Governor Charlie Baker, refusing to reverse his 2010 stance against the transgender public accommodations bill, continues to show his lack of leadership. While the company he once led, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, as well as area sports teams and Baker’s own hometown of Swampscott have joined the long list of those supporting legislators’ push for this humans rights legislation, Baker allows transgender individuals to be treated as second-class citizens.
Legislators from both parties have come together to end the legalized discrimination against one of the most marginalized communities in the Commonwealth. However, Baker ignores his role as Massachusetts' leader by stating that he does not comment on pending legislation, although, to the contrary, he has before.
This issue is the greatest civil rights matter of my generation. Baker must now decide whether he will be a true leader or reserve his spot in the textbooks as being on the wrong side of history.
The writer cochairs the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender outreach subcommittee of the Massachusetts Democratic State Committee.
Advertisement