Dear Friends,
Just about two years ago, a bill extending legal protections to transgender people was adopted by a broad bi-partisan supermajority of the Massachusetts legislature, and was then signed into law by Governor Baker.
- The law was fairly straightforward. It included the words "gender identity" in the list of impermissible bases for discrimination in Massachusetts. The purpose was to protect the rights of transgender and gender non-conforming people in the Commonwealth. These individuals suffer more than their share of emotional and physical assaults. This law was designed to help them in their struggle for dignity and safety.
One might have thought that passing the law would have assured its enduring legitimacy. After all, it's a civil rights statute. When have you ever heard of a democratic society removing civil rights protections from people?
But in fact an effort is underway to repeal this law. "Keep MA Safe," a group committed to expunging this law, has arisen and gained enough signatures to put the question to the people of our Commonwealth.
Polls predict that this ballot question may be close. (This is partly because the wording of the question that will appear on the ballot is quite confusing. See the question
here
.)
The concern expressed by those who object to the law
is that it does not sufficiently protect the safety and security of
women and girls. There is a concern that predatory, heterosexual males will pretend to be transgender in order to sneak into women's bathrooms.
This is an odd claim, because the current law explicitly calls for legal action against anyone asserting gender identity for an "improper purpose." And there are other laws and statutes on the books that already prohibit such behavior. Moreover, a recent research study of Massachusetts communities prior to 2016 found no increase in such crimes in communities that had passed transgender anti-discrimination laws over those that hadn't. (See
here.)
Nonetheless, this concern is the ostensible reason for the repeal effort.
Concerns about safety and criminality should be taken seriously. Nonetheless, it doesn't seem to me either necessary or proper to withdraw civil rights from a vulnerable set of individuals in order to protect all of us from criminals. There are other and better ways to accomplish that -- should the need materialize.
I believe that the current law is consistent with Jewish values. It is the Jewish tradition, after all, that gave us the notion of equality before the law.
True, Jewish law makes distinctions among genders. (Indeed, Jewish tradition recognizes at least four genders: male, female, androgynous and hermaphrodite.) However, when it comes to civil rights, discriminating against individuals because of their gender identity is, I believe, contrary to our values.
I therefore urge each of us to:
- Read the current law. It’s accessible here.
- Read the ballot question and the arguments pro and con here.
- Read the view of the Massachusetts Board of Rabbis toward transgender inclusion, which is accessible here.
- Read what Keshet, the Jewish organization that is fighting for full LGBTQ equality and inclusion in Jewish life, has to say about the law.
If, after reading all of this, you would like to learn more about efforts to defend the current law, consider coming to the Needham Congregational Church next Monday evening at 7:00 pm to hear Sarah McBride, the author of
Tomorrow Will Be Different: Love, Loss, and the Fight for Trans Equality,
lead a conversation on preserving transgender rights in MA. (More information
here
.)
Thank you so much for your consideration of this important civil rights issue.
Sincerely,
Rabbi Carl M. Perkins
