Keep MA Safe, the groupbacking the repeal, has collected enough signatures to put the challenge through as a ballot question for this fall. The law, the group said, makes whole segments of the population feel unsafe and exploits their privacy and security.
out Thursday finds that a slim majority of Massachusetts voters do not want to repeal a 2016 state law that offers greater protections for transgender individuals in public accommodations.
The fate of the law in Massachusetts, a traditionally deep blue state, could largely be seen as a test case for legislation related to transgender rights in other places through the U.S.
Question To Repeal Transgender Accommodations Law Qualifies For 2018 Ballot
On the other side, a group called Freedom For All Massachusetts has been leadingthe effort to prevent a repeal, saying discrimination has no place in Massachusetts.
Field ProducerYasmin Amer is a field producer for WBURs Morning Edition.
It is very likely a challenge to the law, which supporters hail as legal protection against the discrimination of transgender people, will appear as a referendum question on the November ballot. Theexisting legislation allowstransgender individuals to access public spaces, like restrooms and locker rooms, based on the gender with which they identify instead of their assigned anatomical sex.
WBUR Poll: Mass. Voters Support Keeping Transgender Public Access Protections
The WBUR/MassINC poll has a 4.4 percent margin of error.
Activists Say They Have Signatures Needed To Put Repeal Of Transgender Rights Law Before Voters
According to the WBUR poll, 52 percent of voters oppose getting rid of the law, while 38 percent support its repeal.
If it were somehow to pass in Massachusetts, it would be very divisive across the country, said MassINC pollster Steve Koczela, who conducted the survey for WBUR, and you would start to see these ballot questions popping up in a lot of other places.
WBUR Poll: Ballot Questions On Sales Tax Rollback And Millionaires Tax Maintain High Support