Did they miss the update on this?http://metroweekly.com/poliglo…
Frosh is apparently supportive of the bill, and this delay had nothing to do with him.

His statement is not credibleIf you understand the past, you would not put much credence in his statement. It probably is more Miller then Frosh but don’t underestimate how much influence Frosh has with Miller.  Here’s how to read Frosh’s support of the bill: in the very unlikely chance that he will bring this up for a vote in committee, he will vote for it. After the above mentioned 2009 legislative session, Frosh was quoted in the Washington Blade as say I didn’t bring this up for a vote because I wasn’t sure it would pass. And if it did pass, it would be by one vote. For a bill like this, I need the overwelming support of my committee. This quote is from memory so it is not in quotes but is close to word for word accurate.

Sorry for the slashout, the system did it

Maybe there IS a problem with the bill?“We don’t trust Frosh and this seems to be his way of killing it and leaving himself with clean hands,” Beyer says. ‘Bills don’t go to Rules Committee unless there’s a problem with them. This is not the normal process. There really is no reason for it. I would say this doesn’t look good, and there’s no excuse for it.’”
A great number of people think there’s a big problem with this bill.  Could it be that Senator Frosh agrees with them?

That article was fluff.You are dreaming. Yusef writes whatever he is spoon fed by the Equality Maryland disinformation team.
He has no idea what is going on around him.
An article in the Washington Blade has an entirely different take on it. Lou Chibbaro was apparently aware that the transgender community had reached out to key players in the Senate.

In yet another development likely to trouble the bill’s supporters, Frosh said his office was “inundated” on Monday by calls from transgender activists opposed to the bill because it has been stripped of a provision banning discrimination against transgender persons in the area of public accommodations.

“They are livid that that was taken out and oppose the bill,” Frosh said of Trans Maryland members. “So there’s a division within the transgender community apparently about whether or not it’s a good idea.”

http://www.washingtonblade.com…
Now EQMD is whining that he doesn’t play by the rules. Well guess what EQMD – ya’ll don’t make the rules.  

Blade ArticleI couldn’t find the 2009 Blade article, but here’s a blog post referencing Frosh’s moves in 2009: http://equalitymatters.org/pri…
See also http://groups.yahoo.com/group/…
http://www.washingtoncitypaper…
http://www.dallasvoice.com/mar…
And this might speak to Frosh’s future plans … http://maryland-politics.blogs…

Shaking My HeadI’m looking forward to seeing how the folks who opposed HB 235 will build a coalition for comprehensive legislation in 2012.

Emelye,“Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.”
If you just woke up and started paying attention, your comment would be valid.
Brian Frosh has killed a comprehensive bill for the last four consecutive years. A comprehensive bill. The type of bill you want.
The only valid question left was asked by Joe Sudbay yesterday, as quoted above: “Why does Frosh insist on being an obstacle?”
Or, put another way, “Why does the liberal Jewish Senator from Bethesda hold such personal animus towards the trans community?”

This is so naive and PollyanaThe last thing on earth I would assume or conclude was that the legislature sent the bill to the Rules Committee (where it will die this session) because it wanted a better bill or in response to the discontent over some in the transgender community.  The world might sound nicer if this was the case and it might sound great to activists who want to think they made an impact, but come on now.

If I wasa Senator who either did not support or tepidly supported  HB235, the 1st thing I would do after receiving one or two or a hundred calls from trans people opposing the bill would be to raise this as a reason I am killing or stalling the bill.  While it sounds like Mike Miller probably killed this bill, based on what people in the know say, if Frosh did, those callers gave him the perfect cover and excuse.  (How many times have you heard idiots say quickly: “Well I have a gay friend and he doesn’t support gay marriage.”)  Those who called may not care however, as the objective was the kill, which is fine.

No, What’s naive and Pollyanna is Is GL rights orgs pimping an ‘incremental rights’ trans legislative strategy that not only doesn’t work, it is harmful to the people it allegedly is supposed to help

2012 is an election year, Cathy..But then again, I presume you and your InEquality MD friends knew that when y’all pimped that ‘we’ll get public accommodations in the HB 235 bill next year’ lie.
Then again, as incompetent as this legislative push was run, maybe y’all don’t realize that 2012 is an election year.
One of the lessons the lame duck session reinforced for me  was push everything you want in a comprehensive bill right then, right now before the political dynamics change.

Maybe Just MaybeTHE VOICES THAT THEY FOUGHT HARD TO MUTE GOT HEARD.  YEA FOR THE RIGHT TO PEACEFUL PROTEST AND FREE SPEECH, AND THE RIGHT TO PETITION GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS.
WHAT A TERRIBLE WEB YOU’VE WEAVED ALL BECAUSE YOU TRIED TO DECEIVE.
IF ITS BLOCKED THIS TIME NEXT YEAR YOU WILL BE WISER AND YOU WILL PULL THE OTHER HALF OF THE COMMUNITY TO THE TABLE.  

Yes I AgreeIf Frosh amends the bill to include PA and gets it out and passed this session OR he leads the effort on a PA bill next year and that passes into law, then you will likely have been right.  But, unfortunately, it’s never gonna happen.  The messaging from some that this bill’s stoppage had anything to do with hearing and listening to the voices of a part of the transgender community (a community they have done nothing to protect year after year) is just self-serving spin as opposed to being based in reality.
Did you see Senate President Mike Miller’s statements on this:
“When we are through with the budget we’ll have time to deal with other issues that might have a chance of passage,” he said after the morning session. “At this point in time I’d say the chances of passage of that bill are next to none.”
He said the Senate has raised the issue in previous session, only to see it fail. “There are not the votes to move it in committee,” he predicted.

Not sure I know who you are, MonicaRNonetheless, I will address your comment. But first, it’s offensive to use language like “pimped out” – it’s sexist, and I generally don’t talk to people who talk like that to me.
Putting that aside, I have stated in numerous forums that I believed HB 235 was a flawed bill because it lacked public accommodations.  However, it is arrogant and presumptuous for anyone who hasn’t been working on this campaign to come in and try to mess up a legislative stategy that was mapped out by the statewide group and had buy-in from the impacted community.  Oh, and I’m not with Equality Maryland – I became involved in this bill after a long political hiatus because a friend wanted to testify in support of the bill. It amuses me that “y’all” keep saying I’m with EqMD, as I am guessing the thought of that would horrify them.
The larger point, MonicaR, is where does this leave us come April 15, 2011 – 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015… the bill died this year for many reasons.  The fact that folks in the community loudly opposed the bill was a gift from Heaven for those who never want to see this legislation take effect.
So, yes, I cannot wait to see what Phoenix rises from the flames. I suspect it will be a cooked goose.

There will be no next year.

Yep.

Are you quite sure?

That’s what the Bill’s sponsor says

Though she’s not giving up the fight to get the bill to a Senate committee for a scheduled hearing, Pena-Melnyk said that she will not be introducing similar legislation next year if the bill dies in the Rules Committee as expected.

Is Frosh to blame?

In yet another development likely to trouble the bill’s supporters, Frosh said his office was “inundated” on Monday by calls from transgender activists opposed to the bill because it has been stripped of a provision banning discrimination against transgender persons in the area of public accommodations.

TransMaryland wishes to commend Senator Frosh’s legislative aide, David Brewster for his dedicated work in fielding the numerous calls placed to the Senators office. He is professionalism exemplified.
We additionally wish to recognize Senate President Mike Miller’s decision to concentrate of securing a final budget for the State of Maryland. He stated this as a primary reason for referring the bill to the Rules Committee.
We also wish to thank Senator Rich Madaleno and his support yet again this year for a fully inclusive bill, even if he was asked by an “advocacy coalition” to not introduce such legislation prior to the start o this year’s session.

I have been the lead sponsor or lead cosponsor of the Gender Identity Antidiscrimination Act for the past four years. In advance of the 2011 Session, I had a bill drafted that is identical to the bill I had introduced previously. This draft prohibited discrimination based on gender identity in employment, housing, and public accommodations. However, our advocacy coalition asked me to not introduce the bill, preferring a strategy of pursuing a House bill alone. This approach has not diminished my commitment to enacting these much needed protections, and I urge the House of Delegates to pass HB 235, with an amendment that prohibits discrimination against transgender individuals regarding public accommodations.
Providing transgender individuals with basic protections against discrimination is long overdue. Although much of the media attention this legislative session has centered on marriage equality, we cannot let that debate overshadow efforts to enact these essential protections. Protection against discrimination, including gender identity discrimination, is a basic human right. Our state laws must reflect the values of equality and equal opportunity – values that are central to who we are as Americans.
Now is the time for Maryland to join thirteen other states, Washington, D.C., Montgomery County, and Baltimore City in protecting individuals from discrimination on the basis of gender identity. In 2007, Governor O’Malley signed an executive order adding protections against discrimination to our state personnel policies. We now must pass a statewide law that protects transgender individuals from discrimination when seeking employment, housing, and public accommodations.

We will continue to withhold our support for legislation or legislative strategies which exclude input from the greater transgender and transsexual community in Maryland, while seeking workable and long term solutions to the needs of our community.
Lastly we wish to acknowledge the hard work of Delegate Pena-Melnyk. We feel she was betrayed by her advocacy partners into believing she had community “buy-in”. This simply was false. The frustration was evident in her tone on our phone conversation of February 16th. She deserved better than to have been placed out to dry without a workable strategy, with all players on page and on message.
So now what?
There are two weeks left in the legislative session.
We could continue to argue over the bill and seek its resurrection from the Rules Committee. This would create more adversarial responses and conflict, sure to catch the eye of Senate President Mike Miller. He may entrench himself in the belief that such a hotly debate bill is too much for the Senate.
We could seek to openly discuss the legislative strategy used by “our advocacy coalition” as a means of finding workable solutions around such problems in the future.
Yet whatever path is taken, we the transgender and transsexual community of Maryland and our allies nationally must finish the hard work put in by volunteers in Maryland’s transgender community on BOTH sides of this bill. We both want the same end game. We were not properly unified behind a community embraced plan of action for a common goal. We lacked true leadership throughout.
This leadership must be shared in the community by all voices, from all parts
The process of education must continue today and consistently until the day the Governor of our great state signs a bill which insures anti-discrimination protections based on gender identity in areas of employment, housing AND public accommodations.

Don’t care if you don’t know who I am CathyBut you better ask anybody who has gotten on the wrong side of a trans civil rights issue who I am.

Aw shucks.
Then maybe we’ll graduate from “you people” to “Maryland citizens” with a new sponsor.

She’s someone many of us respect.  The fact that you don’t know who she is strongly indicates to me that your support for trans equality may be superficial at best.  She gets mentioned on Pam’s from time to time.

The larger point, MonicaR, is where does this leave us come April 15, 2011 – 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015… the bill died this year for many reasons.

Let’s face it this bill was never intended to go the distance and provide actual equality and protection for trans people; that much is obvious from the entire chain of events surrounding EQMD.  But once that became clear, one of those reasons it failed was in some small part because of mobilization of the trans community.  People realized that if this bill did not die it would signify a valid strategy to exclude trans equality going forward, and they acted on it.  So if I may offer an answer to your question, it would be, “we are left with a better shot at trans equality in the future anywhere the same battle is waged compared to if the bill had passed in it’s present form”.

The fact that folks in the community loudly opposed the bill was a gift from Heaven for those who never want to see this legislation take effect.

You assume they were not one and the same.  However, if you mean the Christianists, well you see the way the bill will quietly die gives them zero ammunition so from the point of view of a trans person that opposed this bill this was a good solution, given the dishonest and harmful conditions EQMD created and pushed forward.

Oh I know the nameAs I can read the blogs on the Interwubs like anyone else. But we’ve never met. Because she’s not in Maryland. Moving on…
As I have said before, HB 235 was flawed. But it is arrogant that last minute opponents would rush in to derail a legislative strategy – period.  This is not excusing EqMD’s poor messaging, which I have also criticized, as well as their questionable legal analysis around shelters (which I have also noted publicly that I simply don’t get). Things are often not perfect in the legislative process, and if you let Perfect be the enemy of the Good, well, you usually end up with Nothing.
Incidentally, when the Maryland legislative leadership made clear in 2001 that it wouldn’t include gender identity in the 2001 session (and this was a leadership decision not, despite the blogs, a gay community decision), some of us advocated that we try litigation under existing laws against sex discrimination – but, as I’m sure you know, that’s been loudly labeled as hateful, transphobic, etc. Of course, this has worked elsewhere, and who knows if it would have provided a good plaintiff a remedy and set good precedent? We tried.
So here’s the reality – there are no more legislative champions in Maryland on this issue. EqMD is likely going away. At the moment, there is no trans group in Maryland with the ability to execute a legislative strategy. The Maryland community is generally defeated.
What do you do? You tell me. I’m fresh out of ideas.
What do we do?

And I am a Unicorn PegasusGood luck with that! I hope that you do.

Ooooh another threatening Interwub person!Bring it. I’m quite comfortable we are all on the same side.
And of course I know your name. I can Google just like any other Interwub person. But, I don’t know who you are. Because you don’t live in Maryland.
I pose the same questions to you:
Maryland has no legislative champion now.
EqMD is probably going away.
Maryland has no trans group that can execute a successful legislative strategy.
The Maryland community is generally dejected.
What do we do?  

Those of us who do not live in Maryland . . .. . . still have an interest in this bill.  Some of us travel to and through the state, and when one is driving down I-95, the rest rooms at the rest areas are “public accommodations” that out-of-state people use.
Wanting the bill amended to include the parts that were callously snipped out is not a bad thing.  There is absolutely no reason that motivated senators could not introduce and pass the proper bill on time, and send it back to the Delegates to consider.
So, if Senators Madaleno and Frosh are serious about wanting an inclusive bill, they should introduce such a bill and push it through – they have until April 11th, and you know what, if they need more time, I am sure that it is possible to extend a legislative session.  Using the opposition coming from trans folks who know that the existing bill is incomplete as a reason to not at least introduce the proper bill, is just playing to the crowd.

What can you do?Educate.  Advocate.  Litigate.  Legislate.
As to your questions:
No legislative champion? Get people elected who will introduce and pass a comprehensive civil rights bill. For starters, get Dr. Dana Beyer elected to the legislature.  She is qualified and capable, and already knows how to run for office.
Why would EQMD go away?  It’s not as if there isn’t a lot more advocacy to do, even for LGBs.  How about labor unions? Churches? Other natural allies?  LGB adviocacy groups can be allies, and they can add a real T and not just treat the T community as a paper Tigger.
If Maryland “has no trans group that can execute a successful legislative strategy” – then the answer is to put one together.
Dejected? The best thing is to organize and start working now, on getting the right bill introduced in 2012, and getting people elected in 2012 who will pass it in 2013. Wringing one’s hands and saying “Woe is me” won’t accomplish anything.
Getting a bill passed, particularly against meanspirited and evil opposition, can be a very long process.
It took Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Ernestine Rose, and a handful of other women, with help from some abolitionist groups (others were not in favor of women’s rights), twelve years – from 1836 to 1848 – to get New York’s first MArried Women’s Property Act passed – and that one only dealt with inheritances.  It took them another twelve years, until 1860, to get the second of these acts passed, which covered wages.
Look at it this way – EQMD is a lot like those abolitionist groups.  They have another axe to grind, but some gay rights advocates also understand that they need to help the trans community, just as some abolitionists realized they had to advocate for women, too.
The trans community is much like those women – not well organized at first, marginalized by society and cultural expectations, needing help from others to get started.
For women in the US, it started before the Seneca Falls convention in 1848 – and the process was slow and difficult.  It took until 1920 to get the vote – nationally.  And the ERA failed in the 1970s!  
The trans community, wherever we are, can’t just wring our hands and weep – we have to keep working at finding our wway to justice.

AbsolutelyEveryone has an interest. And I agree that the bill was flawed. But HB 235 was the best shot the community had for this year – and it’s blown. Period. That’s a fact. What you describe above is pure fantasy – although I’d love to be wrong.
HB 235′s demise should make the folx opposed to it happy.  And also let me be clear – no one in the larger non-gay/non-trans community cares about this conversation we are having over whether or not one should push a bill with or without public accommodations.  While we’re having this conversation and smacking each other, people who hate gay folx and trans folx are doing their thing.  This is purely a gay/trans blog and gay/trans media conversation.
My question remains – what will happen next month, next year? What are the next steps?
You are interested, right? What do we do? And how do we do it?
You tell us.

Very coolI especially like that you included litigate, which hasn’t happened in Maryland.
I hope that TransMaryland takes note of your good suggestions and will map out a plan for achieving these goals.
And you are right – it’s a looooooooooooooooong and painful process.

LOL, Ludwig WittgensteinTractatus Logico-Philosophicus the last sentence in the book.
One of my favorite sentences of all time.

Multiple frontsWhen those who would benefit aren’t fully supporting the bill it has a strong statement. Further, there is also that the “bathroom panic” was a successful attack on the bill (funny how pulling the PA language was supposed to prevent that – guess nobody at EMD did their homework.)
Starting off by submitting a bill that is designed as someone’s idea of a compromise (exactly what HB235 is) isn’t a winning strategy as has just been demonstrated..

For startersHow about getting everyone versed on the rebuttals to the trans bathroom panic. It has been directly stated that removing PA was all about avoiding that rhetoric in opposition, and it the tactic failed. The message here really is simple – the opponents are going to use whatever they find that works even if it doesn’t logically fit the proposed bill and ignoring what they use because we don’t see it fitting will not work.

I see…She got her ego bruised because not everybody was fawning over here for tossing us some crumbs.

I agreewith your point that it is a strong statement.  I just think other factors were always going to be at play as  soon as this got to the Senate (no matter if trans people called and no matter what they said when they called) and that EQMD was aware of the likelihood these obstacles (i.e., Mike Miller) would rear their ugly head and therefore tried to see if a PA’less bill would make some difference.  I’m not involved with EQMD in a way that I would know, but just my guess.  
My other guess is that there was no winning strategy.  We’ve got a lot of work to do and I think EQMD’s strategy here, however flawed, really highlighted that.

I’m with youI hope the movement moving forward does not get distracted and has that type of singular purpose.

EQMDYou mean you think they are going away period?  You must mean you think they are going to step back from a trans equality mission.  I doubt that, but I guess it’s possible.  They’d be the first in the country to do so, right?  These orgs can take a beating and keep on ticking.  They have for years.  This is just a hiccup in the larger scheme.  I think they’ll keep on plugging away, but am curious to see if the model changes.  I think it should.
One question is what about the money.

Thanks, JoannAll the way through, that’s the best paradigm–a cogent, perceptive understanding of the political process–and most realistic and plausible approaches for the future that I’ve heard in some time, being on the sidelines in Washington DC, unsure and conflicted over which side is right, and which side is wisest, in Maryland’s internecine back-and-forth.
And if that’s where I am, it’s even more unlikely that substantive straight allies such as Del. Pena-Melnyk, nominal supporters such as Del. Frosh, and and those who wield the levers of power such as Sen. Miller, will step out, making themselves vulnerable to attack from all sides and risking their own reputations and careers when there is such discord, rancor and mixed signals being sent within the transgender community itself and between the Ts and the LGBs. Abusive name-calling, suspicion and mistrust, and broad-brush painting are not productive and alienate those we will one day need to cast affirmative votes.
Perhaps for me, a cis white gay man, it is easier to glumly accept the frustrating, incremental nature of social progress and institutional change. But as the debate over an alternative legislative strategy continues, I pledge to take personally the fight for equality and justice for all those who do not conform to rigid, heteronormative gender codes or relations. I will support Dr. Dana and all advocates–at least those who are civil, gracious, and professional in their dealing with others–to ensure that that appropriate protections, including regarding public accommodations, will be enacted in Maryland.
Despite the recent setbacks, and with renewed conviction, I’m confident that such legislation will achieved sooner in MD than the most recent trainwrecks on marriage equality and GINDA might suggest possible. Don’t mourn, organize.

Great PostI too think we should pivot quickly to the work.
One thing that would benefit all of the LGBT is finding a way to influence Senate President Mike Miller.  He has been such a barrier for all of our issues and his power appears pretty tremendous.  Apparently, no bill, PA or not, is going to get by that jerk.
See this article:
http://www.washingtonblade.com…
“Mike Miller wants it dead, it’s that simple.”
Have their been any large education initiatives?  As a regular citizen, I haven’t seen any.
I failed to actively – through money and/or feet-on-the-street work – support Dana Beyer and I regret that.  I will next time.

Yep

They NEED to go away, periodJust like every other “Gay, Incorporated” org within the nonprofit-industrial complex, InEquality Maryland has never honestly supported trans rights; they only jumped on HB 235 this year because they failed to secure marriage equality  and wanted something else to pat themselves on the back on and inflate their image with.

Are you from MD – HB235 is not new this year.

That’s Exactly The Problem

However, it is arrogant and presumptuous for anyone who hasn’t been working on this campaign to come in and try to mess up a legislative stategy that was mapped out by the statewide group and had buy-in from the impacted community

No, it is arrogant and presumptuous for Inequality Maryland to map out a legislative strategy which had no real buy-in from the impacted community. Endorsement from a select handful of elites who are not actually representative of the impacted community does not constitute authentic buy-in.

Electing Dana would be brilliant, yes. But you do realizethat state legislative elections aren’t for another 3.5 years in Maryland?  People who burned their bridges with current legislators really screwed the community for the next 3.5 years.  Maybe you can find a replacement bill champion for Del. Pena-Melnyk next year, but if a stronger champion is available in the legislature, why didn’t they speak out this year?  I question whether one exists in the House.  From my point of view, some people who didn’t know how to constructively channel their anger took a communications/transparency mistake by EQMD and expanded it into a true tragedy.
I’m sure with real work and dedication, more of the existing legislators can be brought on board.  The sad thing is that you’ll be starting the process after the current session ends with fewer friends than you began, so it will take time and effort just to get back to the level of Jan 2011.
What I want to know is, who is going to take responsibility for the trans people who get discriminated against in housing and employment this year, next year and until the perfect bill gets passed?  Teh Gayz didn’t sink this bill, so they can’t legitimately be blamed (although they will be).  So who will stand up and take responsibility for the ongoing misery?  MonicaR?  Dana LaRocca?  Desiree?  Who?

Not New But Opposed  HR235 is not new this year but EQMD knew that was a lot of opposition to the bill. They were holding transgender group meetings and when the majority in attendance were opposed they shut down the meetings under the umbrella that they were doing it to concentrate on the bill a bill opposed by 75% at the meetings by many accounts.

We’ll have to agree to disagree on this point

Yes, I’m sure Joseline did this to be fawned over When you treat allies like that, don’t be shocked when you have no allies.

I am not sure this is an accurate statementThere were 3 meetings. I went to the last two. At the second meeting, Denise Leclair, Dana Larocca, Donna Plamondon and Robbyn Webb spoke against. Other folx spoke in favor. It seemed to me that more people supported HB 235 but the opponents were louder. At the meeting’s end, Jenna Fischetti made nice comment about unity. It was only later that I realized she opposed.
Denise Leclair taped the meeting – where’s the tape?
Third meeting focused more on multiyear strategy. Then, no more meetings.
BTW, there also seems to be a split in the trans community, as, anecdotally, more transmen support among folx I know. Just an observation.
Also, it was good they shut down those meetings, they were pointless.  

I understand the money’s run out

Very sweet

Everyone who has to drive on 95 or through Berkley Springs would have been impactedand it is not just the trans, the deliberate and legislative intent of excluding a population would have also placed the access rights of Butch Lesbians at risk.
What would have been so very hard about doing it right?
No matter whether or not anyone was directly involved in the campaign, if the bill worked against their personal civil rights, they had an interest in the outcome and the right to speak up. To say otherwise is to repeat the tired, repetative Gay Inc mantra of “we know what is best for you.”
For the last two years or so, few people buy that any more.
And, it isnt just trans people with concerns, so don’t even start targeting them. Lesbian activists with concerns for ALL of our sisters and not just wealthy assimiliationists also have deep concerns.

Whywere the meetings pointless?  I think some have said that they were pointless because the voices were not heard.  But why do you think they were?
I saw someone say online that activists (whether EQMD or TransMaryland) wanted to decide the substance of the bill and both were equally deficient in actually getting into the community and seeing what real people (as opposed to activists) thought.  They pointed out that there is a difference between a consensus of activists and a consensus of the actual community and here was a case of activists driving the bill forward and then backward.  So dueling activists.  They suggested that it was the pot calling the kettle black.  I thought that was an interesting point and something to be aware of moving forward.
How do you really get at what the community wants?  Especially since so many are not engaged and those engaged are such a small slice.
Personally, I think the most important question right now is how to change the hearts and minds of people in power and their constituents (as quickly as possible).  Once the how question is answering, then the very next how to move to is how to effectuate that strategy.  Other concerns are secondary, especially because right now we are in a place where no bill is likely to pass.

Where’s the tape Bug?You wrote: “Denise Leclair taped the meeting – where’s the tape?”
The first two meetings were recorded my Equality Maryland. Ask them “where’s the tape.”
They be your friends. They can give you the tape.
I would especially enjoy the part where I asked Morgan for the names of the members of EQMD’s Legislative Committee. The histrionics were quite amusing.
I probably like you anyway.

Ain’t no friends of mineThe only person I noticed taping was Denise. She should upload it.

Maura,Have you been paying attention? have you noticed how hard it has been to get the limited bill through? The hatred of the Senate leadership is palpable, and the resistance in the House committee was fierce.
We did it right for four years, and the same bigotry killed the bill each of those years.
Having not worked here, you really shouldn’t be saying it wouldn’t have been hard to do it right this time.

Quick PointIt might be wise to be a little more disciplined and not let some of this discussion bleed onto mainstream websites (e.g., the Washington Post or Baltimore Sun comments sections)?  I’ve seen that point made once or twice (inartfully), but it seems to get lost in the frustration, anger and passion.  We need to not lose sight of the reality that the overwhelming number of Marylanders are not tuned in to our issues and certainly not the nuances of our issues.  I think it would be most helpful to use mainstream message boards, while we are in the news, as an educational tool.  Not the activist-type education, telling them how the bill was flawed and how it promotes discrimination, but telling them about us and why we need protection.  Keep it simple.  Human interest vs. Civil Rights 403.  The typical Maryland resident knows not what “public accommodations” are, and they don’t think routinely about incremental rights like the LGBT community does, but rather they just need to hear about the need out there and the dire results of the widespread across-the-board discrimination in place.  Any good advertising campaign is disciplined and always on message and aware of the target.

excellent suggestion

I would say this is an inflated %The reality?  This type of working group should have existed all along.  Is that EQMD’s fault?  Perhaps.  Is the Transgender communities fault?  Perhaps.
The Transgender community failed itself.  There are several people I can barely stand listening to in all of this talk because their arguments are based on a revolving door blame game.  It gets us no where.
Why don’t we try being accountable for our individual activism and advocacy.  Some people have done a tremendous amount and have fought an uphill battle throughout the years.  The rest of us have not done enough, or have done nothing.  That needs to change.
Instead of being stuck on the lack of public accommodations and the yay or nay support of the bill.  Let’s stop for a minute and take a long hard look at the political no no that is happening right now.
Let’s talk about Senator Miller. Let’s discuss why a lighter version of the bill may not even pass.  There are very real and important implications in all of this.  And I think that those very real implications are particularly important in light of the current bill.  It is not because of a lack of public accommodations.  
Those that do not like this bill.  You are very likely going to get your wish for the bill to die.  I also suspect that a bill of this nature will never go before the legislature again without Public Accommodations included.  For it to ever be successfully passed we have a whole lotta work to do.  2015 is now the new likely target date.  If it can even happen that soon.  

This is an important messageYou’re absolutely right.  

WellI can only speak to the two I went to. My friend (the reason why I’m working on this bill, this year) went to the first one, and said “what a waste of time.”
The second meeting was a gripe fest, and the animosity between the pro-HB 235 folx and anti-HB 235 folx was palpable.  There was also a bias towards letting transwomen – and not trasmen – speak.  It seemed to me that the griping should have been done pre-session (and I’m sorry to Monday morning quarterback, maybe that happened – it just didn’t seem that it had).  It seemed to me like EqMD agreed to let the sponsor drop public accommodations without realizing that that move would cause a problem for some folx. I could be wrong about that.  The moderator did a good job trying to let people speak, and she is to be commended for that.
The third meeting – which took place a week before the hearing – focused on the “bathroom issue,” which is important, but, to my mind, that meeting should have focused more on how the hearing for HB 235 would be run.  When I asked about that, I was cut off by Morgan and told it was being handled.
Ohhhhh-kay! So, if the meetings weren’t to strategize around HB 235, and instead were just to allow a few people to say the same things over and over, with no forward movement, those meetings were pointless.
I’m not saying folx shouldn’t meet – I just think it’s important, when you have a meeting, to have a common purpose and a goal you are trying to reach.
EqMD says it will have a meeting post-session. Keep your eyes open to see if that happens.  

DanaI’m not going to respond to you any more if you keep denying my reality. I’m not with EqMD and, “they not be my friends.”
That discussion over the legislative committee was dumb. Who cares if people know who is on the committee?
Again, why don’t you form your own group and push for what you want? That’s what we did in 2000 when we wanted to pass the sexual orientation bill. Just do it.

YesAlex, you are right – the group should have existed pre-session.
Keep up the good fight.

Herding catsI love this suggestion, because it appeals to my OCD (and makes me think you are a Virgo), but the reality is that the only way to discipline message is to (1) start your own group; (2) limit the people who can speak for the group; (3) say the same things over and over; and (4) quickly condemn messages that deviate from your message, and then repeat your message again and again.
You’ll never get the LGBT community on message, because we have 8,900,876,354 different messages.  But, the reality is, no one in the mainstream media cares about this discussion. I’d be interested, though, if you could link to examples you’re talking about.
Another suggestion is to have folx dedicated to monitoring social media and mainstream paper articles and have them post the same comments – I’ve been doing this with the t.v. media pages on Facebook. That’s controllable.  

Ah do you mean this?http://weblogs.baltimoresun.co… and http://weblogs.baltimoresun.co…
Yeah, those folx will continue doing that.

Doing it right isn’t easyBut was doing it wrong any easier? You still failed; cutting public accommodations out of the bill didn’t keep that same bigotry you speak of from killing the bill this time, either.  

Did that.

Again, why don’t you form your own group and push for what you want?

That’s what we did Cathy. And our first goal was to see if we could get HB235 amended to include public accommodations,and if that were not possible that we would let the bill “die a happy death.”
If either Denise or EQMD can supply the recording of that second meeting you will hear that those were the exact words I used; “let the bill die a happy death.”

I probably like you anyway.

Did that.

Again, why don’t you form your own group and push for what you want?

That’s what we did Cathy. And our first goal was to see if we could get HB235 amended to include public accommodations,and if that were not possible that we would let the bill “die a happy death.”
If either Denise or EQMD can supply the recording of that second meeting you will hear that those were the exact words I used; “let the bill die a happy death.”

I probably like you anyway.