On February 27th the Judiciary Committee has raised HB 5723: An Act Concerning Discrimination, To prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression. This bill has the same language that was voted out of the Judiciary Committee in 2007 and passed through four committee’s and the Senate with an overwhelming positive vote or 111 to only 13 against! The Anti-discrimination coalition of which TransAdvocacy is part of will send out weekly updates on the status of this bill since your engagement and participation is crucial to assure passage of this bill. Please visit ourwebsite at TransEqualityCT.org for full details on this legislative effort. |
| Your Stories and Testimony are Needed Today!
For the pending Judiciary public hearing
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 As you well know Stories Make A Difference and your story is critical in helping legislators understand why passing of this legislation is critical for the Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming communities. It is especially important that we have stories from many diverse viewpoints be it personal discrimination, discrimination of a friend or family, or simply your concerns that anyone in Connecticut could be discriminated against simply for being different! And equally important are success stories where discrimination has been overcome due to a supportive employer, landlord or friend. If you would like to submit a story please send an email to CWEALF or TransAdvocacy and we will work with you to assure your voice is heard. However, it is important to contact us immediately for these stories will be submitted in writing to the Judiciary Committee at their public hearing, likely sometime the week of March 10th. And if you are also interested in testifying at this public hearing please also let us know this.Click here for stories presented in 2006 and 2007 in support of the Anti-Discrimination bill.
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| Call Your Legislator Today
Requesting their full support of HB 5723
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| Your calls and emails made a major difference last year and so please help us again this year. Please call and email your legislator today asking them to fully support HB 5723 An Act Concerning Discrimination. You may wish to read the Bill Info Sheet or Bill Q&A prior to contacting your legislator. If you are not sure who your legislator is go to congress.org and enter your zip code to get your legislators.
Tips when contacting your legislator
When you call, you will most likely speak to their aide, not them. You can ask to speak with your legislator, after which you will either (most likely) leave your message with the aide, get a voicemail, or connect to them directly.
If you get their voice mail or leave message with the aide:
- Identify who you are and that you are a constituent in their district
- Thank them if they voted in favor of the bill last year (click to view committee and senate votes in 2007) and ask them to support the bill once again
- If they weren’t one of the supporters, urge them to support HB 5723: An Act Concerning Discrimination because no one should be discriminated against because of their gender identity or expression
- Briefly explain why this bill is important to you
- There are other points to bring up that are included in the Bill Info Sheet or Bill Q&A documents if you would like to use these.
If you do get to speak to your senator directly, congratulations!
- We would suggest having a little script written down beforehand in case you get flustered. Use the attachment to find your own words and always speak from your heart it is the most effective way to persuade a legislator
- Make sure you urge them to vote in favor of the bill
- And always remember to say the bill’s number and its name
- Also, remind them that you are one of their constituents.
And please let us know [ CWEALF or TransAdvocacy] if you hear back from your Legislator or their aide regarding this bill.
It only takes a moment, so please call and email today.
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| What is HB 5723 An Act Concerning Discrimination
Article Subheading
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| HB 5723 clarifies and updates Connecticut’s non-discrimination laws to ensure that they clearly and uniformly protect all people regardless of their gender identity or expression by simply adding the phrase “gender identity and expression”, as defined in Connecticut’s “Hate Crime law”, to all statutes that address discrimination.From both a priori and empirical studies it is well known that gender non-conforming people experience widespread discrimination in Connecticut. Your support of this bill is vital and is needed to protect transgender and gender non-conforming individuals from being fired, denied basic housing, denied credit and most basic services.Currently, a number of major Connecticut Corporations (e.g. Aetna, The Hartford, IBM, Pfizer, ESPN, Chubb) as well as small businesses have explicit policies prohibiting discrimination based on ones gender identity and expression as well as employing Transgender individuals. |
| Who Comprises the Anti-Discrimination Coalition? |
The Anti-Discrimination Coalition (ADC) is comprised of individuals and local, regional and national organizations interested in ensuring that any people vulnerable to discrimination are given equal protection under the law. Currently, because Connecticut has no law prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity or expression in education, housing, employment, credit, or public accommodation we are working to pass a bill that will include the phrase “gender identity or expression” in Connecticut’s non-discrimination law. The ADC is working collectively with individuals and agencies to create permanent systemic change to strengthen all of our communities.Our current members are:ACLU of Connecticut / Anti-Defamation League /CABO (CT Alliance for Business Opportunities) / Connecticut Conference of the United Church of Christ / Connecticut National Organization for Women / Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund / Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders / Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network Connecticut / Hartford Gay and Lesbian Health Collective / Gender PAC / Love Makes a Family / National Association of Social Workers (CT) / People of Faith CT / Permanent Commission on the Status of Women / Planned Parenthood of Connecticut / National Association for Multicultural Education, Connecticut Chapter / National Gay & Lesbian Task Force / Rainbow Center, UConn / True Colors Sexual Minority Youth and Family Services of Manchester / SAGE Center, SCSU / TransAdvocacy Coalition / Hartford Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays
If you are interested in our work and would like more information on how you or your organization can fight for equality for all Connecticut citizens, please contact Sally Tamarkin. |
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