For a long time now, Jay Gonzalez has been a strong ally of the LGBTQ community. He has been committed to supporting the new law to protect transgender rights. Republican Charlie Baker signed the law behind closed doors, and then went and raised money for Rep. Lyons, the Republican who leads the effort to repeal the law.
Now I see a headline that Charlie Baker has decided to follow Jay’s lead.
“Governor Baker has come a long way on this issue, and like many people, decided it was important to pass and support this law after having had the chance to meet and get to know transgender people,” said Kasey Suffredini, campaign cochair of Freedom for All Massachusetts, which is pushing for a yes vote on Question 3. (…snip…)
It was Baker who signed into law the transgender antidiscrimination measure that would now be repealed if the ballot question is defeated. But the law was politically problematic for him from the start, since he had objected to it in an earliest form when he ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2010.
I’m happy that Massachusetts now has one more person voting Yes on 3. Similarly, I’m happy that Baker realized the Confederate flag was a symbol of treason in defense of slavery, even if he had to be shamed into thinking about it. If fear makes Charlie Baker do the right thing and go against his conservative principles, that’s fine. But I want Jay Gonzalez to win because I want a governor who is proud of the movement to protect equality and freedom for all, and will support it from the start.
That’s who Massachusetts deserves–a leader. Not a man who has to be shamed into doing the right thing.
The only thing Charlie is running scared from is Jay cracking 40%. A Gonzalez win would be an even bigger upset than Trump beating Clinton at this point. Possible, but certainly not probable. I’ll vote for him, I’m sending my money to winnable Senate and House races though.