BOSTON — Republican Gov. Charlie Baker signed a bill into law Friday guaranteeing that transgender people can use restrooms and locker rooms that correspond with their gender identities. Baker said no one should be discriminated against in Massachusetts because of their identity. Massachusetts becomes the first state this year to enact such a transgender rights bill.
Baker said the new law also includes language to address public safety concerns that were raised by critics of the measure.
The law instructs the state attorney general to advise law enforcement on how to deal with anyone who claims gender identity for an “improper purpose.” It also requires the Commission Against Discrimination to create guidelines to help businesses comply with the law.
The Democrat-controlled House and Senate both easily approved a final version of the bill Thursday.
In signing the bill, Baker came full circle from his previous opposition to the proposal, which he derided as the “bathroom bill” during his unsuccessful 2010 campaign against then- Gov. Deval Patrick, a Democrat.
He said the shift in position grew out of numerous discussions in the intervening years.
“A lot of dialogue and a lot of conversations with a lot of people on both sides of the issue,” Baker told reporters at the Statehouse. “I’ve been talking about it with people for four or five years now.”