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CAMBRIDGE, MA –
Progressive Democrat Jeff Ross, who in late June publicly announced
his candidacy for the Middlesex, Suffolk, Essex district Senate seat
to fill the vacancy left by Senator Jarrett Barrios, came out in
public support of H 1722, An Act Relative to Gender Based
Discrimination and Hate Crimes, filed by State Representative for the
34 Middlesex district, Carl Sciortino.
“This bill creates strong
anti-discrimination protections for individuals whose gender identity
or expression does not conform to gender stereotypes. As an openly
gay man, I am fully aware of what it feels like to be discriminated
against,” said Ross.
Transgender people face widespread
prejudice throughout the Commonwealth, but Massachusetts General Laws
currently affords them no explicit protections. Nine other states,
the District of Columbia and 81 counties and cities nationwide,
including Boston, Cambridge and Northampton have laws in place that
prohibit discrimination of transgender individuals. “I find it hard
to imagine that our Commonwealth, which prides itself on being a
champion of civil liberties, does not protect transgender individuals
from discrimination and hate crimes,” said Ross. “As a candidate for
the Senate and a citizen of the Commonwealth, I wholeheartedly support
this bill’s passage.”
In the meantime, Ross, who is a resident
of Cambridge, has called upon the Cambridge City Council to pass a
resolution supporting H 1722. “This bill is critical to ensure that
gender identity and expression are included in the state’s
non-discrimination statute and hate crime laws,” Ross wrote in a
letter delivered today to the Cambridge City Hall. “This bill will
ensure the protection of transgender people is explicit and uniform
throughout the Commonwealth.”
Ross is the only openly gay candidate
currently running to fill the seat vacated by Senator Barrios. He has
been an outspoken advocate on marriage equality in the Commonwealth
and worked hard to temper the Republican dissemination of hateful
anti-gay propaganda. “I believe that the Constitution affirms the
dignity and equality of all individuals,” Ross says on his website,
www.Ross4senate.org. “As an openly gay candidate, I am sensitive
to the issues that affect the LGBT community. I will continue to be
an ardent advocate for equal rights and fundamental dignity.” |
