I got an interesting email last night about proposed Massachusetts legislation for the bill of a Conversion Therapy Ban and that got me thinking what is the focus of their legislature effort. Is the bill to add public accommodation their main focus or is it “Oh by the way” we have this bill to add public accommodation to the non-discrimination statute.
When I went to MassEquality website I found the are pushing a number of important legislation, but I can’t help wondering how much effort are the putting to our bill? Have they written it off as a dead bill?
Their legislative agenda is quite impressive,
These are all great bills that they support and I don’t really know the level of support, are they just signing on as a supporter of the legislation or are they providing lobbyists.
Lobbyist cost money, and passing legislation cost political capital, does MassEquality have enough to focus on all the bills on their agenda or are they spread too thin. Looking at their list I see two bills beside the public accommodation that will need a lot of political capital to get passed, Conversion Therapy Ban and the Comprehensive Sex Education in Schools bills.
I can just hear the religious conservatives screaming over those two bills, you are infringing upon our religious freedom by not allowing us to make our kids straight and any sex education beyond abstinence is wrong.
In Connecticut we only pushed one bill at a time because we didn't have the finances and the legislators didn't like more than one "LGBT" bill a session. Does MassEquality have that much funding that they lobby for all these bills? So I have to wonder how much of an effort are they putting into our bill? Did they say that we are never going to get the governor to sign the bill and give up?
When I went to MassEquality website I found the are pushing a number of important legislation, but I can’t help wondering how much effort are the putting to our bill? Have they written it off as a dead bill?
Their legislative agenda is quite impressive,
- Nondiscrimination Protections for Transgender People in Public Spaces (SB 735; HB 1577)
- Conversion Therapy Ban (HB 97)
- Lipodystrophy Treatment (SB 618; HB 927)
- Cultural Competency Training for Service Providers for LGBT Elders (HB 526)
- Comprehensive Sex Education in Schools (SB 265; HB 448)
- Increased Healthcare Access for Homeless Youth (HB 2010)
These are all great bills that they support and I don’t really know the level of support, are they just signing on as a supporter of the legislation or are they providing lobbyists.
Lobbyist cost money, and passing legislation cost political capital, does MassEquality have enough to focus on all the bills on their agenda or are they spread too thin. Looking at their list I see two bills beside the public accommodation that will need a lot of political capital to get passed, Conversion Therapy Ban and the Comprehensive Sex Education in Schools bills.
I can just hear the religious conservatives screaming over those two bills, you are infringing upon our religious freedom by not allowing us to make our kids straight and any sex education beyond abstinence is wrong.
In Connecticut we only pushed one bill at a time because we didn't have the finances and the legislators didn't like more than one "LGBT" bill a session. Does MassEquality have that much funding that they lobby for all these bills? So I have to wonder how much of an effort are they putting into our bill? Did they say that we are never going to get the governor to sign the bill and give up?
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