New England

If you look at a map of New England that shows which states have protections for trans people there is only one state that doesn’t protect, the “Live Free or Die” state or as I like to think of it… “I live free you die.”

Our Turn: Let’s protect transgender residents from discrimination
Concord Monitor
By Gilles Bissonnette and Stephanie Ramirez
For the Monitor
Sunday, December 20, 2015

Comprehensive legislation was introduced in Congress in July that would ensure full federal equality for all LGBT people. This bill, aptly named the Equality Act, would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to explicitly include sexual orientation and gender identity among the prohibited categories of discrimination in employment, housing, education and places of public accommodation.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and Rep. Annie Kuster are among more than 200 co-sponsors in the Senate and House. Sen. Kelly Ayotte and Rep. Frank Guinta should join their Granite State colleagues in supporting the Equality Act. Given the current state of Congress, however, prospects of the bill passing this session are grim.

Here in New Hampshire, we have state level protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation in housing, employment, and public accommodations. However, gender identity is not yet listed as a protected status, which leaves our transgender residents vulnerable to discrimination.

Will New Hampshire join the other New England states in providing protection for its trans citizens or will it continue to be a hold out? A state based on freedom of its citizens but still allows some of its citizen to be marginalized and discriminated against.