NowThis Video Highlights Importance of Defending Transgender Protections in MA This November

This election season, the people of Massachusetts will go to the ballot box to defend basic dignity for transgender people across their state, the first time in history that people will be forced to uphold the rights transgender people by voting on a statewide ballot issue.

Kasey Suffredini, Co-Chair of the Yes on 3 campaign and President of Strategy for Freedom for All Americans

Since 2015 the Freedom for All Massachusetts coalition (of which Freedom for All Americans is a leading and founding member) has been working on behalf of the Bay State’s transgender community. First, the coalition organized to pass nondiscrimination protections for transgender people in places of public accommodation, which includes public transit, restaurants, stores, hospitals, parks, and more, through the state legislature. That campaign emerged victorious when Republican Governor Charlie Baker signed the bill into law. Now, the campaign is organizing to uphold the law, urging voters to vote Yes on 3 this November.

Rep. Sonia Diaz-Chang

A new video from the media outlet NowThis illustrates just how important upholding these protections is for transgender Bay Staters. The video features campaign staffers, as well as transgender people and allies sharing their stories and support. Among them are Mimi Lemay, the mother of a transgender boy, and Kasey Suffredini, co-chair of the Yes on 3 campaign and Freedom for All Americans’ President of Strategy. Watch the video below:

Massachusetts is currently one of 19 states with comprehensive nondiscrimination protections in housing, employment, and public accommodations for all LGBTQ people. This year, we have already seen major victories for transgender nondiscrimination protections, including a ballot victory in Anchorage, AK, which upheld existing public accommodations protections for transgender people, and passage of comprehensive nondiscrimination protections for transgender people in New Hampshire.

Nicole & Jeanne Talbot

“The anti-transgender activists who put this on the ballot have said publicly in the media that if they succeed in Massachusetts, they will try to roll back protections like these all across the country, so the stakes could not be higher. This is a must-win fight,” says Suffredini in the video.

To learn more about the Yes on 3 campaign, visit their website here.