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Shocking: How the Mass. 'transgender rights' law is changing the schools

Along with "gay marriage," the big push by the homosexual lobby in states across the country is focused on children and the public schools.

(Part 1 of 2)

1. Massachusetts schools implementing "transgender non-discrimination" policies -- fueled by 2011 law! More horrors on the way.

2. How the radical "transgender rights" law finally passed in Massachusetts (on its 3rd try). Flawed pro-family strategy led to fatal "compromise."

POSTED: December 11, 2012

1. Massachusetts schools implementing "transgender non-discrimination" policies -- fueled by 2011 law! More horrors on the way.

This is what the transgender movement is about. A huge man in a dress marches with girls who want to be boys at a state-sponsored "Youth Pride" event in Boston in 2007. This man showed up everywhere that day. [MassResistance photo]

In late September, we got a phone call from a parent in West Springfield, Massachusetts. The school committee there had quietly decided to add to the non-discrimination policy in their school system: It was now to include "gender identity and expression." The final vote would be at the next meeting, in two weeks.

Thus, the school system was about to declare it official policy that boys coming to school in dresses and calling themselves girls now constituted a "protected class" that must be accommodated. Girls who "identified" as boys must be allowed to use the boys' facilities, etc.

The "transgender" activists in Massachusetts even have their own logo! Their big push now in the public schools.

It's madness! The implications of this policy in a school setting are nothing short of institutionalized lunacy.

After making a few calls, we found out that the School Committee Chairman (a Republican, who is also the Mayor) was not comfortable with passing this. But all the other School Committee members (all liberal Democrats) were strongly insisting it be done. They were not interested in discussing it on the merits; they just wanted it passed. A few of them said that the state's association of school committees (also a very liberal group) was partially behind it. Clearly, some activists somewhere were pushing this. And when the city attorney looked into it, he agreed that "it's the law" now and apparently needed to be added to the school's policy.

So at the next meeting, on Oct. 9, the School Committee (including the Chairman) unanimously passed it. It seemed to have been done unusually fast.

A parent who attended that meeting told MassResistance that he was outraged and tried to discuss it with the Committee members (a few of whom he knows fairly well), but none of them would talk to him about it -- except to say that it had to be done. The fact that the medical profession considers this behavior a "disorder" which can cause considerable harm meant nothing to them.

Photo taken by parent as West Springfield School Committee votes to accept "gender identity" as a protected class.

The newly passed "transgender law" at work . . .

The culprit is the newly passed Massachusetts "transgender rights" law, which we had warned people about since 2007. Although it does not specifically require schools to have a written "policy" about transgenderism, it does prohibit all schools in Massachusetts from "discriminating" regarding transgenderism.

M.G.L. Chapter 76: Section 5.
. . . No person shall be excluded from or discriminated against in admission to a public school of any town, or in obtaining the advantages, privileges and courses of study of such public school on account of race, color, sex, gender identity, religion, national origin or sexual orientation.

The holy grail of the transgender lobby

Having a law that bans any discrimination in public schools for cross-dressing or other "transgender" behaviors has for years been the holy grail of the transgender lobby and a major goal of the allied homosexual movement. They have been obsessed with forcing this aspect of their agenda on children, and are very well organized politically (Note that the Mass. School Psychologists Association is in their alliance.)

Teenage boy at public school affiliated "Youth Pride" prom run by homosexual and transgender activists in Boston in 2005.

This non-discrimination requirement allows them to freely push that agenda in all grades, including: transgender-themed books, classroom assignments, assemblies, and diversity training. It will allow and support the most outlandish dress and behavior by very troubled children. It will promote the concepts of hormone injection and even body mutilation in the minds of young children. Boys will play on girls' sports teams and use their school locker rooms (and vice versa). And boys will come to school in dresses and use girls' restrooms. Of course, there will also be the transgender adults -- including teachers, counselors, and other staff.

Schools will be seeing a lot more of these! Poster in Acton-Boxborough High School in Acton, Mass. in 2007. [MassResistance photo]

We must continue fighting it. But this insane movement's momentum is getting stronger both here and across the country.

2. How the radical "transgender rights" law finally passed in Massachusetts (on its 3rd try). Flawed pro-family strategy led to fatal "compromise".

The "transgender rights" law got passed in Mass. (in Nov. 2011) as a combination of an incredible push by the homosexual lobby and the state's top politicians, plus a terrible strategy by the moderate (but well-funded) pro-family forces.

On its face, the concept of mainstreaming, legalizing, and ultimately forcing under threat of law the concept of transgenderism on the public, businesses, institutions, and government would appear to be nearly impossible.

To the average person, for instance, a man who is so psychologically disturbed that he believes he is really a woman, and has his male body parts surgically removed (with other mutilations) and has female breasts added, is a frightening and tragic individual. And the fact that the mental health profession considers it a "disorder" makes this all the more unbelievable.

Passed on third attempt

When the homosexual lobby first introduced the "transgender rights and hate crimes" bill in 2007, it was considered so bizarre that it did not get out of committee. But the activists were persistent. The following session, in 2009, it was re-introduced and despite dozens of co-sponsors, it met the same fate. It wasn't until the third time, in 2011, that they were able to pass it -- and even then it took extraordinary measures and force by the political leadership.

MassResistance at the forefront of educating about the bill

It was being touted as "civil rights" legislation. But from the beginning MassResistance was at the forefront of confronting the bill and educating both the public and members of the Legislature about its radical nature. It was much more far-reaching than just a "bathroom bill."

Here's just a sample of what MassResistance did to fight back and educate the public:

Radical, onerous, and comprehensive

The three versions of the bill which were re-introduced in successive sessions were basically the same text. They were onerous in forcing the transgender agenda throughout all phases of society -- employment, schools, government, public accommodations, etc. -- with heavy punishments for those who disobeyed.

In addition, the absurd definition of "gender identity" was a further source of fright:

The term “gender identity or expression” shall mean a gender-related identity, appearance, expression, or behavior of an individual, regardless of the individual’s assigned sex at birth.

In the final version, it got even stranger. (They're making it up as they go along!)

“Gender identity” shall mean a person's gender-related identity, appearance or behavior, whether or not that gender-related identity, appearance or behavior is different from that traditionally associated with the person's physiology or assigned sex at birth. Gender-related identity may be shown by providing evidence including, but not limited to, medical history, care or treatment of the gender-related identity, consistent and uniform assertion of the gender-related identity or any other evidence that the gender-related identity is sincerely held, as part of a person's core identity; provided however, gender-related identity shall not be asserted for any improper purpose.

Here is our analysis of the 2009 version of the "transgender rights" bill. The enormity of it, when described, was enough to scare away both politicians and the public.

Flawed "bathroom bill" strategy by moderate pro-family groups

Sometime during the second attempt, in 2009-2010 session, a group of well-funded "moderate" pro-family groups decided to use the term "bathroom bill" to describe the transgender bill. They raised money to create a public campaign against the bill, including videos, radio commercials, and more.

The "bathroom bill" strategy had been used successfully in other places. It is a catchy and emotional slogan. But with this unusually comprehensive bill it only described one small part of the threat, and in the end it backfired.

The pro-family group's videos and commercials basically put forth the scenario that the bill would allow a male sexual predator to enter women's restrooms, and threaten young girls in particular. But that message was very misleading and the homosexual lobby (rightfully) complained about it.

Actually, the "bathroom" problem was not about sexual predators, but grown men in women's' clothes simply using women's' restrooms or locker rooms, but producing a very terrifying (though not necessarily dangerous) situation for all women.

To emphasize: The "bathroom" element was just a small part of the terrible effects of this bill. By concentrating only on that, the strategy ignored even worse aspects regarding schools, businesses, and government -- such as allowing a man in a dress to be a school teacher (which has already happened a number of times in Mass.) and punishing parents who complain.

Equally troubling, this tactic also allowed the pro-family moderates to completely avoid criticizing the transgender movement and its perverse behaviors. Thus they escaped being called "hateful," etc., by the mainstream media. It effectively conceded the argument that this was a perversion society needed protection from.

Nevertheless, the "bathroom bill" approach was initially very effective, until the homosexual-transgender lobby figured out how to beat it. The term itself had a nasty connotation that riled the public and that politicians wanted to stay away from.

Huge push by liberal political establishment

After losing the fight in 2007 and 2009 (when the bill never got out of committee), the homosexual lobby declared in 2011 that its passage was its number-one priority. It raised a lot of money, and after months of intense lobbying, they got the Governor, the Senate President, and the Speaker of the House to enthusiastically support the bill.

That was the first step. But the next step was to beat the "bathroom bill" stigma among the rank-and-file House and Senate members.

Transgender activist lobbying in the Massachusetts State House for the Transgender Rights and Hate Crimes bill. [MassResistance photo]

The compromise that beat the "bathroom bill" stigma

By in late 2011, when the homosexual lobby had gotten their political ducks in order, they implemented a shrewd strategy to beat the "bathroom bill" label. They simply removed the "public accommodations" language from the bill -- and kept everything else intact. Thus, they could now say that public restrooms or locker rooms weren't affected by it, and that there was no longer a "public bathroom" issue. (Of course, restrooms in schools and within businesses, etc., were still covered, but nobody was mentioning that.)

With the "bathroom bill" argument effectively disarmed, most of the Democrat majority in the legislature quickly fell in line. Since the "bathroom bill" focus had been so strong, none of the legislators were prepared to argue its real radical problems.

Just to be sure, the House leadership pushed it through as fast as possible, with almost no debate allowed, and the Senate simply did a quick "voice vote" (so no one's vote would be recorded), and it was done. (See our report HERE.) After five years of trying, the homosexual-transgender lobby had triumphed. The Governor was only too pleased to sign it.

Here's the Roll Call vote in the House (The Senate was done by a cowardly voice vote.)

What they passed: Law includes almost everything they wanted.

The bill that they passed is still very comprehensive. It includes "hate crime" punishments, Mass. Commission Against Discrimination investigations and tribunals, all public schools, businesses, non-profits, labor unions, government, and also commercial transactions and advertisements, hiring, firing, compensation, privileges, advertisements for employment, and more. In fact, there's already a lot of overlap with the public accommodations language they'll be seeking.

You can read our line-by-line analysis of the new law HERE.

Big push in 2013 for the "public accommodations" part.

And the homosexual lobby immediately began to make plans to get the "public accommodations" part passed separately. They've got their emotional stories and their "statistics" and "surveys" all ready for another round with the Legislature in 2013. Will the "bathroom bill" strategy work against this? We don't think so.

Coming up: Part II. After the bill was passed -- a lever to force the transgender agenda directly into the school system! And the big celebration at the State House in January 2012.