those who would deny us equal justice under the law are starting to lose sleepI agree with Sandy that this is the year we must make our voices heard. I think we are doing that. In fact I think we are doing that to the point that those who would deny us equal justice under the law are starting to lose sleep, consume large amounts of ibuprofen by day, and copious amounts of ethanol at night.
That said, I am fighting for a bill that will include public accommodations, not for the bill as it currently stands. I hope my fellow Marylanders will come to understand why I take that stance when they read my next column “Lessons From Black History” in OUTloud which is hitting Maryland and Pennsylvania news stands now and should be online sometime tomorrow.
http://www.baltimoreoutloud.co…

I work in a place public accommodation’s are the only option.I’m a bus driver.
I’m a police officer.
I am a retail clerk at walmart.
I am anyone or anyone who’s place of employment does not have any other option than public accommodations.
My applications for better employment are continuously rejected. They don’t say anything but their eyes do the talking as they always seem to settle on my crotch.
A transgender rights bill without public accommodations is not just a bill without substance, it is a travesty.
People know we have no protections now under law, but the the perception of most heterosexual uninitiated people is we do have allies that would never consider political expediency over human rights.
HB235 if passed will dispel those perceptions and will negatively impact the current social conventions that allow me to use the bathroom even though it is obvious I am transgender.
HB235 will be vilified country wide by gender variant as other equality federations learning of the transgender peoples ignorance, lethargy or duplicity seize on the opportunity to trade off some transgender equality for marriage agendas.
This bill must be stopped from progressing any further. I urge all informed transgender people to attend this meeting and make a statement Equality Maryland can not ignore.
Transgender rights are human rights. Same as you. Do not try to mitigate dissension by comparing legislature that allows domestic partnership with laws that save lives.
There is no incrementalism in transgender or any other minority’s equality. Tell Equality Marryland not to trade our rights, perceived or codified(a need) off for marriage equality(a Want).

Equality Maryland = Equality??????When I saw this post I was so sure it was going to be promoting MDhb0235. I wasn’t disappointed it is Promoting that bad bill and the GLB Org promoting it as Equality. There is no Equality in that bill, that bill would in fact strip more Equality than it would grant. So who is it being promoted here at Pams?
I think if you look at who posted it you will see why, Lurleen is not Trans and does not understand trans issues. (Please Lurleen let Autumn deal with trans issues here she has a much better idea what they are since she is trans.)
The bill in question is BAD for multiple reasons but a simple comparison of hb0235 and hb0474 from 2 years ago will give you and idea.
The religious right does not seem at all interested in stopping hb0235, why would that be? Could it be that it does more harm then good for the trans community?
When it came to hb0474 back in 2009 they were everywhere trying to stop it telling their typical stories about bathrooms and showers and so on and so on. This bill hb0235 however you hear nothing about except from Equality Maryland. There is something very wrong about this picture.
Compare the two bills! Think about what will be gained vs what will be lost! Decide for yourself, but also think about the fact the religious right has said almost nothing about this bill.

Can you explain this?“that bill would in fact strip more Equality than it would grant.”
Here is the link to the bill text (pdf).  Please copy over the parts that show that equality would be stripped from you.  I agree that this bill isn’t everything it could be, but I don’t see it actually stripping rights or protections away from anyone.  So please, show me the part of the bill that is going to do you harm.

Here is the problemThanks to Monica Roberts for pointing it out, Katrina Rose for underscoring it, and Gemma Catherine Seymour for pointing out where the missing language is.
The text of the Maryland bill (HB 235) can be found at:
http://mlis.state.md.us/2011rs…
Existing Maryland human rights law covering other protected classes does include “public accommodations” protection.  Gemma pointed this out to me as follows:

“Article-State Government, Title 20 (Human Relations), Subtitle 3 (Discrimination in Places of Public Accommodation), Sec 20-103:
“…An owner or operator of a place of public accommodation or an agent or employee of the owner or operator may not refuse, withhold from, or deny to any person any of the accommodations, advantages, facilities, or privileges of the place of public accommodation because of the person’s race, sex, age, color, creed, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, or disability.”
And, as per Sec. 20-304:
“An owner or operator of a place of public accommodation or an agent or employee of the owner or operator may not refuse, withhold from, or deny to any person any of the accommodations, advantages, facilities, or privileges of the place of public accommodation because of the person’s race, sex, age, color, creed, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, or disability.”

An examination of HB 235 shows that neither 20-301 nor 20-304 is amended to include “gender identity.”
Whether this is an oversight or an intentional and deliberate omission, I can’t say, but unless the bill is amended immediately to provide for the amendment of those two sections to include “gender identity” as a protected class, the bill is defective.  

Thank you for this constructive comment.If people feel there is a problem with the bill, the first step in fixing it is to outline the problem with the bill language.  You’ve done that, and it is much appreciated.
So now what?  People who want to see this bill amended aren’t going to accomplish that by hurling invective.  With all the outcry over this bill since it was introduced, I’ve yet to see anyone propose a real plan of action.  So I ask the same question I asked weeks ago: what’s the plan?  Are people working to organize legislators to back an amendment?

Well, I do hope someone in MD picks up the ballI am in New York (I wrote the first draft of New York’s GENDA bill, which has been pending since 2003, passed the Assembly in 2009 and 2010, and just missed getting to a senate vote by one vote in a committee in 2010), so there really isn’t much, if anything I can do, since I am an outsider and not anyone’s constituent in Maryland.
My suggestion is for people to go to the bill sponsor (and the co-sponsors) with the needed language, AND an explanation of why leaving the language out will perpetuate much harm.
The people who would call it a “bathroom bill” don’t need top be placated – their whole purpose is to further marginalize and humiliate trans people.
The worst case I know of in Maryland is anedotal, and I wish I knew who it actually happened to.  I heard of a situation that occurred at an I-95 rest area in that state a number of years ago.  A visibly trans woman was stopped by a Maryland state trooper as she was about to enter the ladies room, and told she could not use that bathroom.  When she reluctantly turned to use the men’s room instead, the trooper told her she could not use that bathroom either.
Failing to amend the bill to include “public accommodations” would perpetuate that kind of discrimination in Maryland.
While I am not in a position to do more than point this out, I would hope that someone over there gets the message.

MerciThank you Joann.
Lurleen does this answer your question well enough?

One other thing – it is definitely 20-301 not 20-103Gemma pointed that out in an update – and I neglected to correct it when I cut and pasted from her FB comment on Monica’s page.

Basic answers10. By giving the illusion of equality without granting equality.
9. By creating a successful blueprint for similar ‘allies’ to use in all future equality bills.
8. By giving legitimacy to Barney Frank + HRC’s dishonest tactics with the federal ENDA one year ago.
7. By giving legitimacy to the illusion of the ‘bathroom’ and ‘trans’ problems as being insurmountable and not worth the fight, rather than supporting us in our struggle.
6. By rendering trans people as second class even within the spectrum of gender and sex variations.  
5. By dehumanizing trans people.  Some of those “public accommodations” cover the basic biological functions of all people.  Others cover basic social functions.  We would be denied both and instead be forced into dangerous environments and situations.
4. By pushing an incremental approach that has not worked out so good for us.
3. By silencing our voice in local politics.
2. By silencing our voice within the fight for equality.
1. By putting us in our place and making it clear to all people that our place is below that of cis people.
(bonus reason) There is something symbolically and profoundly hurtful – and sadly ironic – about something with the gall to call itself a “fight for LGBT equality” throwing some municipal bus drivers under the bus because of trans oppression within the movement.

Yes, but…If I may offer this advice: I think you should be careful in saying that the bill strips people of equality when what it really does is neglect to insure certain types of protections.  It’s not that the bill is taking anything from people that they already have.  What it’s doing is not adding enough new protections.  The difference is very important and you will lose credibility when trying to convince people to listen to you if you misstate what is really happening.  Legislators don’t have time to sift through hyperbole, but they will often listen to well-reasoned, constructive arguments.

see my comments belowmy point is that if people want to overcome the problems this bill represents to them, then they need to funnel their anger into constructive rhetoric and action.  the legislative session is over sometime in april.  there isn’t much time left, so what’s the plan of action?

Isn’t it (conveniently) a bit late for that?

With all the outcry over this bill since it was introduced, I’ve yet to see anyone propose a real plan of action.

Since trans people are specifically treated separately in this bill via exclusion of a protection previously included, why were we not better consulted before it was removed and the bill submitted amid much PR and fanfare?  This speaks to intentional internal oppression by GLB cis people.  
What exactly, can we possibly do a this point?
What are the practical options that could get the language changed at this late date, please?  
Please understand, Lurleen, that not all of us are attorneys; not all of us have been involved in that specific capacity in working toward equality.  It hurts to read a comment from an ally who does know better than most how laws are created, negotiated and shepherded which says in effect, “So, what are you going to do about it,” rather than offer suggestions.  You’ve been an important and effective part of these kinds of battles; your skills and knowledge are sorely needed here yet you remain just the other side of indifferent.

What good would that do now?Obviously, “Equality” Maryland supported the original language.  They won’t lift a finger to help change the bill’s language and would most likely work against the change because it would make their jobs – making sure marriage convenience for same sex attracted couples is in the forefront, 100% of the time – would be made more difficult.
This bill doesn’t strip rights and it does stop trans people from achieving the equality that LGB & Straight cis people take for granted.  It’s a dangerous precedent as well, a bad example for those in other states who may think bargaining away full transgender equality is a great way to achieve their own selfish desires.  It’s also flawed because it makes many of the employment protections worthless.
If we saw concrete evidence that EqMD was fighting for a change in the language then I think a great many trans people would be mollified and would stop hurling the deserved invective this flawed strategy has been receiving.  I won’t be holding my breath, however.

Where to go from here?If it were me (I’m not in MD), I’d probably try to make contact with other Marylanders who are of like mind and work out a plan of action together.  At the least that would include speaking as soon as possible with our own legislators to explain our views and ask them for their thoughts on what is needed to move the bill with or without amendments.
Other people may have other suggestions that are better.  Perhaps some Marylanders will chime in.

What good would organizing yourselves do?There is a line from Desert Hearts that I love: “If you don’t play, you can’t win.”  There are no guarantees that you’ll get the changes you want in this bill even if you organize spectacularly.  But what is certain is you’re not going to make any progress now or in the future if you don’t try.

yes ma’amI’ll watch that closer in the future.

When it comes to “T” rights!The Transgender population inside Maryland needs to step forward in this fight. It is their rights we are discussing and Like Lurleen I do not live in Maryland, so there is only so much those of us outside the state can do.
If the trans community really wants equality than they need to step up and show it. There is a nation of support but those of us outside the state can not do more than offer our support in a state matter.
As for Equality nationally we all in the Trans community need to step forward and make ourselves heard.
I know there are Cis GLB people out there willing to help and believe me I am willing to help with equality across the board. Anything less the full Equality is not Equal, I don’t think anyone should be left behind. If Equality is to be real it must be for all people, less then that is not real Equality, it is simply a semblance of Equality.

“Katrina Rose for underscoring it”What did I underscore?
It looks to me that all I did was get erased.
BTW – PDF dumps are a wonderful thing.

Lurleen asks “What’s the plan of action?”I guess you can see Lurleen that a grassroots movement has already begun. You also know that support for the trans community and in opposition to Equality Maryland has evolved in a about a week into a national outrage.
I don’t write a “trans” column. I write about my city in a column called “City Desk.” I went to a meeting with the sole purpose of taking notes about how Equality Maryland was going to fight for marriage equality and gender identity protections. It came as complete surprise to me when I found out that the transgendered community was thrown under the bus.
You were on the same conference call with EQMD that I was on when David Lublin kept interrupting Morgan Meneses-Sheets. Let’s not pretend that the community here is one big happy family. You know better. The transgendered have been thrown under the bus, the black community has been marginalized, and the poor, as far as EQMD is concerned, just don’t exist.
You are correct that we should give legislators “well-reasoned, constructive arguments” and that is what we are doing. Don’t confuse our outrage at EQMD and its “effete corps of impudent snobs” as outrage at our lawmakers. We don’t blame them, they were duped. We’ll make sure they know that and then move on to the important issues.
As far as you question is concerned: “What’s the plan of action?”
No comment.
http://planetransgender.blogsp…
My apologies to Spiro Agnew for the quote.

Where IS your previous comment?You DID have a comment before this one, didn’t you?  I’m sure I read it just before going to lunch.  And we can’t touch our comments once they’re committed.  So…what just happened here?

“what just happened here?”The same thing that happens anytime that an organization that claims to be acting in the best interests of trans people but, in actuality, only has an ‘all gay marriage, all the time’ agenda has its propaganda critiqued – or even firmly questioned – in the light of day: darkness falls.
Apparently there was a problem with my critique of the trans story being pimped here to make it seems as if all is hunky dory with HB 325 – nothing factually wrong with it, of course; it was just inconvenient.
I quoted Ms. Rawls thusly:

I spent a short time at my ex-wife’s house, but ended up living in emergency shelters, but they would often want me to sleep in male quarters
…
After eight months, I was accepted into a local Baltimore homeless shelter. I was, at times, discriminated against by the staff and residents.

And then I pointed out that even if the emergency shelters in question don’t fall under religious exemptions, they’re still “public accommodations,” and not “employment” or even “housing”
And then I pointed out – with an appropriately snarky link that I won’t plug in here but which you can access either at ENDABlog or Transadvocate – I’m apparently not the only lawyer on this thread (the snarkiness has lost its luster given that, now, there actually is at least one other lawyer on it), so I’d be interested in knowing how HB 235 would have addressed that part of Ms. Rawls’ plight.
And then I pointed to a curious – and curiously-formatted – item on ‘Equality’ Maryland’s website touting the words of an employer who was bragging about trans employees who have provided “excellent customer service”, though I followed it with the reality that under HB 235, if that employer wanted to she could order her “transgendered
people [who work] the floor ” to refuse to provide any of that “excellent customer service ” to trans customers – say, by refusing to allow them to use the proper restroom – and those trans customers would have no recourse.
And then I asked why Free State Just Us ‘Equality’ Maryland would censor efforts to even discuss the issue – the way it did to Dana LaRocca on a Facebook thread.
And then I asked if a sock had gotten Free State Just Us ‘Equality’ Maryland’s tongue.

Sex, Lies, and Sex Toy ShopsWasn’t that store you were referring to a sex toy shop
That’s how they marginalize us. They don’t go into the local department store, the shoe store, or the coffee shop and show regular folk doing regular jobs. EQMD drags their plantation mentality selves in front of the lemmings and say “Lookie, our little trannies provide excellent customer service.”
EQMD mentions Sugar as a “novelty shop” and the owner calls it a “retail store,” but their website clearly identifies it as a “sex toy shop.” I guess “out and proud” doesn’t apply when you’re asking clergy in Annapolis to celebrate how loving and committed you are.
They paint us into a caricature of what many churchgoers might consider a “sleazy” job with obvious sexual overtones. It’s bad enough that Jerry Springer does that. But this is coming from a so called “civil rights organization.”
As I recall it was the same sex toy shop where Equality Maryland held a fund raising event last week. I have a problem with that. What a lovely way to tell the Christian community whom they want to vote for marriage equality that they are just normal “loving and committed couples.” It’s just dumb EQMD.
Don’t drag us down to your level.

“As I recall it was the same sex toy shop where Equality Maryland held a fund raising event last week.”With or without the cast of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert?

Valentine’s DayValentine’s Day is traditionally one of the busiest days of the year for restaurants.  It’s terrible that even if the current gender identity nondiscrimination bill is passed, trans people could still be ejected without legal recourse from restaurants they took their valentine to because of who they are.
In other words, even if their jobs were protected, the money they earned could easily be deemed no good in any public store they chose to spend it in.  ’s a helluva thing, huh?

It is indeed.I hope you’ll point this out to your legislators if you’re able to make it to the lobby day.  I think that the fear of a romantic dinner with your sweetheart getting spoiled by someone else is one that most people can relate to, if only because we’ve all seen it happen to sympathetic characters in the movies.  I think maybe you’ve found a common point of reference with non-trans people – a valuable find!

The Transgirl in the Striped PajamasWladyslaw Szpilman meets Dorata in Roman Polanski’s “The Pianist.”
They decide to meet for coffee at a local cafe but when they get there a sign is on the door that says “No Jews Allowed”
Next they discover that Jews are not allowed on the public benches either. Eventually Dorata suggests that they just stand in street and talk. “I think we’re allowed to do that, don’t you?”
The next scene is where they discover that all Jews in the Warsaw district are to be moved to the Warsaw Ghetto and the area will be bricked off.
Yes Luleen, it is very much like a movie here in the Free State. But we are not yet to the third act. That will come when the nattering nabobs of the Just Us Campaign convince our legislative allies to order us to wear pink triangles. The pink triangles, our “allies” will explain, will save us from the indignity of genital inspection at the restroom door.
In the final scene of the last act we see the Christian right liberating us from the camps that the Just Us folks had built for our “protection.” An arched sign above the gate reads: “Work makes you free.”
Soon to be a major motion picture.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…

A Nazi comparison?Talk about jumping the shark.  Your claim that you’ll be required to wear pink triangles is as ridiculous as the claim of the opposition that “men in dresses” will rape their daughters in bathrooms.  If you want to be taken seriously by legislators, then talk about the real experiences of real people.  Promoting fantasy martyrdom scenarios will only discredit you in the eyes of the very legislators you need to convince.

All I have to say is…I can’t think of a civil rights bill that was not, to varying degrees, a “half-measure.”

Neville Chamberlain is a more appropriate comparison.I’m not talking to legislators here Lurleen. I’m talking about your comparison of the public accommodations fiasco to a movie.

I think that the fear of a romantic dinner with your sweetheart getting spoiled by someone else is one that most people can relate to, if only because we’ve all seen it happen to sympathetic characters in the movies.

The comparison I make for Maryland lawmakers is not based on “sympathetic characters” from the cinema. It is based on the history of incrementalism in Maryland, of a time when half of our counties had civil rights protections and half did not.
http://www.baltimoreoutloud.co…
I’m sorry if I gave you the impression that I seriously considered Equality Maryland anything like the Nazi’s. It was a hyperbolic analogy.
Neville Chamberlain is a more appropriate comparison.  

The gay-only rights bill that Free State Just Us (now d/b/a ‘Equality’ Maryland) was not ‘half’ of what maryland gays were then wantingIt was 100% of what they then wanted.
It was 0% of what trans people needed.
That is the quantification of the lie of gay-primacy ‘incremental progress.’  Its not ‘incremental’ for anyone.  Gays get everything they want, when they want it; trans people get nothing – except third-class status.

If trans people never get anything, how do you explainthe fact that anti-discrimination laws for trans people exist in 12 states plus DC?  It is true that such laws cover sexual orientation in 18 states and that 6 state difference is wrong and unfair, but it is patently incorrect to state that “Gays get everything they want, when they want it; trans people get nothing – except third-class status.”
If “Gays get everything they want, when they want it; trans people get nothing – except third-class status” then why can’t we LGBs marry in most states?  It is possible for trans people to marry in states where LGBs can’t.  The exception is if both trans people have ID of the same sex and live in states prohibiting same-sex marriage, but even under those conditions I know of people who live as their true gender but “ID” as the gender opposite their partner and so could get married.  It doesn’t always work and it certainly isn’t an ideal system when you have to jigger it that way, but such couples DO sometimes have options that LGB couples don’t.  And I say good for them if they can make an unfair system work for them!  
People should absolutely speak out when unfair horse trading is happening or when inadequate bills are filed.  But then the work of righting the wrongs must begin.  Making hyperbolic claims doesn’t move the ball forward.  Well, I take that back – hyperbolic community-splitting claims do move the ball forward for the anti-LGBT opposition.

I agree with you, Lurleen“Incremential progress” doesn’t mean that you settle for whatever is passed by the legislature. If more work needs to be done, than you do that work.
I mean, DADT repeal is incremental progress, in that respect.  

obfuscation station

it is patently incorrect to state that “Gays get everything they want, when they want it; trans people get nothing – except third-class status.”

How many of those trans-inclusive states saw gay-only rights laws followed by the gays who crammed those gay-only laws through the legislature actually going back and adding T?  Now compare that number to the number of states that passed legitimate laws in the first instance – and compare it to the number where the gays who crammed those gay-only laws through the legislature moved on to the ‘want’ of gay marriage and have never given a second thought about what trans people NEED to survive.
I was referring to the LIE of intra-jurisdictional ‘incremental progress’ – and, specifically, of how that LIE has played out in Maryland.
Did the gay-only rights bill that passed in Maryland in 2001 initially also contain gay marriage which was jettisoned, making the bill ‘incremental’ for gays? No.  The gay-only rights bill was exactly what Cathy Brennan, Shannon Avery, Liz Seaton and the rest of the Maryland gay-primacy apartheid crowd wanted.  By the use of lies and deceit (telling legislators and the public that trans people were already protected under Maryland law, something they knew damn good and well was a lie), they got 100% of what they set out for and the left trans people 100% actually unprotected.

People should absolutely speak out when unfair horse trading is happening or when inadequate bills are filed.  But then the work of righting the wrongs must begin.

You can’t right wrongs until those who committed the wrongs are hauled into the dock and made to answer for their crimes.
Where are the people who lied and deceived to ramrod the gay-only bill through Maryland in 2001?  Where are all of the Maryland state law trans-based sex discrimination claims that they asserted as justification for giving themselves the explicitness of statutory protections?
I have my suspicions.  I presume they’re out planning for their Mryland weddings – and not giving a damn about Maryland trans law.

If “Gays get everything they want, when they want it; trans people get nothing – except third-class status” then why can’t we LGBs marry in most states?  It is possible for trans people to marry in states where LGBs can’t.

Funny how gays only rasie this as a substantive pro-trans legal nugget to justify gay-primacy aparthied on other fronts. When we bring it up to justify why trans law isn’t as alien and scary and new as gay transphobes such as St. Barney, Jonathan Capehart and John Aravosis say it is when they want to keep us out of ‘their’ gay-only ENDA, we’re told that we’re delusional and live in Oz.
They’re not going to be allowed to have it both ways – and neither are you, particularly when you try to steamroll over my comments with a response that has virtually nothing to do with the specific matter that I was addressing.

Any charge of community splitting must rest squarely on the shoulders of Equality Maryland.I don’t know the story of each of those states Lurleen. I have lived in Maryland and my family has been here since the mid 1600′s. The history of Maryland has shown us that incrementalism has failed in the past. I don’t plan on giving it a chance in the future. Here in Maryland Lurleen any charge of community splitting must rest squarely on the shoulders of Equality Maryland. You don’t need to look far; just click on their staff page and you’ll see nothing but white folk.
http://www.equalitymaryland.or…
The poor are not represented, African Americans are left out, and they live within their own little trendy nest. They have marginalized themselves. They even host their “happy hour” at a bourgeois restaurant where only the effete set will be found nibbling on Feta-infused lamb sliders; a favorable twist on the current slider trend, while sipping Fordham Helles Lager.
And sweet little Dana and the girls divided the community?
The transgender community did not want this bill and were not consulted about this bill. It is that simple. Those politicians who were duped into thinking we want this bill will know that we do not. I’m really sorry that EQMD got its nose shoved in its own excrement. If some of their leaders or poster children lose credibility for what they have done that’s really unfortunate for them. I’ll say a novena for them and light a blessed candle and hope they don’t end up in hell for it.
It is in our best interest to ask our legislators to vote against this bill if it is not amended to include public accommodations.
EQMD is not going to push to add it next year, we all know that. With the state of our economy we can expect to see a lot more conservatives in the State House during the next two election cycles.  

I have no quarrelwith you asking your legislators to vote against this or any other bill if that is what you think they should do.  That is your right and duty as a Maryland resident to make your voice heard, regardless of who agrees or disagrees with it.  From my point of view you are being constructive when you’re addressing the legislation and legislators directly.  My objections were to the hyperbolic claims made above.  Such claims are pointless unless the point is to divide.  Or perhaps in light of MD history, further divide.

In light of Maryland history, further justice.In light of Maryland History, Lurleen, incrementalism was finally ended when one woman, Gloria Richardson, took a stand against Maryland apartheid by telling her neighbors not to vote. Sure black civil rights activists told the crowd at the State House what they wanted. But they also made it clear that they were no longer going to have their rights negotiated by a bunch of hand wringing liberals who claimed to have their best interests at heart.

Gloria Richardson’s role in the struggle for black equality is a story of conscience. In the 1960′s white liberals and self-proclaimed leaders crafted a bill leaving her county, Dorchester, exempt from laws banning discrimination in public places.  Gloria Richardson organized an adult run affiliate of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee; the Cambridge Nonviolent Action Committee (CNAC).
At stake was a referendum that if passed would have ended discrimination in public accommodations in Cambridge, Maryland. Ms. Richardson and CNAC agreed that such discrimination was wrong; what they did not concede was the right of a handful of liberals and youth activists to put their civil rights up for auction. In a counterintuitive move she went door to door telling her neighbors and friends not to vote.
The rest of the story is at Baltimore OUTloud.

http://www.baltimoreoutloud.co…
Lacking a complete turnaround Equality Maryland will lose its legitimacy as a civil rights organization. Your mantra of “tell your legislators” is fine. But the battle also includes making sure that the LGBT community is aware of their betrayals, their obfuscations, and their exclusivity. Without that they will continue to misrepresent the needs of minorities within the LGBT community.
I do of course sniffle and sob that this all comes on the heels of their nuptials. But heck, they put the wedding and the wake on the same date, not me. I’ll let them live with their decisions.
 

Sandy Rawls has withdrawn her support for HB235I just heard that Sandy Rawls has withdrawn her support for the bill Lurleen. I just got off the phone with her to confirm her position.

let me knowif you see a statement from her.  i can guess as to why, but it would be good to hear it from her directly.

Trans-United Joins TransMarylandSure, here it is Lurleen.
Trans-United Joins TransMaryland opposing Maryland “Bathroom-Less” bill HB235
http://planetransgender.blogsp…
The narrative has been rewritten. The screenplay is next.
This is what is getting accomplished here in Maryland. The transgender community is working together and Equality Maryland will either get on the bandwagon or be the left behinds of the movement that started with girls like us at Stonewall.