by Donald Eng
HARTFORD, CT – Residents in long-term care facilities may get more protection from discrimination under a bill that passed the state House of Representatives Thursday.
House Bill 6913, An Act Concerning LGBTQ+ Discrimination in Long-Term Care Facilities, cleared the state House of Representatives in amended form by a 124-19 vote after three hours of debate and a lengthy pause for “language modification.”
“In these residential facilities, the LGBTQ members and members that are HIV positive … should be treated with respect and have the dignity they deserve,” said state Rep. M.J. Shannon, D-Milford.
The bill specified numerous prohibited acts of discrimination, including refusal of admission, refusing to assign a room to transgender residents not in keeping with the resident’s gender identity, and harassing residents using or seeking to use a restroom available to other people of the same gender identity, among other requirements.
Shannon also, in response to a question from state Rep. Mitch Bolinsky, R-Newtown, clarified that the protections in the bill covered all sexual orientations.
“We are trying to prevent any disrespect or … lack of dignity for all residents,” he said. “So it is based on all sexual orientations, gender identity or expression, so that does include lesbian, gay, bi and straight and transgender.”
Further debate clarified the difference between someone’s sex (assigned at birth) and gender identity (how a person chooses to identify themselves) and gender expression (a person’s gender-related identity, appearance or behavior).
State Rep. Gale Mastrofrancesco, R-Wolcott, pointed out the LGBTQ+ community already is a protected class under state statute.
“So what this bill is doing is protecting the protected class,” she said. She described that as “really, really concerning to me.”
After hours of debate, the House passed the bill temporarily, a procedure used to suspend debate for various reasons, including awaiting an amendment or simply to curtail debate that has gone on too long.
The House later took up the bill in revised form, which state Rep. Steven Stafstrom, D-Bridgeport, summarized.
“I think most of us in this chamber would agree on some common facts, and that is that we don’t want anybody in these long-term care facilities … discriminating against anyone,” he said. “But … we intentionally want to make clear that we do not want discrimination against anyone on the basis of their gender identity or expression, their sexual orientation or their status as someone living with HIV virus.”
Stafstrom said the amendment streamlined the bill, making it clear that no one should be discriminated against “because of their race, their sex, their perceived or actual gender identity or expression, their sexual orientation, their marital status, their age, their national origin, ancestry, intellectual or mental disability, learning disability, physical disability, status as a veteran, status as a victim of domestic violence, or HIV.”
While some portions of the original bill remained, including training requirements, Stafstrom said, the amended bill achieved the original goals “hopefully, in a more neutral fashion, that provides protection for every resident of our state who is a member of a protected class.”
The brief debate that followed centered on a question from state Rep. Mark Anderson, R-Granby, who asked for clarification on which facilities it would cover. He said the Department of Public Health website lists several Catholic facilities.
“So I want to know, does this apply even to religious-based long-term care facilities?” he said.
Stafstrom confirmed it did.
“Even religious-based long-term care facilities should not be discriminating against someone based on their race, their creed, their marital status, their age, sexual orientation, etc.,” he said.