Mass. Group Pushes to Repeal Transgender Accommodations Law

Boston, MA - Massachusetts' newly passed transgender accommodations law hasn't yet taken full effect, but an effort to repeal it is already afoot.

The Massachusetts Family Institute on Monday took the first step toward filing a ballot referendum that would repeal the law, which they have fought from the start.

Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, disregarded the group's pleas for a veto when he signed the bill into law July 8. The law, which takes full effect Oct. 1, prohibits discrimination against transgender men and women in public places, and protects the ability to choose a restroom or other public facility that matches one's sexual identity, regardless of anatomical sex.

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MFI, which describes itself as a non-profit based on Judeo-Christian family values, believes the law endangers privacy and safety, particularly of children.

With bipartisan majorities in the Senate and House supporting the bill, as well as the governor, MFI is seen as a vocal minority in its opposition. The group will have a chance to disprove that characterization over the next several months, as it attempts to collect 32,000 signatures to put repeal on the ballot in 2018.

MFI depicts its ballot push as a Democratic check on "the unjust and unwanted agenda of an out-of-touch Beacon Hill bureaucracy."

That's not quite borne out by the facts, however. In May, a Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll found only 30 percent of respondents opposed the accommodations bill. About 53 percent were supportive and another 15 percent were undecided, the poll found.

Such polling suggests that, even if MFI rounded up the requisite signatures for a referendum, its chance of passing is slim.

Freedom Massachusetts, a coalition group of trans rights supporters, rallied against the repeal nonetheless.

Also:

• Transgender Allies Celebrate Milestone in Massachusetts
• Massachusetts Governor Signs Transgender Anti-Discrimination Legislation
• Massachusetts Transgender Bill Clears Final Legislative Hurdle
• Transgender Accommodations Bill Compromise Reached After Month-Long Delay
• Transgender Law Debate: What the Country can Learn From Massachusetts