A Good Step.

But they still need to pass a law to include public accommodation.

Attorney General Maura Healey calls transgender protections 'the next battleground for civil rights'
MassLive
By Shira Schoenberg
May 06, 2015

For Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, transgender rights today is like gay marriage a decade ago: the next big battle for equality.

"Transgender rights is the important next battleground for civil rights," Healey, a Democrat, said in an interview with The Republican / MassLive.com. "We need to do more, and we need to do better in this state, starting with a public transgender accommodation bill."

Healey, the nation's first openly gay attorney general, has made gay rights a priority since taking office in January. She led 16 states and Washington, D.C., in filing a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court asking the justices to establish gay marriage nationwide. She asked Massachusetts residents to share their stories about gay marriage, for use in the Supreme Court brief. She is now setting the stage for what could be a battle with the Republican administration of Gov. Charlie Baker over a transgender public accommodations bill, which would require accommodations for transgender people in public places, like restaurants.

It is very hard to speak up when you are worried about discrimination and violence. Yes, there are protections but we all know that it is so very easy to get around them and also when you speak up it becomes a public record.

The bill before the legislature faces an uphill battle…

A standalone transgender public accommodations bill, sponsored by Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, D-Boston, is pending before a legislative committee. Western Massachusetts co-sponsors include Sen. Ben Downing, D-Pittsfield, Sen. Eric Lesser, D-Longmeadow, Rep. Gailanne Cariddi, D-North Adams, and Rep. Jose Tosado, D-Springfield.

Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito oppose the bill, citing logistical concerns from organizations like schools and hospitals. Opponents of the bill worry, for example, about whether someone born male would have access to a girls' school locker room.

I feel that it was a big political mistake not to fight to include public accommodations in the original legislation. There was a large pool of court cases that set precedent to include public accommodations in existing laws because the legislature never specially did not include public accommodations in non-discrimination laws but now the legislature did write out public accommodations. So it is a whole new ballgame and public accommodation is the hardest protection to pass because that is what the opposition focuses on. It is a lot easier to pass the whole package than the parts.