‘Bathroom Bill’ Advances in Massachusetts
The Massachusetts House of Representatives passed its own bathroom bill on Wednesday following several hours of heated debate.
But don’t expect the kind of outrage from LGBT activists and liberals that erupted following North Carolina’s adoption of HB 2. That’s because rather than protect the privacy of women and children in bathrooms, the Massachusetts legislation aims to protect transgender “rights.”
If signed into law, Bill H.4343 would permit transgender people to use opposite-sex restrooms and locker rooms. It also provides gender identity as a protected class, which means stores, restaurants and other public businesses cannot discriminate against them—even if doing so comes into conflict with sincerely held religious beliefs.
State Rep. John Fernandes (D-Milford), one of the bill’s authors, said the measure is a “positive step forward” for civil rights.
“You can’t tell somebody it’s OK to work at the diner, but not OK to sit at the lunch counter,” he said, referencing the 1960s civil rights movement for black Americans. “We learned that a long time ago.”
Opponents—although substantially smaller in number in the lower chamber—disagreed. Rep. Marc Lombardo (R-Billerica) said the bill would instead take away rights from “more than 99 percent of the population—the basic right to privacy in bathrooms and locker rooms, the rights of our children to feel safe in a bathroom.”
The House version passed on a 116-36 vote, and Gov. Charlie Baker has said he would sign it into law, if it arrives on his desk. The Senate approved its own version earlier this year, so the two bills will now go through the reconciliation process.
If signed, the legislation would be enacted Jan. 1.
