Mass. Legislature modifies “bathroom bill” language Attempt to counter “sexual predator” fears. Leadership trying to gain votes to override possible veto by Governor.

Two versions of bill moved forward out of Judiciary Committee. Will this scheme work?

Senate to vote May 12

MassResistance tells it like is -- quoted in newspaper article

May 4 2016

This bill would require every business to allow these men into every women's restroom, locker room, and shower. [Mass­Resistance photos]

States around the country are crafting legislation to stop the transgender agenda in public restrooms. But the Massachusetts Legislature is trying hard to impose it.

Facing a self-imposed May 2 deadline for committee action, the Democrat leadership of the Massachusetts Legislature has modified the language of the transgender public accommodations bill and brought it out of committee. It is on its way to the full House and Senate.

The bill would force all public restrooms, locker rooms, and showers to allow both sexes – under the guise of self-proclaimed “gender identity – or face stiff fines, lawsuits, and even jail time. (In addition, this also applies to a long list of other types of public accommodations.)

Bill has been stalled for months over “bathroom” fears

Since its Oct. 6 public hearing, the transgender public accommodations bill, originally filed as both H1577 (in the House) and S735 (in the Senate), has been stalled from moving forward, and has sat in the Joint Judiciary Committee. The “sexual predator in women’s bathrooms” argument used by the pro-family forces has been very effective in keeping the proponents from getting enough votes to pass by a big enough margin to override a possible veto by the Governor.

Republican Governor Charlie Baker, although generally very pro-LGBT, has refused to endorse the bill, or even indicate whether he would sign it.

Pro-family groups (including MassResistance) have been relentless in describing horror stories from across the country. There are scores of documented instances where men “claimed” to be transgender and went into women’s’ restrooms and locker rooms and photographed women, assaulted them, and groped them, etc.

Liberal pols now think they can overcome that

But the Democrat leadership now believes they can counter that. They have re-written parts of the bill to impose strict legal action against “any person who asserts gender identity for an improper purpose.”  

The new language specifically directs the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) and also the Attorney General’s office to craft regulations to further define and set up enforcement measures for the proposed law. (See the two versions compared here.) To give the state time to set up these regulations, the new version has extended the time for the law to go into effect, to Jan. 1, 2017.

According to State House News, only two members of the Democrat-dominated Joint Judiciary Committee voted against releasing this bill: Democrat Rep. Colleen Garry and Republican Rep. Jim Lyons. Republicans Sen. Richard Ross and Rep. Sheila Harrington voted for it.

Will this scheme work?

We don’t think so. It basically just shows the myopic vision of these politicians.

In a recent State House News article, House Speaker Robert DeLeo said that this re-draft was the result of “extensive conversations with members, advocates and the business community.”

Unfortunately, DeLeo’s list doesn’t include “pro-family people” and “regular citizens”.  In fact, no one we’ve talked to is taking these changes in the bill text seriously at all. Among the reasons for that are:

1. Sexual predators aren’t likely to read (or care about) the fine print of administrative regulations, only the general thrust of this new “bathroom” law.
2. MCAD and the Attorney General’s office, tasked to make the regulations, are both strong pro-LGBT proponents, and can’t be trusted to protect the public from that radical agenda. (The Attorney General has been particularly hostile against the pro-family position.)
3. It only addresses sexual predators. A man in a dress (or wearing nothing) who thinks he’s a female is still extremely terrifying to women in public restrooms, locker rooms, and showers. This is a huge issue with women that the politicians are ignoring.
   
4. It forces the public to believe (or pretend to believe) a lie. People are either one sex or the other, and that cannot be changed with hormones, surgery, or any other method.

In other words, this is clearly an attempt at creating feel-good language for skittish State Reps. But it really doesn’t change anything in any substantial way. It’s still a dangerous and manipulative piece of legislation.

To be clear: There is no such thing as a “transgender.” According to medical authorities, men who seriously believe they’re women (or vice versa) have mental health problems. Pandering to that only makes their situation worse, not better.

It's a sad coincidence that they are pushing this tragic bill at this particular time.

Unfortunately, too many on our side rely almost exclusively on the “bathroom sexual predator” argument. It’s less confrontational because it doesn’t contradict the LGBT core “transgender” ideology. We think that strategy is a mistake.

Senate to vote first – on May 12

Interestingly, there are now two versions of the bill. Only the House version, renamed H4253. incorporates these new changes. The Senate version (still S735) is unchanged and has the old text. That was done purposefully so that both versions are still in the mix.

According to State House News, the Senate plans to debate both versions of the bill over the next several days and take a vote on May 12. The House plans to wait until after that before taking action. That would suggest that DeLeo still needs time to twist some arms, which is not surprising.

The truth must not be a casualty – MassResistance tells it like it is!

Over the next several weeks, this battle promises to bring on a major “transgender rights” propaganda flood by powerful politicians, the liberal establishment, the mainstream media, and major corporations. It’s important that our side not compromise our argument to satisfy political correctness – which is exactly what the other side wants.

MassResistance believes very strongly in not compromising. This past week the Worcester Telegram, one of the largest daily newspapers in the state, published an article about this bill.

The mainstream press in Massachusetts has been obsessed with this topic. And MassResistance is up to the challenge!

Here is an excerpt from that article:

This battle , unfortunately, is just getting started. We’ll keep you informed.