The Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition'' (MTPC) is an organization dedicated to ending

discrimination Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, relig ...

on the basis of

gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the i ...

and

gender expression Gender expression, or gender presentation, is a person's behavior, mannerisms, interests, and appearance that are associated with gender, specifically with the categories of femininity or masculinity. This also includes gender roles. These cat ...

. The MTPC educates the public, lobbies state and local government, and encourages

political activism Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fr ...

. The MTPC professes to work guided by the following values: " Equal rights and institutional responsibility; working against all forms of oppression; building broad-based participation and community power; developing leaders and building coalitions; drawing strength from diverse experiences and identities; being informed by our history and elders; growing through challenge and critique; being inclusive of those who cannot be fully visible, and accountability to the communities for which we work." MTPC was started by transgender activists and allies in September 2001. In early 2002, MTPC members began advocating for non-discrimination ordinances on the basis of gender identity and gender expression in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. The ordinance passed in October 2002 with a 9-1 vote. In 2003, MTPC members began advocating for a similar ordinance in

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

, Massachusetts, which passed in December 2005. In the summer of 2006, MTPC began developing a campaign for a statewide gender identity/gender expression non-discrimination bill. The legislation to outlaw discrimination in Massachusetts on the basis of "gender identity or expression" was introduced on Jan 10, 2007, by lead sponsors Representative

Carl Sciortino Carl Michael Sciortino Jr. ( ; born July 6, 1978) is an American politician serving as executive director of the AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts. A Democrat from Massachusetts, he represented the 34th Middlesex district in the Massachusett ...

and Representative

Byron Rushing Byron Rushing (born July 29, 1942) is an American politician who represented the Ninth Suffolk district in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1983 to 2019. He represented the South End neighborhood of Boston. A Democrat, he was fi ...

as House Bill No. 1722, "An Act Relative to Gender-Based Discrimination and Hate Crimes". The bill was passed in 2011. The final draft of "An Act Relative to Gender-Based Discrimination and Hate Crimes" didn't include any public accommodations (places that aren't home, school or work). In 2012 their next legislative fight began and it was to ensure those spaces were included in anti-discrimination laws. An act including anti-discrimination regulations was passed in 2016. That act was then contested by anti-trans lobbyists. It was then put on the ballot for the 2018 election. In the election, Massachusetts voters decided to keep these transgender protections on the books. In 2015 they launched the Identity Documentation Assistance Network. The network was designed to help Massachusetts residents change their legal name and gender markers. MTPC hosts a local transgender resource wiki and helpful materials for transgender activism on its website. MTPC currently has a Boston chapter and a North Shore chapter (NSTA). Mason Dunn is the executive director of the organization, and Maxwell Ng chairs an eight-person steering committee. Current MTPC committees include a policy committee, a community engagement committee, a training, and education committee, a fundraising, and events committee, and the Interfaith Committee for Trans Equality.

References

Trans bill briefing draws a crowd
by Ethan Jacobs, 1/17/2008
Northampton Human Rights Commission "Gender Identity or Expression - Definition"

Text of Boston's Ordinance Regarding Discrimination Based on Gender Identity or Expression

City Council approves transgender ordinance - by Beth Berlo, 10/31/2002

External links

The Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition website
{{Transgender footer Transgender Political Coalition Transgender organizations in the United States 2001 establishments in Massachusetts Organizations established in 2001 LGBT political advocacy groups in Massachusetts Organizations based in Boston Non-profit organizations based in Boston Equality Federation

See also

References

External links