Yes on Three

Coming out of the grocery store yesterday afternoon, I was miffed to see that there was a flyer stuck under my windshield wipers.  For those of you who don’t know me, this is one of my pet peeves, most likely because I rarely notice them until I am driving down the road and they start flapping in the breeze.

This time, I did notice and grabbed it off my windshield; it was a flyer for yes on three.  I’ve already cast my early ballot with a yes vote on three, but even that flyer wouldn’t have changed my vote, as much as I hate those things.  That flyer sat in my house all yesterday, as I contemplated writing a blog post about ballot question three.  Jerold has written extensively about question 1, and yesterday, we hosted a guest post on question 2.  I suspect that none of us have written about three yet because a yes vote seems so obvious. So I didn’t write.  Until this morning, when I opened my Sunday Globe which prominently featured a column by Jeff Jacoby arguing for a no vote on this question.

So now I am writing.  Ultimately, here is the bottom line for me: transgender people are people just like you and me who just want the ability to go about their normal, day to day lives.  To quote the Yes on Three campaign, “Transgender people should have the same basic protections as everyone else—to live their lives with safety, privacy, and dignity.”

Unfortunately for many transgender people, this is not possible.   According to one survey of transgender individuals, three-quarters experienced mistreatment while they were in school, nearly one-quarter report employment based discrimination based on their gender identity, and nearly half were verbally harassed about their identity in the last year.  Importantly, nearly one-third experienced at least one type of mistreatment (denial of service, harassment, physical attacks) in places of public accommodation.  One in five respondents did not use at least one form of public accommodation due to fear of this mistreatment.  Nine in ten report that someone denied them access to a public restroom in the past year.

Contrary to claims to the otherwise, discrimination against transgender individuals will not simply go away without governmental action.  This is why our state government acted in 2016 to make this sort of discrimination illegal and why the current law is so necessary.  If you’re on the fence about this issue or contemplating a no vote, I urge you to visit the Yes on Three website to learn more about the facts, not the fears, about this law.

As my new favorite campaign ad (warning: NSFW) says: “Who are we to take away our neighbors’ liberties? Or revoke the law that protects their right to live a life free from discrimination?”  If you haven’t done so already, I urge you do to the morally right thing here and vote yes on three on Tuesday.