Gay.com – Christopher Curtis, PlanetOut Network
Vermont Gov. James Douglas on Wednesday vetoed a bill that would have added “gender identity or expression” to the state’s nondiscrimination law.
The anti-discrimination bill was first introduced four years ago by Rep. Bill Lippert, D-Hinesburg, and added gender-identity protections for employment, housing and public accommodations. Vermont’s hate-crimes law already includes gender-identity language.
Vermont’s House passed the bill March 1. The Senate passed it May 3; a final 88-47 vote of concurrence between both chambers took place two days later.
“Organizers in Vermont were successful in building support for the bill in both houses of the Legislature, and had a strong ally in Representative Lippert,” said Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality.
“It is unfortunate that Gov. Douglas chose to deny much-needed protections to transgender and gender-nonconforming people in Vermont,” Keisling said.
“We are very disappointed in Gov. Douglas’s decision,” said Christopher Kaufman, executive director of the R.U.1.2? Community Center in Burlington. “This bill would have made a huge difference in the lives of transgender and gender-nonconforming Vermonters in terms of the basic necessities — access to jobs, housing and services.”