Introducing SB449

January 29, 2012 – Annapolis  Senators Madaleno and Raskin introduced the Fairness for All Marylanders Act of 2013 today. Twenty one (21) of their colleagues signed onto Senate Bill 449 as co-sponsors to this important bill that stands for the notion that every single person in our state deserves an equal opportunity to make a life for themselves, free from discrimination.

Every person in our state deserves an equal opportunity to make a life for him or herself free from discrimination regardless of their gender identity or expression.

In Maryland, transgender people are not included in state laws prohibiting discrimination. Only Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Howard  County and Montgomery County have  civil rights ordinances covering gender identity and expression. When unchecked, discrimination can lead to chronic unemployment and homelessness, and in turn can render its victims more vulnerable to violence. When discrimination prevents or hinders a person from gaining or keeping employment, many other problems develop. Rent doesn’t get paid, which leads to eviction. Transgender individuals may be denied access to social services like shelters or rape crisis centers; refused treatment, ridiculed, or denied recognition of their gender identity by health care professionals; or refused service at restaurants or stores.


The  National Transgender Discrimination Survey found alarming rates of discrimination experienced by Marylanders based on their gender identity or expression. In the workplace 18% had lost a job and 42% had experienced an adverse job action.  In housing 17% reported being denied a home or apartment. In places of public accommodation, 54% of transgender Marylanders reported being harassed  (in places  such as restaurants ,stores and movie theaters).

Sixteen states and more than 145 cities and counties have laws that protect transgender individuals, including: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington, as well as the District of Columbia. The total number of people now living in a jurisdiction with a transgender-inclusive anti-discrimination law in the United States is more than 120 million.

57% of Fortune 500 companies include protections for transgender employees in their non-discrimination policies. Maryland companies that have a non-discrimination policy that covers gender identity include Goucher College, the John Hopkins University, Marriott, Sodexho Inc. and the University of Baltimore.

This legislation would prohibit discrimination in the areas of employment, housing, credit and public accommodations.


Similar bills in other states have passed by large margins. According to a Gonzales poll taken in August 2006, more than half of Maryland voters favor making it illegal in Maryland to discriminate against transgender people.

Maryland Needs to Act Now

Nondiscrimination laws are established to mitigate the excessive hardship and suffering segments of our society experience. These hardships are frequent in the transgender community. In the words of Vice President Biden, transgender discrimination is “the civil rights issue of our time” . There is opposition to providing anti-discrimination protection to transgender individuals because of misconceptions about gender and gender non-conformity, and over safety concerns in sex segregated spaces.  Because of prevalent and systemic discrimination, Transgender and gender non-forming Marylanders have solid basis for why statewide protections in areas of employment, housing and public accommodations are required and should be codified into state law.

A recent survey of 6400 transgender Americans conducted by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in conjunction with the National Center of Transgender Equality, found that sixty-three percent (63%) of their participants “experienced a serious act of discrimination—events that would have a major impact on a person’s quality of life and ability to sustain themselves financially or emotionally”. Additionally that forty-one percent (41%) had attempted suicide and that number rises to sixty percent (60%) as the frequency of those serious acts of discrimination increase. Currently sixteen states, the District of Columbia and over 100 municipalities provide for protections to transgender individuals representing forty-five percent (45%) of the country. In the state of Maryland, four jurisdictions, Baltimore City, Montgomery County, Howard County and Baltimore County established laws to provide protections for transgender individuals. These jurisdictions represent forty-seven percent (47%) of the state’s population. Of the one hundred and thirty-two (132) respondents from Maryland in the report, seventy-one percent (71%) reported experiencing harassment or mistreatment on the job; eighteen percent (18%) lost a job; eighteen percent (18%) were denied a promotion; thirty-five percent (35%) were not hired; and forty-two percent (42%) experienced an adverse job action, such as being fired, not hired, or denied a promotion. Additionally twelve percent (12%) of respondents had a household income of $10,000 or less, compared to four percent (4%) of the general population.

These clear, persistent and overwhelming examples of discrimination against transgender Marylanders deny them equal access to the same Lockean principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness that other Marylanders receive. These inequities are based in the inequities found by the United States Court of Appealsfor the Eleventh Circuit’s decision in Glenn v. Brumby, that of gender non-conformity. Vandy Beth Glenn, a transsexual woman was fired from her job at the Georgia legislature after she announced she would be undergoing gender transition. The Eleventh Circuit overturned a lower court ruling, and in doing so stated Glenn’s gender non-conformity was the basis of her dismissal, and that such gender non-conformity is in fact sex stereotyping as supported by existing case law. Glenn v. Brumby references Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the law for the entire county, when making its reasoning on overturning the lower court decision.

Our Fourteenth Amendment gives us the Equal Protection Clause wherein “no State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws”. In Macy v Holder, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission handed down a ruling in favor of Mia Macy, a transsexual woman denied a position the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives after disclosure in a background check showed Ms. Macy was transitioning from male to female. Prior to the discovery, she had been promised the position over the phone, pending the background check. The EEOC stated “[T]he Commission hereby clarifies that claims of discrimination based on transgender status, also referred to as claims of discrimination based on gender identity, are cognizable under Title VII’s sex discrimination prohibition….”

The non-establishment of codified protections in the State of Maryland for individuals based on their gender identity and/ or expression will leave some Marylanders without full and equal protection which are afforded all other Marylanders. This sets up conflict with the Equal Protection Clause and non-compliance with the EEOC ruling providing protections to government workers and federal contractors. The scope of the EEOC is limited and not binding in state court. It is also an administrative ruling and as such subject to change. Protections happen when law is supported by court decisions or court decision precipitate new laws. In Maryland, it is time for some rain to fall.

Opponents to codifying protections into law have stated as their primary claims, two ideas. The first is gender is not changeable and thereby one’s birth sex is constant and that such laws will open sex segregated spaces up to predators and cause increases in rapes and assaults by men against women. On the first account, much of this argument is theoretical and outside the scope of this discussion. However, Maryland’s MVA, an executive branch administration, provides a pathway for transgender Marylanders to correct their gender marker on state issued identification consistent with ones gender identity. Additionally, Maryland courts provide for legal name changes and birth certificates to be amended. It is clear the state of Maryland already recognizes the gender in-congruence many of its residents face and is responsive to their needs. Yet, civil rights are not based on scientific validation of a protected class’ qualification for entry into that protected class. No DNA test is used to determine one’s ethnicity for example. There are no litmus tests to determine one’s creed. The perceived qualification of the object of discrimination, by the perpetrator of the discrimination, is what is of concern.

In the second claim, as the Glenn and Macy cases have determined, perception of non-conformity to a sex stereotype is sufficient. In Maryland the first jurisdiction to pass protections for transgender residents was Baltimore City in 2002 . There was no opposition as this City ordinance passed without any attention from opponents. However, by the time Montgomery County passed a bill to provide protections in 2009, opposition had formed and their narrative had been developed.  The claim presented by opponents to gender identity protections in Maryland, state that men will be allowed in the lockers and restrooms with women. Furthermore that such encounter will produce increases in sexual assaults. Dr. Jacob claims assaults by strangers in bath rooms will rise.

According to the US Bureau of Justice statistics the percent of sexual assault committed by a stranger was twenty-six (26%). In 2010 the total reported cases of rape/sexual assault were 188,380. This means approximately 49,000 sexual assaults were the sort which Dr. Jacobs claims. However, remembering back to the statistics in reference to how much of the country is currently covered by laws protections people based on gender identity, only forty-five percent (45%) of the county is covered. So Dr. Jacob’s claim could only have weight on approximately 22,000 of these reported cases.

Statistics suggest that with approximately 22,000 sexual assaults potentially happening in 45% of the country where gender identity laws exist; there will be examples of assaults specifically attributed to a loop hole or flaw in such bills. To date, no cases can be cited. If there was just a one-tenth of one percent spike because the claim might be true, we could find 22 cases per year. These laws have been on the books since 1975 . The lack of verifiable evidence and no strong argument for making claims that gender identity laws will threaten the security of women and girls in sex segregated spaces demands we reject this false claim as the logical fallacy it is.

With overwhelming and verifiable discrimination, and lack of real and verifiable claims of harm resulting in codifying critical protections into law, transgender and gender non-conforming Marylanders have solid basis for why statewide protections in areas of employment, housing and public accommodations are required and should be codified into state law. There is nothing symbolic about doing that. The time is now.

Maryland Coalition for Trans Equality

Contact: Carrie Evans,

443-514‐4999,

carrie@equalitymaryland.org

Donna Cartwright,

201-328‐6175,

donna@mdtransequality.org

19 Organizations Come Together to Pursue Trans Equality in Maryland

January 2, 2013

Maryland — Nineteen local, state and national organizations have joined with individual activists to form the Maryland Coalition for Trans* Equality, in the most broadly based effort the state has ever seen for trans* rights. The formation of the coalition represents the fruition of a year of intensive outreach, organizing, listening and discussion.

MCTE’s mission is to advance equal rights for transgender, transsexual, and gender non-conforming (trans*) people in Maryland through shared leadership, collaborative decision making processes, and resources.

Over the spring and summer of 2012 MCTE held several listening sessions across the state. Through these sessions MCTE asked community members to share their vision of progress for trans people in the state.  Attendees articulated a clear demand for a broader coalition to do this work. Acting on that Directive MCTE has brought together numerous organizations working for equality and justice in Maryland.

“Equality Maryland embraces doing this vital work in a coalition that has trans individuals at the center of decision making. We witnessed the power of a coalition winning and preserving marriage equality and we are confident this model will succeed for trans equality,” comments Equality Maryland’s Executive Director, Carrie Evans.

“For too long trans people of color, who disproportionately experience discrimination and harassment, have been on the sidelines of the trans equality movement. With our inclusion in MCTE the needs of trans people of color will be recognized, heard and addressed,” comments Vann Michael Millhouse, Community Board of Directors, MD/DC State Representative, Black Transmen, Inc.

Linda Mahoney, President of Maryland NOW affirms, “The National Organization for Women is committed to fighting discrimination in all of its forms. This included discrimination based on gender identity and expression. Our alliance with MCTE is one way we will continue to work to ensure transgender people in Maryland can live their lives with dignity and security.”

Donna Cartwright, Secretary of the Baltimore Washington Chapter of Pride @ Work said, “Pride @ Work has worked for many years in Maryland to achieve trans equality and we are happy to work with all of these organizations to achieve legal equality for trans Marylanders.”

Coalition Members

(as of 01.01.13)

ACLU of Maryland

Baltimore Black Pride

Black Trans Men

CASA de Maryland
Coalitions in Action for Transgender Community Health (CATCH) 
Equality Maryland

FreeState Legal Project

Gender Empowerment Maryland (GEM)

Hollaback Baltimore

Human Rights Campaign

Maryland Black Family Alliance

Maryland NOW (National Organization for Women)

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

PFLAG

Pride  At Work, Baltimore-Washington Chapter

Trans People of Color Coalition (TPOCC)

SEIU 500

SEIU 1199

Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of Maryland

Baltimore Transgender Day of Remembrance

For Immediate Release

PLEASE CIRCULATE

Contact: Jenna Fischetti, 410-863-8001, Jenna.Fischetti@GMail.com

www.transmaryland.org

BALTIMORE TO HOLD A TRANSGENDER DAY OF REMEMBRANCE

Press Conference with the Mayor of Baltimore, Monday November 19, 10:00a.m., City Hall

Community Service, Vigil on Tuesday, November 20, 6:30p.m., First Unitarian Church, Baltimore

Each November 20, the worldwide transgender community turns its attention to its family, friends and loved ones lost to violence and prejudice. A tradition inspired by the vigil for slain transsexual Rita Hester in 1998, this day has become the worldwide rallying point for a community long under siege.

In Baltimore, folks will gather in the First Unitarian Church of Baltimore 12 W. Franklin downtown for a service, which begins at 6:30 pm and concludes with a reading of the name of those lost and a candle light vigil.

 For more details, please visit https://sites.google.com/site/tdorbaltimore/.

Maryland’s Transgender and LGB communities extends a warm welcome to all who would like to attend this important event to memorialize our dead and underscore the serious suffering in our communities. No persons should be subjected to violence simply because of their gender identity or expression. No persons should be denied the basic rights that enable their safety and security. No one should consider taking their own life to escape harassment and bullying. Please join with us on this day to remember those who are gone, whatever the cause of their departure.

Event Background:

The Transgender Day of Remembrance was set aside to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. The event is held in November to honor Rita Hester, whose murder on November 28th, 1998 kicked off the “Remembering Our Dead” web project and a San Francisco candlelight vigil in 1999. Rita Hester’s murder — like most anti-transgender murder cases — has yet to be solved.

Although not every person represented during the Day of Remembrance self-identified as transgender — that is, as a transsexual, or otherwise gender-variant — each was a victim of violence based on bias against transgender people.

Maryland’s transgender community remembers local victims Chrissey Johnson, Tacy Raino Ranta, Carla Natasha Hunt, Venus LaBeija, Stacey Brown,  April Green, Aiden Rivera Schaeff, Tyra Trent, and Tracy Johnson. There have been many more, mostly uncounted and unnoticed by all but their friends and family.

Organized by the all-volunteer Transgender Response Team’s Transgender Day of Remembrance Organizing Committee.

https://sites.google.com/site/tdorbaltimore/

Baltimore Transgender Day of Remembrance 2012

Planning for this year's Baltimore Transgender Day of Remembrance(TDoR) will begin on August 3, 2012 at the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene's Infectious Disease and Environmental Health Administration (IDEHA) offices, 501 N. Calvert Street Baltimore MD from 12:00pm -1:30PM

Stand With Us

New PSA from the Transgender Response Team

The Dallas Principles

The Dallas Montgomery / Howard County Principles

On May 15-17, 2009 in Dallas, Texas twenty-four thinkers, activists, and donors gathered to discuss the immediate need for full equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender people in the United States.  Collectively we prepared The Dallas Principles.

PRINCIPLES

The following eight guiding principles underlie our call to action.  In order to achieve full civil rights now, we avow:

1. Full civil rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals must be enacted now.  Delay and excuses are no longer acceptable.

2. We will not leave any part of our community behind.

3. Separate is never equal.

4. Religious beliefs are not a basis upon which to affirm or deny civil rights.

5. The establishment and guardianship of full civil rights is a non-partisan issue.

6. Individual involvement and grassroots action are paramount to success and must be encouraged.

7. Success is measured by the civil rights we all achieve, not by words, access or money raised.

8. Those who seek our support are expected to commit to these principles.

Who are these “authors”?

You can find out here

Anyone look familiar?

Dr Dana Beyer, Executive Director, Gender Rights Maryland, former Vice President of Equality Maryland, and supporter of last years failed Gender Identity Anti Discrimination Bill, HB 235 which promoted a national fervor due to its lack of public accommodations protections.

Lisa M. Polyak, Acting Chair, Equality Maryland, Inc. Board of Directors promoter of HB 235

HB 235 fortunately never became law.

PRINCIPLES

1. Full civil rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals must be enacted now.  Delay and excuses are no longer acceptable.

Full is defined as complete; entire; maximum. HB 235 was certainly not that. Of course, there were excuses given for the delay.  Such as, “public accommodations needed to be removed for movement through committee”, “All civil rights are incremental”, “We’ll come back for you next year” (even though EQMD imploded immediately after the close of last ssession) etc.

2. We will not leave any part of our community behind.

See HB 235….

3. Separate is never equal.

The notion that “less than full protections now” can create equality must me smashed. It is a falsehood which leads to more members of the transgender community suffering dire consequences. See Transgender Day of Remembrance.

6. Individual involvement and grassroots action are paramount to success and must be encouraged.

The premise that just hiring a lobbyist at $20,000 a month will solve this issue is plain laughable. The entire trans community must work in the field and from the same play book in order to achieve success. The effort must include grassroots activism and personal commitments of the most precious commodity we need, man-hours. The truth is GRMD does not have the assets to do this sort of work, nor do they have the credibility with those who do and have done this level of work. Partnering would be a wise choice. 

7. Success is measured by the civil rights we all achieve, not by words, access or money raised.

See Principle 6

8. Those who seek our support are expected to commit to these principles.

Equality Maryland, Gender Rights Maryland, are both of you willing to check your egos at the door and actively partner with the American American trans community in Baltimore City and Prince George’s county?

Equality Maryland holds biweekly working groups seeking this in Baltimore City. They support the Transgender Working Group, a coaltion of various transgender groups for their stated purpose:

To form a broad coalition of Transgender Marylanders and their allies who are capable of working together by honoring each other’s opinions to find common ground across differences for the purposes of doing collective work that will better the lives of transgender and gender diverse people in Maryland through education, outreach, advocacy and, policy change.

Gender Rights Maryland held one “town hall” in suburban Howard County, a 2 ½ hour bus ride from Baltimore City. An even then, it was more of a “whole life” presentation than a town hall.

All of us want a full bill. On this there is not disagreement. However, there are some who believe a Les Trois Perdants, a sort of con man’s short con, can produce a referendum proof passage for gender identity protections. This approach is not only dangerous; it is not supported by the trans community as evidenced by the reactions at GRMD’s weak sales pitch.

Mark my words; if those of privilege have their way, a Three Bill Monte is coming to a General Assembly near you soon!

What Fills Our Hearts

“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex, but it takes a touch of genius to move in the opposite direction” – Albert Einstein

Here we are again. Our community has endured enough heartache and disappointment, however we are mobilized and unified for success.

In 2002, Then Mayor, Martin O’Malley, introduced and successfully shepherded through the City Council the Baltimore City ordinance which granted protections to all of its citizens and visitors based on their gender identity, and did so unanimously.

 Yes, every human being has a gender identity, and for many people it is in lock step with their physicality, and for some it is not. It’s just that simple.

 Baltimore’s push for such protections was based partly on the later regretted decision of Governor Parris Glendenning to exclude gender identity from the prior year’s anti-discrimination bill.  Governor Glendenning wasn’t the only one expressing regret. Del. Maggie McIntosh (D-43) expressed a similar regret about the 2001 bill after last year’s contested bill failed to convince Senate Leadership to allow its floor vote.

Yet 2002 was different. Mayor O’Malley knew an injustice took place and a remedy was in order. While most attorneys like to craft flowery pieces of legislation, the Mayor knew simplicity should rule the day.

"Gender identity or expression " means an individual 's having or being perceived as having a gender -related self - identity, self-image, appearance, expression, or behavior, whether or not those gender -related characteristics differ from those associated with the individual 's assigned sex at birth.”

In fact, this language is fairly consistent throughout the county where 43% of all Americans live in a jurisdiction which provides protections based on gender identity.  If almost half of the country has these laws on the books, then why not Maryland?

Leadership.

One week before the video of the beating at a Rosedale McDonald’s restaurant went viral, Senate President Mike Miller (D-27) stated HB235 (2011’s Gender Identity Anti-Discrimination bill) was “anti-family” and he was going to vote against it.  Some even suggest the Senate President killed the bill in retaliation for allowing the Senator to go on record with a vote on the Same Sex Marriage bill, only to have that bill fail embarrassingly in the House. It seemed like retribution for political ineptitude.

Governor O’Malley pledged support and stated he would sign a fully inclusive bill like 2010’s HB 1022, if such a bill which crossed his desk. The problem was no bill made it that far, or was so fashioned. So, the Governor in direct response the brutal assault on a member of the transgender community provided this vision and commitment:

“Even with Maryland's 'hate crimes' law, it is clear that more must be done to protect the rights and dignity of transgendered people. In the struggle for justice and equality for all, I'm committed to working with the Maryland General Assembly during the next legislative session to increase awareness and provide even greater protections for transgendered people.
“As some have noted, out of this awful beating has come a moment to foster a deeper understanding and respect for the dignity of all persons. We should not allow the moment to pass without greater action.”

Leadership.

The mouth speaks of what fills the heart.” – Matthew 12:34

We Have a Dream

Please note at writing, the planned dedication service for the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial has been postponed.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.
We cannot walk alone. And as
we walk,
we must make the pledge that
we shall always march ahead.
We cannot turn back. - Martin Luther King Jr. August 28, 1963

The reason Martin Luther King Jr. will always be recorded as one of the greatest civil rights leader is his ability to speak to the truth, build a coalition and most importantly, inspire and lead a people through their struggle. His iconic speech, delivered 48 years ago was a masterful piece of rhetoric. From it’s invoking of the United States Declaration of Independence, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the United States Constitution to the clearly Biblical references and his masterful use of Anaphora, the repetition of a phrase at the beginning of sentences, he draws attention to the wisdom of Lincoln while standing in his shadow.

Dr. King knew our human struggles were linked. The basis of many of our faith directs us to this fact. And for many without such a belief structure, there is the common desire amongst our brethren to care for the needs of each other.

The LGBT Communities are looking for similar leadership. Someone capable of speaking to the truth, build a coalition and most importantly, inspire and lead a people through their struggle. Our struggles are no where near the challenges the African American struggles were and still are in some cases.

The recent charge that gender identity protections harm women has been shown as the intellectual dishonesty that it is. Those offering that mindset a forum, discredited. This “separatist” movement with transphobia at its core is not new. In the mid to late 70s, Sandy Stone a sound engineer at Olivia Records was criticized, verbally attacked and even received death threats from a para-military arm of the feminist movement.

Sue Hyde of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and specifically its Creating Change Conference was a signatory to that letter. She has since condemned her own behavior and asked that the body of her work since then be evidence enough of her change she created.

“Our job is not to get those people who dislike us to love us. Nor was our aim in the civil rights movement to get prejudiced white people to love us. Our aim was to try to create the kind of America, legislatively, morally, and psychologically, such that even though some whites continued to hate us, they could not openly manifest that hate.” -Bayard Rustin, organizer of the 1963 March on Washington

Sue Hyde is in an enviable position. You have an opportunity to Create Real Change. As a respected leader in our community, you can use the lessons you've learned from the past and channel it toward healing, towards unity, towards progress.

Leadership and leadership opportunities only happen every so often. You have found yourself at such a juncture. Time will judge all of us on whether we capture such moments or we choose inaction. You have the wisdom gained from your experience, the respect garnered from your years of dedication since and a captive audience of supporters in the community willing to embrace your vision for moving forward and leaving such harmful transphobic notions in the waste bin of our movement, where they belong.

The greater LGBT communities do not seek to eradicate those who hate us. Nor is our goal to get them to stop hating us. Our goal, like Rustin stated is to Creating Real Change, where legislatively, morally, and psychologically those that hate us can not openly manifest that hate.

I think more of us understand now that you can’t engage hate with reason, even when hate presents itself in the guise of reason.-Allucquere Rosanne "Sandy" Stone

There is no need to reason with people like this:

When someone uses the word "freak" to describe a transgender people, they are seeking to tear away our humanity, to make us less human, which makes us easier to kill. This is what the uses of pejoratives against African Americans also do.  No one who uses that word towards a transgender person should ever sit a table designed to promote trans equality, let alone be invited to the table a scant month after those statements.

"When evil men plot, good men must plan. When evil men burn and bomb, good men must build and bind. When evil men shout ugly words of hatred, good men must commit themselves to the glories of love." - Martin Luther King

WWTGSKWaHD? (What Would Tolstoy, Gandhi, Sakharov, King, Walesa, and Havel Do?)

I dread writing this post. Not because it is laborious, or texting on my personal resources, but because my sensibilities are afflicted by the subject matter.

It is neither my desire nor intent to further inflame an already hot topic. There are plenty willing and so capable of stoking that fire. It is my only desire to offer a consideration, a course of action which may or may not resolve the matter, but it will define us as a community and how others outside the community view us.

On July 1, 2011 the novice Managing Editor of a small Baltimore based LGBT biweekly newsletter granted a public forum to two radical feminist wishing to make the argument that “gender identity” is a concept, and that protections based upon gender identity will promote harm to “women born women”. The Baltimore based broadside followed this up with an additional elevation of hatred on July 29, 2011 in which one of the previous writers expanded her viewpoints on why gender identity protection through hate crime laws is unacceptable. This in direct response to the pending trial of Teonna Brown, the 18 year old woman accused of assaulting a transgender woman at a local McDonalds in April.  It is not the purpose of this commentary to debate these issues. They are receiving enough of that already. Nor is it to challenge the blatant transphobia proffered by the authors’ assertions. Yet this topic has now been advance to the United Nations and has set the debate ablaze.

It is my firm belief that it matters not what befalls our community, however what is of significance is how we, as a community, respond which, in turn will define us.

Above all the transgender community is without question the most misunderstood and maligned minority group in our society. Much of this manifests itself in a state of ignorance, short of enlighten reasoning and latent hatred in respect both gender identity and gender expression. Every human being possesses a gender identity and expresses gender. For most their gender is consistent with the physicality and for some it is not. It is that simple and we are that some.

Tolstoy, Gandhi, Sakharov, King, Walesa, and Havel are mortals which have offered us pathways to non violent actions that have liberated millions. Our deliverance may well follow in these models.

When an individual is protesting society's refusal to acknowledge his dignity as a human being, his very act of protest confers dignity on him. – Bayard Rustin



 Many members of the transgender community have suffered long and enduring abuses to our persons, our dignity and to our loved ones. These hate filled essays are no different than the hate fill spats to the faces, the hate physical assaults with the genitalia of others thrust unto our faces, the hate filled degradation and humiliation of being told we were less than human. One might be considered justified to retaliate in like kind. But it is my firm belief that we lose if we do so. That in my eyes, our only solution is as the organizer of the 1963 March on Washington suggested, protest for dignity confers the very same dignity.

Non violent civil disobedience and direct action have proven to be the most successful tools to authoritarianism whether its from our government or members of the broader coalition communities. including TransTories. How that protest presents itself is for or community to decide. I pray the spirit of nonviolence prevails

For Weddings, Yet a Funeral

On January 28th, 2011, if you were told that the Trans community would be more organized than the LGB community moving forward in the next legislative session, that Marriage and the Gender Identity anti-discrimination bills would both come razor close to passage yet fail and the Equality Maryland (EQMD) would for all intents and purposes, cease to exist, you'd laugh until you dropped.

I don't hear any laughter today.

On January 28^th, 2011, Delegate Joseline Pena-Melnyk introduce in the Maryland House of Delegates House Bill 235, titled Human Relations - Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity – Antidiscrimination. Even the title was ominous. It spoke of a unity and support, which at least from the strategy and board’s positions, did not exist.  Much has been written and rehashed over the last session but the stark fact remains. Equality Maryland will close its doors come June 28^th unless a large infusion of cash materializes.

In April, beleaguered Executive Director Morgan Menesse Sheets was fired and replaced with Interim Director Lynne Bowman. Ms Bowman’s immediate task was to circle the wagons, and assess the damage. EQMD launched a series of Listening Tours.  An examination of the organizations financial house and its database of contributors and supporters revealed as much serious damage to them as there was to their reputation. Finger pointing ensued between the Board and the ousted Ms Menesse Sheets.  In the end, its non grant funded field organizers were laid off and later given the opportunity to be rehired, but only through the end of June at which time only the Office Manager would remain on staff.

The little discussed fact that The Human Rights Campaign’s( HRC) Field Organizer Sultan Shakir had set up shop inside of EQMD’s headquarters as early as 4^th quarter 2010 with the intent of “running the marriage campaign”. His title was in fact, Campaign Manager. Mr Shakir is no stranger to the Maryland LGBT landscape, having served as former Vice President of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center of Baltimore and Central Maryland (GLCCB). HRC and other national organizations like Freedom to Marry (FtM) and The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) also provided resources for the marriage cause.

While they planned weddings, the transgender community planned even one more funeral. Tyra Trent was found without identification and strangled in the basement of an abandoned Baltimore house. An unacceptable statistic is that transgender women accounted for 11% of hate crimes reported and 50% of all murder cases in 2009 as compiled by the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs.

From those EQMD staffers on the street and in the halls of Annapolis there was a desire for gender identity rights first, and marriage second. The board felt otherwise and enlisted the “advocacy coalition” from outside the state to push this. It was this advocacy coalition’s decision to push to recommit the marriage bill when the vote count looked lost. It was their decision to pack up shop on March 12^th, the day after the marriage bill died. But wait; there was still the gender identity bill. No matter. They were not there for that battle. Have they ever been?

The aftermath is an EQMD with substantial financial difficulties and a future which is quite unclear. In a world where just being a 501(c)3 or (c)4 makes you relevant, they sure are non relevant.

In their zest for Marriage, there is yet one more funeral…

Congratulations Nevada

CARSON CITY – Gov. Brian Sandoval has approved Senate Bills 331 and 368 to ban transgender discrimination in public accommodations and housing. Sandoval earlier signed a bill to prohibit discrimination in employment gender identity.

Legislatively, one more state gets it. They understand the need for critical human rights in regard to protecting the members of their transgender community. Too often legislators and even the state's own LGB organizations do not fully understand the immediate need for such protection.  Maryland had its difficulties last legislative session namely due to the lack of transparency and a poorly conceived strategy for success. As a result, its main equal rights organization, Equality Maryland paid a heavy price. Its reputation is severely damaged, half of its staff is no longer affiliated with the group and its Board Chair has resigned in disgrace.

Fortunately, its Transgender Working Group was survived, due to the efforts of Transgender Field Organizer Owen Smith and fellow Field Organizer Damon Hardline.  While their future is uncertain, what is certain is the group continues because it is not a program of EQMD, nor is it dependent on EQMD.  Smith's commitment to the group extends beyond his uncertain employment with the troubled LGB organization.

So if empowering yourself and others to help better the lives of transgender Marylanders is something which you feel is worthy of your time and effort, let us all come together. There is a seat for you and contrary to some part-time bloggers, we do not have to be an incorporated non profit to change the world, at least our state....

Does a group need to an IRS recognized organization to be relevant?

Recently a part-time blogger at a well known LBG blog suggested that a group must be a 501(c)3 or (c)4 in order to exist.






There are numerous groups which are quite relevant in the political universe which are not 501c3 or c4s. The notion that they must be regulated by the Internal Revenue Service is laughable. Ask the DC TransCoalition if they wish to be a c3 or c4? I'm positive their response will be a resounding "Hell No!"

Please take note at the time of Ms Ramseyer's statement and in fact her original post, the organization she was shilling for did not even exist in the eyes of the State of Maryland and was not and is still not an approved "501c3 nor c4" It wasn't even registered with the State of Maryland until May 24, 2011.

Let's review the "political players" in Maryland last legislative session.

Equality Maryland - Pro HB235
Trans Maryland and TransUnited- Pro amending HB235/comprehensive bill
(please note members of The Maryland Transgender Alliance lobbied with TransMaryland and TransUnited against passing a bill without public accommodations.

Status today?

Eqaulity Maryland lost most of its staff including Executive Director Morgan Menese-Sheets and its Board Chair has resigned in disgrace. They are a501c3 and have a Foundation which is a c4. They are in disarray.

TransMaryland and TransUnited welcomed the formation of MTA and encourage others to become involved in the political process. We are still " in business".

What Ms Ramseyer is truly suggesting is, unless you believe in her 'political ideology" you don't exist.

Grassroots exist for a reason. What happened to Equality Maryland should be a cautionary tale to those who wish to run roughshod over others.

We own our Voices.

Statement from Governor Martin O'Malley on Baltimore County Hate Crime Case

Annapolis, MD (May 17, 2011) – Governor Martin O’Malley issued this statement today following the hate crime charge in the beating of Chrissy Lee Polis last month in Rosedale:
“I want to commend Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott D. Shellenberger for using every available means to prosecute the heinous beating of Chrissy Lee Polis last month.
“Even with Maryland's 'hate crimes' law, it is clear that more must be done to protect the rights and dignity of transgendered people. In the struggle for justice and equality for all, I'm committed to working with the Maryland General Assembly during the next legislative session to increase awareness and provide even greater protections for transgendered people.
“As some have noted, out of this awful beating has come a moment to foster a deeper understanding and respect for the dignity of all persons. We should not allow the moment to pass without greater action.”

Founder of Equality Ohio named interim head of EQMD

On Thursday, the Board of Equality Maryland announced they had chosen an interim Executive Director in the wake of the fired of Morgan Menese-Sheets. That chose is Lynne Bowman, recently with the Equality Federation and founder of Equality Ohio. Charles Butler, board chair, said in a statement:

“Ms. Bowman will step in to lead Equality Maryland on an interim basis following the departure of Morgan Meneses-Sheets, who has stepped down as executive director,”

Ms Bowman offered this;

“I absolutely have no desire to make it a permanent thing. I think it benefits the organization to have an interim come in that doesn't have an interest in becoming the full-time executive director.”

“My role at Equality Maryland will be to help stabilize and to move things forward and to prepare the organization for their new executive director,” she added.

Equality Maryland recently suffered two legislative defeats with their Civil Marriage and Gender Identity Anti-Discrimination (GIADA)bills. The Same Sex Marriage bill won passage in the more conservative Maryland Senate, yet faltered in what was to be a victory lap in the House. Consequently, GIADA, opposed by some members of the transgender community, gained release from committee and a favorable vote in the House, only to get stalled in the Senate. While EQMD denied involvement with the drafting of GIADA, its complete support, in light of the lack of public accommodations protections, was criticized by those seeking a full bill.

Throughout the legislative session, EQMD's Facebook page was the subject of great controversy over the deletion of comments from supporters of a full GIADA and even supporters of same sex marriage, including former EQMD board member and past interim ED David Toth.

Ms Bowman has a considerable challenge in cleaning up the image and reputation of EQMD. Unless these measures include a shakeup on the board, expect a Spackle and paint job.

Equality Maryland kicking off Transgender Issues Working Group for 2012

From Equality Maryland's website

 Equality Maryland is fully committed to ending discrimination against all Marylanders on the basis of their gender identity and expression.

The input and perspective of our transgender supporters is absolutely vital for the advancement of transgender issues, legislation (including public accommodations) and education in our community. Please join the Equality Maryland team at our biweekly Transgender Issues Working Group on Wednesday, May 5th in Baltimore at the Equality Maryland offices (1201 S. Sharp Street, Baltimore, MD 21230).

Feel free to invite others that should be included in this ongoing conversation.

Due to the nature of these meetings, we ask you to register ahead of time so we can supply adequate spacing needs and any materials. 

Together, we'll make the Free State a place where all Marylanders can live without fear of discrimination and violence.

If folks cannot attend in person, but are interested in listening in to the conversation please contact Linsey at linsey@equalitymaryland.org.  Folks will need to connect with Linsey to be given call-in information.

Event Location

Equality Maryland Offices1201 S. Sharp Street,
Baltimore, MD 21230

Community rallies around victim of McDonald's attack

Article from the Baltimore Sun

Community rallies around victim of McDonald's attack

From Delegate Pena-Melnyk to her Assembly colleagues --

From: Pena-Melnyk, Joseline Delegate Date: 4/25/2011 1:55:38 PM To: MD House of Delegates;  Senate of Maryland Subject: Attack on Maryland transgender citizen To My Maryland General Assembly Colleagues, I respectfully ask that each of you take the time to view the video at this link, but please be advised that it is disturbing and portrays a horrific hate crime:  http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/04/23/2011-04-23_mcdonalds_beating_video_victim_is_transgender_maryland_attack_is_hate_crime_says.html?r=news Incidents such as this illustrate why the transgender community in Maryland and elsewhere needs to be protected through antidiscrimination legislation.  Supporters of House Bill 235 in this past legislative session recognized this need and stood up for the rights of this community.  While HB235 did not include protection from discrimination in public accommodations due to the intense pressure opponents placed on the bill’s supporters, the bill would have raised public awareness of the issue and paved the way for complete protection for Maryland’s transgender population.  Contrary to statements made by those who should be leading the fight for civil rights in Maryland, this was not an anti-family bill, but a basic civil rights bill.  The failure of this bill goes against Maryland’s long history of being in the forefront of civil rights movements. This attack, which took place in District 8, has been broadcast all over the national news, and the video has gone viral, bringing shame to the State of Maryland for allowing such things to take place.  I challenge each of the Senators who voted to recommit HB235 on sine die (see the link at http://mlis.state.md.us/2011rs/votes/senate/1123.htm) to serve as primary sponsors of a stronger version of HB235 in the 2012 legislative session.  It is time to rectify the wrong that has been done to transgender citizens of our State. Sincerely, Joseline

Woman Beaten in Baltimore McDonalds

We at TransMaryland are completely disgusted at the appalling assault that took place in a suburban Baltimore McDonald's on April 18th, 2011. Details of which went viral on Friday April 22, 2011 as news of the attack, sparked by the horrific images captured on video were posted online.

Our first concern is for the well being of the victim in this violent assailment. We are encouraged to hear she received treatment from a local hospital and none of her injuries were reported to be life threatening. Our thoughts go out to her for her continued recovery, not just from the physical injuries she received, yet from the deep trauma one has incurred from a victim of such acts of violence. The members of our community know oh too well the emotional scars it produces. We pray she can bring a community of healing around her through what is to be assuredly a very difficult time for her.

To the incident and the video. We wish not to repost the images here.

There is much discussion and debate swirling around the release of the story and its accompanying video. TransMaryland wishes not to muddle through the speculation  and accusations of responsibility for this attack. We will merely firmly state that Maryland's Hate Crimes were enacted for the protections of our citizens, however, an assault is an assault, regardless of the victim's status as a member of a protected class. We are encouraged at the relative rapid rate in which this incident is being investigated by the proper authorities. We are confident that the public statement released by the McDonald's Corporation is sincere in its statement.

Let's all remember there is a victim here. Our concerns should be on preventing that from happening again.

Maryland House Bill Ultimately Failed on Several Levels

Today is not a day to celebrate, for it is still one more year without the critical and necessary public accommodations protections for transgender Marylanders and those transgender individuals merely visiting our state. Today is a day to remember that every November 20 we hold a vigil, a Day of Remembrance Service for those we lost due to violence because they are transgender or transsexual. That with HB 235 or without it, the list will grow longer until full protections are in place. It must be the stated goal of every transgender person in Maryland and any like minded ally, in or out of our state, transgender or not, to see the day that we stop adding to that list.


TransMaryland believes the goal of every member of Maryland's transgender community should be the day in which the Governor of Maryland signs into law an anti-discrimination bill which includes public accommodations protections based on gender identity. Today is not a victory for our community as we have no such bill to present to the Governor. We wish to thank our allies for their support in fighting for that goal, both now and in the future.


Why Maryland House Bill 235 needed to be defeated


In the last 90 days, the state of Maryland, the greater transgender community across the country and the blogosphere has been ablaze over a piece of legislation introduced in Maryland, House Bill 235.


HB235 was the Gender Identity Anti-Discrimination bill intended to provide anti-discrimination protections for the transgender community. Prior legislative sessions of Maryland’s General Assembly have introduced bills for protection, but none like HB235.
It was a flawed bill. Its authorship lacked community involvement, its level of protections lacked community buy-in and its messaging spoke to the flawed strategy of deceiving the community of what real protections look like. We can simply examine one of 13 states or the District of Columbia if we wish to see how a state achieves that. HB235 followed none of those success stories.


The Authorship


TransMaryland has sought to clarify the exact nature in which this bill came into existence. We do not wish to condemn those involved, but to assure such mistakes are not repeated. We insist on transparency throughout this process as a necessary foundation for community involvement.


The Level of Protections


Members of Maryland’s transgender community have grown accustomed to seeking a measure consistent to last years bill, HB1022 (which received no action during an election year) which itself was a carry over of 2009’s HB 474. HB474 included employment, housing and public accommodations. Thee greater community was betrayed when the most vital piece of that legislation, public accommodations had been removed and no community buy-in was sought. We insist on a seat at the table for members of the community in determining protections.


The Messaging


Words mean something and we find it unacceptable to use terms of “just like” and “similar” when defining a bill intended to save the lives of our peers. The truth of what it does or doesn't do needs no obfuscation. The deflection of criticism, censoring of expression or other means to perpetuate an untruth is unacceptable. We own our voices and expect them to be heard and never silenced.


Intentions are never grounds to excuse poor actions. We re committed to not repeating the mistakes of HB 235