Around New England

Make Massachusetts A Transgender Sanctuary State? It’s Time, Says Organization Representing Public School Committees

November 6, 2022

The Massachusetts Legislature should pass “sanctuary laws” for transgender students, the Massachusetts Association of School Committees says.

Delegates approved a resolution to that effect this past week, according to the Facebook page of the organization. The conference took place in Hyannis on Cape Cod.

Screenshot of Facebook page of Massachusetts Association of School Committees

The resolution does not specify language for such laws. But the motivation stems from other state legislatures that have passed laws preventing parents from pursuing puberty-blocking drugs, hormone therapy, and surgery to try to transition their minor children from male to female or from female to male.

The resolution noted that the Massachusetts Legislature passed a law in 2011 that makes gender identity a protected class. The resolution claims that new state laws elsewhere could lead to parents being prosecuted in their home state for seeking gender-transitioning treatment in other states.

About such laws, the Massachusetts Association of Schools Committees resolution states:  “This is a profound violation of the civil rights of these children, and it increases the potential harm to both them and to their families. In response, a number of states are considering so-called sanctuary laws, which would shield families from such prosecution, and extend to those children the rights guaranteed to them by Massachusetts law. As of the passage of this resolution, no such bills have been filed in Massachusetts. The Legislature must back up the 2011 Act with this further protection.”

The resolution was sponsored by the Lexington School Committee, and co-sponsored by school committees in Worcester, Somerville, Grafton, and Franklin.

Supporters of gender transitioning for minors say it’s the right approach for kids who identify with a gender other than the one that corresponds to their biological sex.

Opponents of gender transitioning for minors say that biological sex is immutable, and that transitioning from one gender to another can do lasting physical and psychological damage to accommodate what may only be a temporary feeling.

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