State Senate Considering Safeguard For Gays

Massachusetts may become the second state to ratify a bill protecting homosexuals against discrimination.

The bill would change the state's existing statute by adding "sexual preference to race, color, and creed as illegal bases of discrimination.

The state House of Representatives approved the bill a week ago in an 81-6 vote.

"Without the passage of this bill," said Massachusetts Gay Political Caucus lobbyist Arlina Isaacson last week, "the gay community has no protection against being refused housing, credit, or employment simply because they are gay."

Opinions varied on how the bill will be received in the State Senate. "It's going to be a battle over there," said Isaacson.

Rep. Michael F. Flaherty (D-Boston), who led the floor debate against the bill in the House, said last week that "the Senate is more liberal, and more inclined to pass the bill if a vote is taken."

The bill is currently on the Senate calendar and observers said the body may vote on it sometime next week. A decade of effort preceded the bill's passage by the house. "At least once a year such a bill was introduced, and each year it was defeated," Rep. Thomas J. Vallely (D.-Boston), chief sponsor of the bill, said last week.

The difference in this year's outcome, according to Isaacson, was the presence of a full-time lobbyist hired by the caucus.

"The main problem I encountered in working for the bill was in educating the public--overcoming people's stereotypes and fears about the gay population," she said.

"Voting for this bill does not mean you approve of homosexuality; it just means you are against discrimination towards anyone," Isaacson explained. "This is not a question of morality or religion, but of human civil rights."

Flaherty said that the wording of the bill is inadequate. "Sexual preference is not clearly defined," he explained. "Such nonspecific wording, if passed as a law, would protect those with records of sexual misconduct, molestation, harassment, fetishes, and other sicknesses, all under the umbrella term of 'sexual preference.'"

Number Two

If the bill passes the Senate and is signed by Gov. Michael S. Dukakis, Massachusetts would join Wisconsin as the only two states with such a law. According to the National Gay Task Force, New York, California, and Michigan are considering similar bills.