[News] [MD, USA] Baltimore Approves Transgender Anti-Discrimination Bill, But Critics Remain
Stephanie Stevens
Baltimore Approves Transgender Anti-Discrimination Bill, But Critics Remain
Posted: 02/22/2012 5:26 pm
[Video <http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/video?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=6768161>
]
Baltimore's approval of a controversial transgender protection bill is
being praised by the LGBT community -- but not everyone is happy about
its passage.
As the Baltimore Sun is reporting
<http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2012-02-21/news/bs-md-co-transgender-vote-20120221_1_transgender-protections-transgender-people-chrissy-lee-polis>
, the Baltimore County Council approved the legislation -- which
prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity and
expression and sexual orientation when it comes to housing,
employment, public accommodations and financing -- 5-2, along party
lines. "Whether you’re a woman, whether you’re male, whether you’re
female, African-American, gay, lesbian, transgender, this bill is
simple," Tom Quirk, Baltimore County Council, is quoted by CBS
Baltimore as saying. "Everyone deserves to be treated fairly."
The bill's approval, the Associated Press noted
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/baltimore-county-approves-transgender-discrimination-ban-4th-md-govt-to-adopt-protections/2012/02/22/gIQAJg9KTR_story.html>
, comes nearly a year after Chrissy Lee Polis, a 22-year-old
transgender woman, was viciously beaten when she tried to use the
restroom at a McDonald’s franchise.
The Baltimore bill, which follows similar legislation recently passed
in Massachusetts
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/16/transgender-equal-rights-bill-massachusetts_n_1097476.html>
, did not add a heavily debated amendment that would have specifically
exempted bathrooms, locker rooms and dressing rooms, instead allowing
the issue open to interpretation.
Among those who opposed the bill was Anita Schatz
<http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2012-02-19/news/bs-md-co-transgender-discrimination-20120219_1_chrissy-lee-polis-transgender-people-transgender-woman>
, a 59-year-old retired school secretary. Schatz told the Sun that she
feared women would be sexually assaulted in restrooms, and that she
feared what kind of world her granddaughters would face. "We just
don't want them turning our children into what they are," she is
quoted as saying. "It has to do with morals because parents have a
right to raise their children the way they want."
Copyright © 2012 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/22/baltimore-transgender-bill-approval-_n_1294882.html