This Year's Legislative Agenda

From transgender equality to important protections for LGBTQ youth and seniors, there's still more work to do! This legislative session, join us in advocating for key bills that will directly, substantively improve the lives of the LGBTQ community.

An Act to ensure legal parentage equality                                                        S.947 | H.1713 

This bill would provide that every child have the same rights and protections under law as any other child without regard to the marital status, gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation of the parent or parents.

 

An Act to promote rehabilitation including guaranteed health, treatment, and safety for incarcerated LGBTQI+ People                                                                                  S.1566 | H.2484

This bill addresses the human rights crisis experienced by LGBTQ people incarcerated in our state’s prisons. Key provisions include implementing safety procedures to protect LGBTQ individuals in shared housing; access to HIV prevention and treatment; prohibiting involuntary solitary confinement or punishment for LGBTQ status or disclosure of assault; allowing and facilitating culturally competent programming; and clearer data reporting and transparency (including PREA data).

An Act Establishing Gender Neutral Bathrooms                                                 S.1978 | H.3019

 This bill would amend State Building code regulations to allow for gender neutral bathrooms

 

An Act enabling pharmacists to prescribe, dispense and, administer PrEP    S.1353 | H.2225

 This bill would enable pharmacists to prescribe, dispense and administer PrEP

 

An Act relative to trans-inclusive health care access                                                 S.596 | H.1037

The bill requires insurance companies to cover gender-affirming care upon receipt of one letter from a qualified mental health professional, aligning state law with the accepted World Professional Association for Transgender Health standard.

 

An Act relative to gender-affirming hair removal treatment                              S.621 | H.2225

This bill would ensure coverage for gender-affirming hair removal procedures including, but not limited to, laser hair removal and electrolysis hair removal prescribed as medical treatment in accordance with accepted standards of care to affirm the gender identity

 

An Act relative to LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculum                                    S.259 | H.498                        This bill would ensure that Massachusetts Public schools include sufficient instruction on the histories, roles, and contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people in the history of this country and the Commonwealth.

 

An Act establishing an LGBTQI long-term care facility bill of rights                                                                                                                                                            S.637 | H.637

This bill would ensure that any long-term care facility and long-term care facility staff are prohibited from taking  actions based in whole or in part on a person's actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, intersex status, or HIV status that could be perceived as discriminatory or harmful, and addresses strategies to create a safe and affirming environment for LGBTQI older adults and older adults living with HIV

 

 

An Act repealing homophobic and transphobic laws                                                                                                        S.637 | H.637

This bill would repeal existing, outdated sodomy laws.

 

An Act relative to student mental health              SB.1237 | HB.1999

This bill would ensure that public school, including a charter school, that serves students in any of grades 6 to 12, , that issues student identification cards shall include on the student identification cards the telephone and text number for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

 

An Act relative to gender identity on Massachusetts identification          SB.2207 | HB.3017

To recognize the dignity and protect the safety of nonbinary citizens, this bill allows individuals to choose the gender marker “X” on state IDs. It codifies into law the RMV’s recent regulatory decision to offer an “X” marker on licenses and expands its scope to cover more documents, including birth certificates, other ID options, and state forms.

Click here to download the agenda as a PDF

MassEquality Legislative Agenda 2023