Out In The Mountains : News - Queer Summit Supports Trans Rights

by Paul Olsen

     Montpelier – Full equality for transgender Vermonters is the top legislative priority for LGBT community activists in Vermont this year.
      Representatives of Equality Vermont, the R.U.1.2? Queer Community Center, and LGBT activists from across the state are rallying behind a bill to be introduced by openly gay state Rep. Bill Lippert (D-Hinesburg). The bill would outlaw discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression.
      As of press time the bill had not yet been introduced, raising concerns that there would not be time to take testimony or build support before "crossover," the mid-to-late March date on which bills cross between the House and the Senate. Rep. Lippert was still seeking cosponsors for his bill, which, if passed, would add "gender identity and expression" to the list of protected classes in Vermont law. In the end, the Democrat from Hinesburg is unsure how the bill will play out in the current legislative session or whether it would be supported by Governor Jim Douglas (R). "We're still feeling our way to get a sense of what the timing is and what the best strategy is," he said. "I think it is important to recognize that the bill is also an educational tool."
      Vermont law already prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
      Virginia Renfrew, a representative of the statewide gay advocacy group Equality Vermont, said passage of the gender identity bill is important. "Transgender Vermonters can be discriminated against, and Equality Vermont truly believes that all Vermonters should be free of discrimination," she told OITM.
      Christopher Kaufman, executive director of the Burlington-based R.U.1.2? Queer Community Center, agreed with Renfrew. "It is unfortunate that gender identity and expression has never been covered before in many of Vermont's laws, although it is in the hate crimes law," he said.
      To rally support for the trans-inclusive anti-discrimination bill, the R.U.1.2? Queer Community Center hosted a Queer Summit on January 29 at the State House in Montpelier. Nearly 50 people attended the all-day meeting facilitated by Lisa Mottet, a representative of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF), and Mara Keisling, executive director of the Washington, DC-based National Center for Transgender Equality.
      According to Mottet, five states (California, Illinois, Minnesota, New Mexico, and Rhode Island) and approximately 75 cities and counties outlaw discrimination on the basis of gender identity and/or expression. The NGLTF also reports that only 27 percent of Americans live in jurisdictions that protect transgender residents compared to the 47 percent of Americans living in jurisdictions prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
     For her part, Keisling emphasized the importance of lobbying legislators to support the bill. "Don't make the mistake of thinking all Democrats are good and all Republicans are bad," she said. "You'll have many allies in the statehouse."

Paul Olsen lives and works in Colchester. He also writes for the Boston-based In Newsweekly.