Swampscott, MA Passes Public Setting Nondiscrimination Protections for Gender Identity

March 3, 2015

Swampscot, MA has joined the movement led by towns and cities across the country to protect people from discrimination based on gender identity. 

Carly Burton, interim co-executive director of Federation member MassEquality, released the following statement in response to the decision.

“We’re proud to have Swampscott as the 12th jurisdiction in the Commonwealth to approve a policy that provides protections in public settings based on gender identity. Thank you to the Swampscott Board of Selectmen, transgender visitors and residents will be safe and protected. A big thanks goes out to the Anti-Defamation League of New England for taking on a leadership role in helping this policy come to pass. This revision of the town policy is another bold step towards progress and we look forward to working with Swampscott on its implementation.”

Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, Northampton, Salem, Amherst, Brookline, Medford, Melrose, Worcester, and Newton have previously passed similar policies.

Equality Federation congratulates the many advocates in Massachusetts including those at Mass Equality and the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition for this victory!

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