Maryland native and lifelong resident who graduated from George Washington University (Washington, DC) last month. We want her to move to Boston this year so that we can find our first home and begin the next part of our life together. We have much to offer my great state. But we are both challenged by employment discrimination, and we fear discrimination in credit, housing, public accommodations and public education. We need the Transgender Equal Rights Bill to pass into law.

I urge you to vote the Transgender Equal Rights Bill out and on so that it can be voted on by the full legislature and pass during this legislative session. This bill would finally give transgender people our civil rights. This is so vital, so long overdue, and we are so close.

Thank you,

Mycroft Holmes

{address}

27th Annual Erev Pride WEEK Liberation Seder -- THIS FRIDAY!!

CAT is Boston's GLBT synagogue and my synagogue, and invented the Pride seder here in Boston 27 years ago. I've been on the Seder planning committee for several years. All are welcome!!! You don't have to be GLBTQ (et al) or Jewish.

~ 27th Annual ~

Erev Pride WEEK* Liberation Seder

*the night before Boston GLBT Pride WEEK

THIS FRIDAY, June 3rd, 2011

7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.

Temple Sinai ~ Weintraub Auditorium

50 Sewall Ave. in Brookline, MA

(Green Line - C train - Coolidge Corner stop; #66 bus)

In the tradition of the Passover seder, we will retell the story of

the GLBT community’s liberation. This year, we celebrate marriage

equality as well as recognize the continuing violence and

discrimination committed against transgender and all people because of

their gender identity and expression. We will take this opportunity to

taste the bitterness of this oppression and to take action against it.

Participants will have the opportunity to take action to support the

Transgender Equal Rights Bill.

Kosher desserts will be served. Suggested donation is $5.

Facebook event page:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=201727453205027

617.232.5543 | info@AmTikva.org

Co-sponsored by Congregation Am Tikva, Keshet and the Interfaith Coalition for

Transgender Equality.

NEVADA - transgender anti-employment-discrimination law passed

Nevada is where my favorite aunt lives -- my Aunt June, who I was named after; my late mother's younger sister.

http://www.masstpc.org/?p=1374 :

Transgender Equal Rights Coalition Congratulates Nevada On New Law Protecting Transgender Workers From Discrimination

May 25th, 2011

14 states, District of Columbia, and 100s of businesses now prohibit discrimination against transgender people

BOSTON—Nevada Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval signed into law yesterday a measure banning employment discrimination based on gender identity and expression. Nevada is the 14th state to prohibit workplace discrimination against transgender people.

“We applaud Nevada for protecting all residents,” said Gunner Scott, executive director of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition. “Everyone should have the same opportunities to work, and this bill will help Nevada residents who are transgender support themselves and their families.”

“We know that employment discrimination against transgender people is costing the state of Massachusetts at least $5 million a year in lost income tax revenues and increased expenditures on public health insurance coverage,” said MassEquality Executive Director Kara Suffredini. “Nearly 100 businesses in Massachusetts, our Executive Branch, and 14 other states, including three of our New England neighbors and the District of Columbia, have put protections in place for transgender people. We applaud Nevada lawmakers for working in bipartisan fashion to take this important step and urge lawmakers on Beacon Hill to join the chorus calling for passage this bill.”

On Wednesday, June 8, the Joint Committee on the Judiciary will hold a hearing on the Transgender Equal Rights Bill at 1 pm in Gardner Auditorium at the State House. The bill would update Massachusetts’ nondiscrimination and hate crimes laws to include transgender people. The 13 other states, in addition to Nevada and the District of Columbia, that have enacted laws banning discrimination against transgender people are: California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont, Iowa, Oregon, and Washington.

###

About the Transgender Equal Rights Coalition:
The Transgender Equal Rights Coalition is working to pass “An Act Relative to Transgender Equal Rights.” (House Bill 502 and Senate Docket Number 536). This law would add gender identity and expression to existing Massachusetts civil rights laws, which currently prohibit discrimination on the basis of age, race, creed, color, national origin, sexual orientation, sex, and marital status in the areas of employment, housing, public accommodations, education, and credit. The bill would also add offenses regarding gender identity or expression to the list of offenses that are subject to treatment as hate crimes. The bill defines gender identity and expression as “a gender-related identity, appearance, expression, or behavior of an individual, regardless of the individual’s assigned sex at birth.” This is consistent with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination’s past decisions, as well as Boston’s 2002 transgender anti-discrimination ordinance. Members of the coalition include MassNOW; ACLU of Massachusetts; Jane Doe, Inc., The Massachusetts Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence; National Association of Social Workers, MA; Mass AFL-CIO; Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders; Mass Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus; Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition; and MassEquality.

CONNECTICUT - transgender rights Bill passed House; Senate vote between now & June 8th!

Dear Mycroft, Last week, we heard great news as the Connecticut House voted 77-62 to pass HB 6599: An Act Against Discrimination, a bill that would add gender identity and expression to Connecticut's anti-discrimination law. The House majority understood, as we do, that no one should live in fear of losing their job, or face discrimination in housing, public accommodations or credit simply because they are transgender. Now the bill is moving on to the Senate, where it must pass in order to become law. We expect that vote to come as soon as this week (the legislative session ends on June 8). Please contact your senators today and urge them to support the bill with no amendments. With your continued support, we can make sure Connecticut affirms its commitment to providing equality and fairness by becoming the fourteenth state to add gender identity and gender expression to its non-discrimination statutes. Thank you for supporting equality, Jennifer Levi Transgender Rights Project Director P.S. I was elated to be there as the Connecticut House took a huge step toward achieving basic fairness and equality for all residents. You can read my reflections on the GLAD blog. Jennifer Levi with Representative Gary Holder-Winfield after the House vote CONNECT WITH GLAD

TransFaith Caucus - Washington DC - this Sunday

Transgender Caucus on Sunday, May 22, 2011

MCC's People of African Descent Conference (May 19-21, 2011) and HRC's Clergy Call(May 22-24, 2011) have coordinated their programming for 2011, as they both gather in Washington D.C.

• More on MCC PAD 2011: http://padconference.mccchurch.org/

• More on HRC Clergy Call 2011: http://www.hrc.org/clergycall2011/

There will be a TransFaith Caucus on Sunday, May 22, 2011 (Noon to 3pm). Local transgender people and transgender participants from both events are invited to gather for lunch and conversation between these to larger events. We will...

• Meet, greet, network, and get to know one another
• Discuss the needs of transgender clergy and brainstorm about future organizing for mutual support
• Consider strategies to address barriers to transgender service and professional development

HRC is providing the gathering space and funding for a simple lunch. Please plan your travel to arrive in time to participate.

• Where: HRC offices, 1640 Rhode Island Avenue NW # 1, Washington D.C.
• When: Sunday, May 22, 2011, noon to 3pm
• RSVP: Please contact chris@transfaithonline.org so we can be sure to have enough food on hand! And please advise of any dietary restrictions.
• Transportation: We will work together to transport folks from HRC to Mt. Vernon Place UMC, where the evening activities for Clergy Call 2011 and MCC PAD will be happening. Please let us know if you can assist with these logistics.

Letters & signatures needed for Transgender Equal Rights Bill!

Good morning!

We still need testimony letters and Declaration signatures for the Transgender Equal Rights Bill’s public hearing on Wednesday June 8^{th --} please submit your letters and signatures by this coming Monday, May 23^rd. (We need to produce binders of testimony and other documents to give to each Committee member on hearing day.)

To sign ICTE’s Declaration Of Religious And Faith-Based Support for the bill:

Read the signed Declaration as a PDF (updated yesterday):

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B-u19Qf_xKGEODRmYmQ3MmItZjllYi00NjBiLWJjZWYtMzNlYmJjMDRkMWNj&hl=en&authkey=CKTEj7QG

If you don’t see your or your community / organization’s signatures, emailInterfaithCoalition@gmail.com – include the name(s) as you wish it/them to appear (if you have a title, please use it if you can), and the denomination(s).

To submit written testimony for the bill’s hearing (Wednesday, June 8^th):

Write a letter telling the Joint Committee on the Judiciary why you support the bill and urging them to do so (we need them to vote the bill onwards to be voted on by the full legislature). If you submitted testimony last legislative session, you will be contacted about updating it. Submit your written testimony to the Committee co-chairs and MTPC. All testimony will be presented to the Committee the day of the hearing. Full instructions for writing and submitting:

http://www.masstpc.org/legislation/testifyinwriting.shtml

More details and opportunities for action are in our previous update (Friday May 6^th):

http://interfaithcoalition.blogspot.com/2011/05/update-ma-transgender-equal-rights-bill.html

Thank you,

Interfaith Coalition for Transgender Equality (ICTE)

http://www.interfaithcoalition.blogspot.com

ICTE FB group:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7923372429

Faith campaign FB event:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=188135257891766

Tell Congress the Safe Schools Improvement Act needs to include weight and height in anti-bullying protections!

Yesterday's press release from National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA) --

http://www.prlog.org/11496235-legislative-action-alert-immediate-action-needed-help-stop-the-bullying.html:

Legislative Action Alert: Immediate Action Needed. Help Stop The Bullying! Weight and height are missing from the proposed Safe Schools Improvement Act 2010. Multiple studies indicate that fat children are the group being most bullied! Help change this act now before it becomes law. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PRLog (Press Release) – May 17, 2011 – Who: We need YOU to contact your Members of Congress TODAY What: The Safe Schools Improvement Act of 2010 (S.3739) Why: The legislation does NOT include weight and height as part of its anti-bullying protections How: Use our legislative action alert • BACKGROUND The Safe Schools Improvement Act of 2010 (S.3739) is a bipartisan bill introduced in the Senate by Senators Bob Casey and Mark Kirk to help prevent bullying in schools. The Safe Schools Improvement Act would require schools and districts receiving designated federal funds to adopt codes of conduct specifically prohibiting bullying and harassment, including conduct based on a student’s actual or perceived race, color, national origin, sex, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or religion. It was introduced to the Senate on August 3, 2010 and referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP Committee). There has not been a hearing on the Bill to date, so now is the time to contact these Senators and ask them to amend the legislation to include weight and height to the list of protected classes prior to the Bill’s approval. • CONGRESSIONAL TARGETS: The members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions include: Democrats by Rank Tom Harkin (IA) Barbara A. Mikulski (MD) Jeff Bingaman (NM) Patty Murray (WA) Bernard Sanders (I) (VT) Robert P. Casey, Jr. (PA) Kay R. Hagan (NC) Jeff Merkley (OR) Al Franken (MN) Michael F. Bennet (CO) Sheldon Whitehouse (RI) Richard Blumenthal (CT) Republicans by Rank Michael B. Enzi (WY) Lamar Alexander (TN) Richard Burr (NC) Johnny Isakson (GA) Rand Paul (KY) Orrin G. Hatch (UT) John McCain (AZ) Pat Roberts (KS) Lisa Murkowski (AK) Mark Kirk (IL) Even if you are not a constituent of the members listed, it is important that they hear your voice. Also, if you have specific stories about how bullying has affected your child or a child you know, that has a huge impact. Here is an example to help in composing your letter to the Committee members: • HOW TO CONTACT THEM: SAMPLE LETTER Dear Senator _____________: As a member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, I want to bring to your attention the need to amend the Safe Schools Improvement Act of 2010 (S.3739) prohibiting bullying and harassment, including conduct based on a student’s actual or perceived race, color, national origin, sex, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or religion. While I support the intent of this legislation, there is an entire segment of children that would not be covered in this legislation as currently written, fat children. As we have seen in recent events where a teen girl from Minnesota committed suicide partly because of being teased and bullied about her weight, fat children are at risk. There are numerous studies that outline the effects of bullying on children because of their size and/or body image. Along with fat children, short children are victims of incessant bullying on a daily basis. While we believe it is the intent of this legislation to ensure a safe environment for children within public schools, we ask that they do not exclude and further stigmatize the largest group of children that are facing bullying on a daily basis. We ask that the Committee request to amend the Safe Schools Improvement Act of 2010 to include weight and height to the list of protected classes. Thank you! Signature City, State Email Address You can send an email to any or all of the Senate Committee members by going to http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm and search the listing to find the names of Committee members. Then click on the link to complete an online form. Or you can write to the Committee at: Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions 428 Senate Dirksen Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Thank you for helping to make positive changes in the lives of children. On the web: http://www.naafa.org # # # Founded in 1969, NAAFA is a non-profit civil rights organization dedicated to ending size discrimination. Our goal is for people of size to be accepted with dignity and equality and will pursue this goal through advocacy, public education, and support.

MA Transgender Equal Rights Bill in Metro Boston newspaper again!

The MA Transgender Equal Rights Bill is in the Metro Boston newspaper again! Page two of today's print edition (available online as a PDF). Here's the online version:

http://www.metro.us/boston/local/article/862296--transgender-rights-up-for-debate-on-hill

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Transgender rights up for debate on Hill

NICOLAUS CZARNECKI/METRO

Gunnar Scott, executive director of the Mass. Transgender Political Coaltion, will take his fight for equality to Beacon Hill next month.

More about transgender

Council supports transgender bill

Lorelei's struggle as a transgender woman

Transitioning their tactics to raise public awareness

Born this way

Transgender is a difficult issue for most people to wrap their heads round.

» “The best way to describe it,” says Scott, “is as people who are born into a sex that they don’t identify with.”
» For more information on MTPC, go to www.masstpc.org

BOSTON

LINDA LABAN

Published: May 16, 2011 7:57 p.m.

Last modified: May 16, 2011 8:00 p.m.

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Last week’s debut of the Chaz Bono documentary brought the battles of transgender people to the spotlight, but in Massachusetts, a much quieter battle is being waged at the State House — one that many are hoping will be deemed a success in a few short weeks.

The battle for transgender equality already received one victory when the Boston City Council in March unanimously reiterated its support of an ordinance passed in 2002 that legally protects Boston’s transgender population against discrimination and violence. The bigger fight, however, is to gain that protection statewide.

“That’s the push now,” confirms Gunner Scott, executive director of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition. “Honestly, the resolution was done within 24 hours of my asking them. Every one of those city councilors didn’t think twice about it. They get it. The mayor of Boston, he gets it. I only wish our Legislature was as open to the experiences of transgender people.”

Those experiences involve job discrimination, being refused service at restaurants, and even violence and murder. The Transgender Equal Rights Bill would protect basic civil rights for transgender people in Massachusetts. The MTPC has worked to gain protection since 2007 and a joint hearing of the bill is scheduled for June 8.

“The committee deliberates on whether they are in favor or not, or whether it’s sent to study. For the last two sessions, we’ve been sent to study,” says Scott grimly, because that’s akin to being put on the back burner.

Besides City Council support, new federal transgender protection — including measures by the departments of Labor and Housing and Urban Development — add more support.

“It’s sad,” Scott said. “At one point [Mass.] stood up for civil rights, but [it’s not] doing that right now.”

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