In Washington, they just rammed through ObamaCare illegitimately using “reconciliation”, ignoring the Senate’s 41 opposition votes. In Massachusetts, they attach controversial bills as budget amendments so they can sneak them through when legislators and voters aren’t watching carefully. That way, they can’t be repealed. (That is how they sneaked through the Commission on Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Youth in 2007, making it repeal-proof.)
We suspected this tactic might be the fall-back for the radical Transgender Rights and Hate Crimes Bill, H1728. Sure enough, that fear is confirmed at MassPoliticsBlog:
Rep. Joseph R. Driscoll of Braintree and Rep. Jason M. Lewis of Winchester have submitted an amendment to the budget to add the controversial ‘Transgender Rights‘ (H1728/S1687) Bill to the House Budget.
The amendment is written in an abbreviated form to make it less conspicuous, and the amendment proposes that the language be added as section 20, in a large budget bill, with 51 sections. One troubling aspect is that Rep. Driscoll is on the House Ways and Means Committee and in a good position to sneak the language in, and hopefully have it not be noticed by the majority of legislators when they vote on the full budget bill.
The Transgender Rights bill would change many sections of Massachusetts law designed to protect people from sexual or racial discrimination, adding the transgendered as a protected class. Among its critics the bill is called the “Bathroom Bill” because it would allow men who self identify as women to use women’s bathrooms.
Whatever your position on the bill, this is a clear attempt to circumvent the legislative process, and to avoid public debate of a controversial issue. [emphasis added]
"Trans rights" supporters parade in Northampton, 2008:
For a glimpse of the bizarre public behaviors this bill would legitimize, see our reports on the cross-dresser invasion of a Peabody restaurant, the Trans Pride parade in Northampton, and our video of huge men using the women’s restroom at the Peabody Marriott.
Body mutilation on parade in Northampton, 2008: