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Saturday February 10, 1906
Greensboro, North Carolina - Mother Jones Interviewed, Tells of Children in the Mills

The following is an interview with Mother Jones which was published in the February 8th edition of the Greensboro Daily Industrial News:

NO STRIKE COMING SAYS MOTHER JONES
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Noted Socialist Thinks General Uprising
Will Be Avoided by Both Sides.
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SPEAKS OF CHILD LABOR AND
ECONOMIC CONDITIONS
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Amusing Anecdotes Related By Her Show Her Fearlessness and
Sense of Humor as Well as Her Lack of "Respect of Persons."
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Mother Jones leading the March of the Mill Children, 1903
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In Sunday's paper:

The Boston Globe editorial board called out "irrational objections" to a Massachusetts bill that would provide non-discrimination protections for transgender people, debunking the right-wing myth that these protections would endanger women and children.

--Media Matters

The bill is H1577/S735. Speaker Robert deLeo is polling members of the House to see if the bill has enough support to override a potential veto by Gov. Charlie Baker.

What I’m starting to do is to do polling and see where the members stand, but I also have to be concerned that the governor’s going to veto it: Do we have enough to override the veto? So that’s the quandary. Although the governor hasn’t said one way or the other, I have to be prepared in case he does it.

--deLeo

The New England Patriots, Boston Bruins, Boston Celtics, and New England Revolution have all announced their support of legislation that would guarantee protections for transgender people in public accommodations in Massachusetts.

The Boston Red Sox announced their support in November.

I think that having not only New England’s most prominent cultural institutions, but also frankly the most iconic public accommodations that come with that — Fenway Park, TD Garden — really sends the message.

This issue has become mainstream and widely accepted.

--Kasey Suffredini, Freedom Massachusetts

They are debating our rights again in Massachusetts. I hate when that happens. It always makes me feel so scummy.

The legislators are discussing H. 1577 and S. 735 which would increase the scope of the current anti-discrimination laws to protect transgender people in public places.

Currently it is illegal to refuse to hire someone who is transgender but totally legal to refuse to provide service to that same person.

Massachusetts lawmakers in 2011 passed a law adding transgender individuals to the list of protected classes from employment or housing discrimination, but stopped short of including public accommodations protections. Other states — 17 in total — have passed similar laws offering such expanded protections.

More than 50 businesses, including Google, Harvard Pilgrim Health, and Eastern Bank, as well as the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, the Massachusetts Hospital Association, and the YWCA of Boston have thrown their support behind a bill aimed at protecting transgender people from discrimination in public accommodations.

On the opposing side are Governor Charlie Baker and the Massachusetts Family Institute.

In 2011 the Massachusetts legislature passed a bill protecting transgender people from discimination in housing, employment, and credit and added gender identity to the state's hate crimes law.

Though hailed at the time as a "major victory," it was not a total success.

The bill did not include language to protect transgender people in public accommodations, which advocates had sought. They will continue to fight to expand transgender protections to include public accommodations, such as hotels, restaurants, and clubs, she said. Opponents had decried those proposals as “the bathroom bill,’’ arguing that they would enable biological men to demand access to women’s restrooms and locker rooms.

Anti-discrimination protection in public accommodations was just perceived as going a bridge too far.