Gov. Baker’s Absent Leadership on Transgender Rights Continues

MA Governor Charlie Baker
Photo: Charlie Baker, FB Page
MA Governor Charlie Baker Absent on Transgender Rights Bill Photo: Charlie Baker, FB Page

MA Governor Charlie Baker
Photo: Charlie Baker, FB Page

Celtics, Bruins, Red Sox, Revolution and Patriots Join other Private Sector Leaders in Standing with MassDems on Major Civil Rights Legislation

BOSTON, Mass.—Despite his hometown, former employer and favorite sports teams joining the ranks of those supporting legislators’ push for the Transgender Public Accommodations bill, Republican Gov. Baker continues to lead from behind—unwilling to fully reverse his 2010 stance against what he disparagingly referred to then as the ‘bathroom bill’.

“Voters expect leadership from their Governor, and once again Republican Baker is showing his lack of vision. As the first state to legalize equal marriage, we are used to Massachusetts leading the nation in human rights, yet while 17 other states have passed public accommodation bills, Republican Baker chooses the status quo,” said MassDems LGBTQ Subcommittee Co-Chairs Tyler Carlton, Karen Payne and Stephen Driscoll in a joint statement.

“The only way Massachusetts can remain a leader on important issues like civil rights is if the people Massachusetts residents elect to office take clear, meaningful stances and thus far Gov. Baker has opted to continue to punt on stating whether he is for or against a business owner being legally able to refuse service to transgender Bay Staters simply for being who they are,” said MassDems Spokesman Pat Beaudry. “Baker’s refusal to lend the stature Massachusetts residents entrusted in him to promote the rights of a discriminated community is just more status quo leadership from someone who increasingly appears to be serving as a status quo governor.”

Gov. Baker’s former employer, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, has come out in support of the legislation as well as Google, Eastern Bank, and Hill Holiday among many other coalition members. [pullquote]“The only way Massachusetts can remain a leader on important issues like civil rights is if the people Massachusetts residents elect to office take clear, meaningful stances and thus far Gov. Baker has opted to continue to punt on stating whether he is for or against a business owner being legally able to refuse service to transgender Bay Staters simply for being who they are,” said MassDems Spokesman Pat Beaudry.[/pullquote]

Additionally, Baker’s hometown of Swampscott has voted to protect transgender rights on the municipal level along with nearly a dozen other Massachusetts communities.

In 2010, then-candidate Baker sought to sure up support among conservative Republican voters by campaigning against transgender Bay Staters’ rights—using the disparaging term ‘Bathroom Bill’ in campaign literature where he pledged to veto the legislation.

[From a News Release]

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