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NATIONAL GAY AND LESBIAN TASK FORCE
PRESS RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACT:
Sheri Lunn
slunn@ngltf.org; 323-857-8751 (office); 800-757-6476 (pager)
http://www.ngltf.org
1325 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20005
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NATIONAL GAY AND LESBIAN TASK FORCE PRAISES BOSTON CITY COUNCIL
FOR
PASSING TRANSGENDER ANTI-DISCRIMINATION LAW
Mayor Expected to Sign Measure
October 23, 2002, Boston, Massachusetts - The Boston City Council
today
voted nine to one with one abstention to pass a measure adding
gender
identity and expression to the city's anti-discrimination law.
In August,
Mayor Thomas M. Menino indicated that he would support the measure
if
passed.
According to National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) Executive
Director
Lorri L. Jean, "Boston is the eleventh city this year to
demonstrate that
when we educate legislators about the discrimination that transgender
people face, they will support laws that prohibit discrimination.
Boston
reaffirms its commitment to diversity and forward-thinking with
the
passage of this law."
The Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition (MTPC) led
the effort
to pass the bill, working closely with lead sponsor Chuck Turner
(D-7th District). The bill adds "gender identity or expression"
to
Boston's anti-discrimination law, which covers employment, housing,
public accommodations, and education. No one spoke in opposition
to the
bill at the committee hearing on September 30. Sexual orientation
was
added to the law in 1984.
With the Mayor's signature, Boston will become the eleventh
jurisdiction
in 2002 to pass a law to explicitly add gender identity protections
to an
existing law, either simultaneously with the addition of sexual
orientation or standing alone.
NGLTF lent support to MTPC throughout the effort, providing
strategic
assistance as well as being co-leaders of an activist training
in
Boston with MTPC, the Human Rights Campaign, and the Pennsylvania
Gender
Rights Coalition. NGLTF also mailed an action alert to its members
in
Boston urging them to contact the mayor and their city councilperson
to support the measure. Including the Boston law expected to be
signed
by the mayor, NGLTF has assisted activists involved in efforts
of six
of the eleven jurisdictions passing ordinances this year.
Cole Thaler of the MTPC noted, "The City Council has unmistakably
shown that it is dedicated to protecting the rights of all who
don't
conform to rigid sex stereotypes. With the help of NGLTF, along
with
the dozens of community members who testified for the ordinance
at the
public hearing, we've helped Boston become safer for all varieties
of
gender identity and expression."
The ten other jurisdictions that have passed anti-discrimination
laws
that include transgender people this year are: Allentown, PA;
Buffalo, NY; Erie County, PA; Dallas, TX; Decatur, IL; New Hope,
PA;
New York, NY; Philadelphia, PA; Salem, OR; and Tacoma, WA. With
the
addition of Boston, there will be a total of 50 jurisdictions
in the
United States that explicitly include transgender people in their
anti-discrimination laws, including 41 cities, seven counties
and the
two states of Rhode Island and Minnesota.
"2002 has been a landmark year for passing transgender
anti-
discrimination laws," said Jean. "In terms of the number
of laws
passed per year, what was an upward trend over the last few years
has become a near vertical climb in 2002."
NGLTF's Transgender Civil Rights Project provides legislative
and
strategy assistance, including evaluation of legislative language,
to
activists and organizations working to pass trans-inclusive anti-
discrimination ordinances or add transgender people to existing
laws.
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