(USA) - When Massachusetts passed its Gay rights bill in 1989 the issue of transgender rights was not on the radar screen of most Gay and Lesbian advocates. In the last few years a handful of states -- Maine, New Mexico, Illinois, Washington, Iowa, Oregon and Colorado -- have passed non-discrimination laws covering both sexual orientation and gender identity. But most of the states that passed Gay rights bills in the 1980s and early 1990s, like Massachusetts, have not updated their laws to include protections for transgender people. In fact, only four states -- Rhode Island, California, New Jersey and Vermont -- have accomplished that goal. And many of the factors that made victory possible are not present in Massachusetts.
