Equality Legislation Across the Country

Since our country’s inception, the struggle to make the phrase “all men are created equal” a reality for every American has been ever-present. Today, unmarried couples, same-sex couples, and people who fall outside the “traditional” definition of marriage are finding that struggle to be particularly difficult. In the 2008 election year alone, three states – California, Arizona, and Florida – were successful in passing discriminatory laws to ban same-sex unions, unmarried adoption rights, and the provision of benefits for unmarried couples. 

Many of our YEOs, however, are working to pass legislation that will help to put an end to this cycle of discrimination. Across the country, young elected officials are endeavoring to bring about laws and policies that bring about fairness and equality for all people, of all walks of life.

State Representative David Zuckerman is co-sponsoring legislation that will legalize gay marriage in Vermont, a widely-supported bill. Speaking about his conservative colleagues, Rep. Zuckerman said, “Some of them don't want to offend their constituents by signing onto the bill, but they recognize this is a civil rights issue and that gay and lesbian Vermonters are their constituents, too." Read more.

State Representative Mark Ferrandino is sponsoring legislation that will consolidate rights already in state law, such as estate planning tools and legal benefits, and extend them to unmarried couples. Any two unmarried people can now designate each other as legal beneficiaries and decision-makers in times of crisis. Additionally, he is introducing legislation that will extend health care benefits to same-sex partners of Colorado state workers. Read more.

Despite new and more conservative leadership in the Texas legislature, State Representative Marc Veasey and State Representative Mike Villareal recently introduced two key equality bills. Rep. Veasey’s bill would establish a commission to study the effectiveness of the James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Act, and Rep. Villareal’s nondiscrimination bill would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing, public accommodations, and other areas. Read more.

State Senator Mee Moua is a co-sponsor of the Marriage and Family Protection Act, introduced earlier this year in the Minnesota State Senate. The bill makes statutes regarding marriage gender neutral and open the door for same-sex marriage. Read more.

A civil unions bill drafted by the Family Equality Coalition – Hawaii was introduced in the Hawaii State Legislature by State Representative Blake Oshiro in January, and passed the state’s House of Representatives in February by a vote of 33-17. Rep. Oshiro also wants to create a task force or commission to review whether civil unions brought equality to other states and to clear up any misunderstanding of the process. Read more here and here.

State Representative Carl Sciortino recently introduced legislation that will make the protection of transgender people “explicit, uniform, and visible to the general public.”  The bill, which has 21 Senate and 83 House co-sponsors of the transgender rights bill, will also add gender identity and expression to the state's non-discrimination statute and will amend existing hate crime laws to explicitly protect people targeted for violence and harassment. Additionally, he has advocated for a new policy on gender markers that will be instated by the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles. The new policy allows a person to change their gender marker on their driver’s license or state ID by filling out an updated application along with a Gender Designation Change form. The form must be signed by the applicant and a medical provider "attesting to the gender that individual considers himself or herself to be." Read more.

City Councilman Ezra Temko has spearheaded efforts to extend health-care benefits to same-sex partners of Newark, Del. city workers, as well as other LGBT legislation, including a bill to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in the City Council. Read more here and here.

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