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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Foes of transgender protections Say Law Protects Predators
A blond girl heads from a playground into a women’s restroom. A scruffy-looking man, lurking outside, darts in behind her. “Your City Commission made this legal,” the words on the television screen read.
The advertisement came from opponents of a gender-identity provision added last year to Gainesville’s antidiscrimination ordinance. The provision allows the city’s roughly 100 transgender residents to use whichever restroom they choose.
Foes want to repeal the provision with a ballot measure on March 24. The issue has divided Gainesville, a generally gay-friendly university city in staunchly conservative north Florida.
Supporters of the transgender protections say opponents are using the dispute to unleash a broader attack on the rights of gay and transgender people in general.
The City Commission approved the restroom provision by a 4-to-3 vote a year ago. Opponents quickly began working for its repeal.
Organizations defending transgender rights are mustering their own campaign.
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force says that 108 cities and counties nationwide have similar transgender protections.
See Foes Say Law Protects Predators
New York Times, United States
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/01/foes-of-trans…
