Local media swallows ‘bathroom bill’ rhetoric
On July 14, the day of a legislative hearing on the transgender rights bill currently on Beacon Hill, WCVB’s NewsCenter 5 ran a story about the bill on its evening newscast. Anchor Liz Brunner introduced the story by saying, “It’s being called the bathroom bill, [and it] is essentially meant to end discrimination based on transgender status.” Behind Brunner was an image of the traditional male and female stick figures found on restroom doors, positioned next to the State House dome and above the tagline, “Bathroom Bill.” Yet the only people calling the trans rights bill, House Bill 1728, a “bathroom bill” are its opponents, and the label is a misnomer by any objective criteria.
H.B. 1728 adds trans-inclusive language to the state’s non-discrimination laws in the areas of employment, public accommodations, credit, housing, and education, as well as to the state’s hate-crimes laws, going far beyond simply allowing transgender people to use bathrooms that match their gender identity or expression. Opponents of the legislation, led by the Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI), claim that the bill will allow male sexual predators to masquerade as women and sneak into women’s restrooms and locker rooms. WCVB’s coverage of the transgender rights bill, as well as the coverage by some other local media outlets, suggests that the work of the bill’s opponents to label the legislation a bathroom bill in public discourse has been at least somewhat successful. See Local media swallows ‘bathroom bill’ rhetoric Bay Windows
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/07/local-media-s…
Deleware Gay rights bill heads to full state Senate
The state Senate next week will debate a bill adding sexual orientation to Delaware’s anti-discrimination laws.
Newark-area Democrat David Sokola says he’s grateful Senate leaders let him offer his own version of the bill.
Audio Here
During the past 10 years, similar bills have reached the Senate only to die in committee or as the result of a so-called “desk-drawer veto”, but Senate Insurance Committee members Wednesday voted 5-0 to send Sokola’s measure, which has the support of Governor Markell and key House leaders, to the full Senate.
Sokola says he expects spirited opposition from the bill’s opponents, but is confident the measure will pass. See Gay rights bill heads to full state Senate
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Gay employee files discrimination lawsuit against Easton Hospital
A Lower Saucon Township woman has filed a civil lawsuit against Easton Hospital claiming she was targeted by her superiors because of her sexual orientation and subsequently fired, court records said.
Suzanne Cornish, who worked at the hospital in Wilson Borough as the director of the cardiology pulmonary unit, filed the suit in federal court last week seeking lost salary, damages and attorney fees and to have her position reinstated, according to court records.
Cornish claims because she is gay she was harassed at work and hospital officials attempted to coerce her resignation through a “campaign of harassment,” records indicate.
Cornish alleges hospital officials found out about her sexuality at the end of May 2008 and she was fired Oct. 31.
Cornish also claims she was given inaccurate performance reviews that led to her firing, according to court records.
At one time, Cornish was suspended while the hospital investigated claims that she acted inappropriately at work, records said. The claims were not elaborated on in the court records.
“Easton Hospital’s policy is not to comment on matters in litigation,” hospital spokesman Alan Levy said. See Gay employee files discrimination lawsuit against Easton Hospital
The Express Times - LehighValleyLive.com * Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual
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Agencies split on gay adoption rules
Anti-discrimination laws prompt protest, some cooperation from religious-based orgs.
Tags: Adoption Laws, Adoption Rules, Anti Discrimination, Cooperation, Discrimination Laws, Gay Adoption, Gay Discrimination, Orgs, ProtestBigots file Petions to strike down new gay-rights ordinance - Is hate a family value in Kalamazoo?
KALAMAZOO – Petitions seeking the repeal of a newly adopted city ordinance that extends discrimination protections to gays and lesbians in Kalamazoo have been filed.
City Clerk Scott Borling said former city commissioner and current Kalamazoo County Treasurer Mary Balkema officially turned over 189 pages of petitions that circulators said contained about 1,600 signatures.
Due to the New Year’s Day holiday Thursday, Borling said certification of those signatures will begin Friday.
Borling expects the process to extend into next week before it is officially determined that the petitions contain at least 1,273 signatures, the minimum Borling said are necessary to trigger reconsideration of the anti-discrimination ordinance.
Under the charter, if sufficient signatures are certified next week, the ordinance is immediately suspended and the Kalamazoo City Commission must either repeal the entire ordinance or put it on the ballot for city voters to decide.
That action must occur at the commission’s next business meeting, which would be Jan. 26.
The current ordinance expands existing housing and employment protections to include gays, lesbians and transgender individuals, protected classes that are not currently included in existing state and federal anti-discrimination laws.
See Petitions filed Wednesday in opposition of new Kalamazoo gay …
Kalamazoo Gazette - MLive.com, MI
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/01/bigots-file-p…
Agencies split on gay adoption rules
Anti-discrimination laws prompt protest, some cooperation from religious-based orgs.
Tags: Adoption Laws, Adoption Rules, Anti Discrimination, Cooperation, Discrimination Laws, Gay Adoption, Gay Discrimination, Orgs, Protest
