Just weeks after it was signed by Gov. Charlie Baker, opponents of the state's new transgender accommodations law are mounting an attempt to repeal it.
Activists lead by the Massachusetts Family Institute have begun collecting the signatures required to put a question on the ballot in 2018 to reverse the new law that grants legal protections to transgender people using public spaces like bathrooms and locker rooms.
Republican Rep. Jim Lyons opposed the bill before it passed and says Democrats pushing for it weren't honest about the challenge to privacy rights for those offended by transgender people using the facilities that match their gender identity.
"Ask the question: Do you think this is in the best interests of the privacy rights and protections of our children?" Lyons told WGBH News. "That's the question and let's see what the public says. If the public knows that and they take the action and they support this, well that's fine."
But Mason Dunn, executive director of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition, says voters will be on the law's side.
"A majority of Massachusetts residents supports the rights of transgender people to access public spaces, and so this repeal effort represents a very small fringe minority," Dunn said.
Massachusetts Family Institute President Andrew Beckwith is heading up the effort and says he's seen a surge in interest about the bill from concerned parents as the issue of transgender access to bathrooms and locker rooms gains notice nationally.
"Over the next 75-odd days, we're going to be working hard to collect those 32,000 signatures to get the 'bathroom bill' on the ballot in November of 2018 and then continue to educate and mobilize the activists to get that job done," Beckwith said.
There are several approvals and other legal hurdles before a recall petition can appear on the ballot, but supporters expect to meet the criteria.
