Posted on 03/16/2007 8:28:59 AM PDT by Princip. Conservative
MONTPELIER — A bill that would prohibit discrimination against people based on their gender identity or expression won preliminary approval in the Senate on Thursday and the governor said he was likely to sign it if it reached him.
That's despite Gov. Jim Douglas' veto of a similar bill last year because he believed it could cause some unintended consequences, such as a man trying to enter a woman's locker room for nefarious reasons and then defending himself by claiming he was identifying himself as a woman.
Additional provisions were added to the bill to avoid those concerns and Douglas said he was satisfied and expected to be able to support the legislation if it wins Senate approval and then moves through the House.
The Human Rights Commission, legislators and advocacy groups worked together to develop language that would protect transsexuals and transgender people without opening potential loopholes, Douglas said.
Douglas said he "wanted to be sure it met the objective of prohibiting discrimination without being too broadly worded. ... I believe it's in a format that I would find acceptable."
Ultimately, said Sen. John Campbell, D-Windsor, the bill was intended merely to protect a class of people who are discriminated against too often.
"This bill has nothing — absolutely nothing — to do with morality and everything to do with understanding and compassion," Campbell said.
The bill won preliminary Senate approval 26-0 and is likely to come up for final consideration as early as Friday. The House has committed to taking up the bill later in the session.
The "Peoples Republic of San Francisco" has now officially been equaled by the "Peoples Republic of Vermont"
This from a state that has some of the most lenient child abuse laws in the country, if not the world.
My dog seems to have a few gender identity confusions so I hope someone comes along and passes a law banning owners of pets with gender identity issues discrimination.
What the hell is "gender identity or expression"?
"The "Peoples Republic of San Francisco" has now officially been equaled by the "Peoples Republic of Vermont""
Agreed. Vermont has become a real weird-ville.
"What the hell is "gender identity or expression"?"
It means that we decent citizens mustn't get mad at a woman dressed and acting like a man or a man dressed and acting like a woman. I mean, that would be so mean of us????
Total fruitcake stuff.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
So in Vermont, men can use the women's bathrooms?
Creating another specially privileged victim group that can whine and complain over nothing and get innocent people fired.
"Man" "Woman" "Shim"
Wasn't this proposed for NYC and they found so many unintended consequences that it got nixed?
It means that whether you are male or female is no longer a physical determination., rather, you get to choose your own sex
"So in Vermont, men can use the women's bathrooms?"
Yeah and I guess lockerooms, too! Sounds like some real abusable stuff. But that's the way of the fruity liberals, my friend.
Does this mean that when someone robs a bank, we will no longer be told of the gender of the person that did? Just a person with brown eyes and 6 foot tall. Go find it.
Vermont is now officially a part of Marin County, these folks are nuts.
What happens when a employers hires "Bob" on Monday and "bobina" comes to work on Tuesday?
This bill says that to fire them would be discrimination.
You learn something new every day. I'll give you a practical application. You're at a ballgame and the line for the ladies' room is out the door. A quick gender identity switch , and you're in and out of the men's room before you know it. You laugh to yourself as you stroll past those unenlightened women who think they have to remain female just because you were born that way.
"But... but officer, I'm a lesbian locked in a man's body!"
You are so right, and I've actually done that! A few years ago, while driving back from Maine, I stopped at a gas station to fill up and use the ladies' room, and the line for the ladies room (single seat) was at least a dozen women with small children, while the mens' room right beside it was empty (also a single seat) with, of course, no line. So I nipped into the mens' room, and when I got out there were about six women lined up in front of it. I didn't realize it was a gender identity thing, and I never for a moment thought I wasn't a woman; I regarded it as a practical approach to the prevailing circumstances. Heh!
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