Vote “Yes” On Three

I was driving yesterday near my cottage in Wellfleet and I passed a lawn sign… “Vote Yes on 3.”

The November elections are going to important in more ways than just voting for candidates, there are a number of important ballot questions on the ballots around the country and none more important to trans people than the one in Massachusetts (Connecticut has two ballot questions).

I have said many times that human rights should not be put to a vote but unfortunately it has time and time again.

Groups release competing ads on Massachusetts transgender ballot question
MassLive
By Shira Schoenberg
Posted October 5, 2018

Supporters and opponents of Massachusetts' transgender anti-discrimination law have released competing ads in the leadup to the November ballot question that would repeal the law.

The law prohibits discrimination against transgender people in public places and allows a transgender person to use the bathroom or locker room that conforms with their gender identity.

Yes on 3, the coalition that supports upholding the law, released three videos on Friday.
One features a transgender boy and his father. The boy is shown walking his dog, spending time with friends and going into a coffee shop.
[…]
Two other ads feature Democratic state representative and former Salem police chief Paul Tucker. Tucker says upholding the law will protect public safety. He says laws already exist to prevent assault, and he cites a study showing that there is no evidence that the transgender anti-discrimination law increases crime. "Ensuring dignity and respect for everyone is not a threat to public safety," Tucker says.
[…]
One of those ads also features Debra Robbin, executive director of the Massachusetts Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence, saying similarly that the law does not threaten public safety.

So there are some heavy hitters behind keeping the law but the opposition has not been sitting idly by, they have been spreading their hate.

The ads are a response to ads being run by the coalition that opposes the law, which say that the law threatens public safety by letting someone born male into a women's bathroom or locker room.

One ad features a man peeping in a women's locker room.

The second ad, released this week, features a mother talking about a boy who came to change in the locker room where her daughter was changing. "Our children deserve the right to privacy," she said.

Top donors to the repeal effort are: Renew Massachusetts Coalition, Ray Ruddy, Tom Breuer, Massachusetts Family Institute and Wally Weld.

The New Boston Post also ran an article on the ballot question and the ad.

Pro-Gender-Identity-Law Yes-on-3 Campaign Releases First Video Ad
By Matt McDonald
October 5, 2018

The Yes on 3 campaign has released its first video ad, showing a father and an adolescent who was born a female but now identifies as a boy advocating for legal protection for transgender people.
[…]
“We are proud that Ian and his family were willing to share their story and remind voters what is truly at stake with this ballot question,” said Matt Wilder, a spokesman for Yes on 3, in a written statement. “Voting ‘Yes on 3’ ensures young transgender people like Ian grow up in a state where they know they are welcomed and accepted for who they are. Nothing about this law makes anyone less safe, which is why the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association and the state’s leading sexual assault prevention groups all unanimously support this law. All this law does is protect transgender people like Ian from discrimination and harassment.”

The oppositions has countered,

Opponents of the law say it threatens the safety and dignity of women and girls because it allows biological males who identify as women to enter spaces meant for females only.
[…]
No-on-3 advocates say sex offenders can use the state’s gender-identity law to gain access to spaces meant for females by claiming to identify as women, whether they actually do or not.

In Wicked Local a letter-to-the-editor said,

As the midterm election season begins to intensify, we would like to provide Star readers with some background information that could help you to make one of the many decisions facing voters this November.

As an organization, we advocate in support of each and every person’s civil rights and building an inclusive community. An inclusive Winchester means that everyone, from our youngest to our oldest residents, should have the full freedoms and protections that everyone else in our society has. In other words, not having to fear discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, ability, ancestry and/or gender identity.

In 2016 Gov. Baker enacted legislation extending protections for transgender individuals so that they may live their lives without the threat of discrimination. While it has not yet gone into effect, opponents of this legislation have successfully petitioned for a ballot initiative this November in an attempt to repeal this law, which protects transgender people from discrimination in public places, including restaurants, stores and doctors’ offices.
[…]
If you are interested in learning more about gender identity and the perspectives and life experiences of transgender individuals, we would encourage you to read “Becoming Nicole” by Amy Ellis Nutt or “She’s Not There” by Jennifer Finney Boylan or attend one of the many educational programs coming up over the next several weeks in support of this legislation, including the Network’s program, “Living a Civil Rights Issue: Supporting Transgender Rights,” to be held from 7 to 8:45 p.m. Oct. 4 in the large meeting room of the library.

And the letter is signed by Juanita Zerda, president, board of directors, Winchester Multicultural Network.

The best defense against ads like this is the fact that the law has been on the for almost two years and there have been no incidents like they said and also there has been incidents nationwide since the first law was passed in 1975 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Here are the videos (and not I am not going to link to the anti-ads…