Total Articles: 3
Gender Identity Will Become A Protected Class In Massachusetts
The Massachusetts legislature has amended its state anti-discrimination law to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity in employment, insurance, housing, lending, credit and education. The legislation also expanded the state hate crimes law to cover gender identity. The law, entitled An Act Relative to Gender Identity, also referred to as the Transgender Equal Rights Bill, was signed into law by Governor Deval Patrick on November 23, 2011 and becomes effective on July 1, 2012.
Massachusetts Passes Legislation Protecting Transgender Employees in the Workplace
On November 23, 2011, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick signed into law the "Gender Identity Bill." This makes Massachusetts the 16th state – along with California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Oregon, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia – to provide some level of protection to employees based on gender identity and/or expression.
Massachusetts Passes Legislation to Protect Gender Identity
On November 16, 2011, the Massachusetts legislature passed a transgender anti-discrimination bill, which Governor Deval Patrick is expected to sign into law this week. If the bill is signed by the Governor, “gender identity” will become a protected category under Massachusetts non-discrimination statutes. The new law also will add gender identity as a protected category to several laws intended to protect people from hate crimes and harassment.
