They should make the entire state house see the full video. Then see what they say and how they act. They shouldn’t have added an amendment that stripped accomodations, or voted against the anti-descrimination bill. Their deeds and words where heard and this video is the result.
Pesonally, I would shove the video tape up thier collective asses.  

I think showing it would be enough.besides, I doubt they’d be still enough to place such in that location and I pity the individual selected for such.
The video is powerful, powerful evidence of why such things need to happen, with PA attached (since removing it is caving to transphobia and undermines the purpose of the bill in the first place).
Personally, I commend Delegate Pena-Melnyk for this statement and this action.
We cannot win against transphobia by giving in to it.

I agree- this video should be their prime lobbying toolAnd the trans community should relabel it the “bathroom bill” so it will be safe for transpeople to use public accommodations!

Interesting  What’s interesting is she is asking for HB235 to be recommitted which didn’t include PA which this incident is all about.

She’s asking for a stronger version……which is with public accommodations.

Now is the timeTo stop arguing about what is past, what circumstances were, and so on.
I opposed HB235, as you all know, and why. But I never, ever demonised those who looked at the same evidence, and came to a different conclusion. People like my friends, Autumn, Dana, and others.
My own judgement is not perfect. It may even be in light of the circumstances, implacable opposition no matter what from Mike Miller, that their call was the right one. That HB235, no matter what the content, was never going to be passed by the Senate, and the best thing we could achieve was to get something, anything, passed in the House as a benchmark. That content didn’t matter because it had zero chance of being made law, and thus being used as a precedent in other states.
What matters about the past is only how it affects the future, if there are lessons learnt. Now that a bill with P/A is on the table, and I think in light of this video permanently on the table, we can all move forward in the same direction.

I appreciate her comments but heck, she is so last year.
I think it’s time to shop for a new sponsor.  I’ve even heard Senator Frosh’s name mentioned. That might be a hard sell but I find it rather appealing. Senator Ramirez comes to some folks lips too. I would steer away from anyone in the LG caucus.  

Look at it this wayIt is a terrible shame that it takes an incident like the recent terrible attack on the trans woman at that Baltimore McDonald’s, to underscore the need for an amendment to the Maryland human rights law that includes employment, housing and public accommodations.
Still, I have to give Del. Joseline Pena-Melnyk credit for recognizing the connection, and the need, and taking the initiative to bring the situation to the attention of other legislators.  I would suggest that when she introduces the fully-inclusive bill in the next session, that she consider naming the bill after Ms. Polis – as a reminder to all the legislators that the law is necessary.
I labor under no delusions – having the legal protection will not in and of itself stop such incidents from happening – but as we have seen with previous laws along these lines, enacting such a law will start the process of changing societal attitudes.
Look at the effect of the federal Civil RIghts Act of 1964.  In the 1950′s, the three men who dragged James Byrd to death behind their pickup truck in Jasper Texas might have been seen as just having good clean fun.  In the early 1960′s, an all-white jury might have acquitted them.  But in the generation that followed, societal attitudes have changed – they’re not perfect, and there is still a great deal of institutionalized racism out there – but at least the jury convicted those men in the late 1990′s.  
I have seen a few terrible comments about this attack in various places.  Lots of racism is still out there.  But one comment I read elsewhere underscores one reason why the law is needed – the commenter wrote (in part):

If a man was using the bathroom with a 14 year old girl, we would all be screaming child molester. If a man claims to be a woman, she is supported.

(Just to be fair, that comment went on to except the BAltimore incident from that analysis)
Opponents to trans inclusion make erroneous assumption that trans women (or at least some trans women) are “men claiming to be women.”
This is where the education process starts – when the government recognizes that trans women are women, more people will be likely to start adjusting their thinking, so that eventually the people who refuse to understand that trans people are entitled to human dignity and respect will be in the minority.
Let’s hope that the members of the Maryland legislature remember this in the next session, and enact the bill early in the session.

Pena-MelnykIf she wants to come on board for a new bill in 2012, I welcome it as long as she realizes that Equality Maryland is not the only voice in the state.  
I still feel the true reason P/A was cut from HB-235 was due to the pending HB-285 legislation that would have given more teeth into the public accommodations law. This was something pushed by the disability community.  I just don’t feel that she had it in her.
If it takes a violent assault in a McDonald’s for her to finally see the reality of what transsexual/intersex people face and she’s willing to work with us (without the “you people” attitude and threats), then I welcome her on board.
Even if a fully inclusive bill gets introduced, we also need to give the HB-285 type bill another try.  This will add teeth to the public accommodation law and make public accommodation operators more accountable for adpaptions to assure that facilities are accessible to the blind and other disabled communities.  It would obviously add more strength to the GLBT community (yes, all 4)
The key right now is education.  We need lawmakers to see around the moral opposition and the fear mongering to this sensitive issue.  We need to address and educate the two hot button issues which are restroom access and transition on the job.  We will never be able to get everyone to change their minds about trans people but we can definitely said, we made an effort.
Maryland legislators, we will be calling on you.  Just not at 3AM like our opponents. (quack quack)  

agree with your BlogVery nicely done indeed.I think listening to your members is key and ACTING on the info they share/provide is also important. Taking their feedback, knowledge etc and doing something with that information..whether that means promoting it so other members can benefit or making changes to how the community is run, features it includes, etc. Certainly you should communicate how you are acting on the info your members provide.Don’t forget that another way to build online community is to leave your own community from time to time and visit others.
Mike Hudson from Events In Hyderabad

WowI look forward to your organisation being any kind of effective if that’s how you talk about legislative allies.

Joseline Pena-MelnykIt’s obvious from the comments here that many of those commenting haven’t been in the trenches working these laws but sitting on the sidelines criticizing those who have been done the heavy lifting.  Our community could find no elected official with greater commitment to help improve our lives than one finds in Joseline Pena-Melnyk.  I could put a thousand exclamation points behind that statement and not make it loud enough. I am appalled to see these attacks on her when she was the first state official to speak out yet again on the needs for our community.
Some ill informed person above put out Frosh as a sponsor. Honestly, it seemed to me that Frosh did about all he could to kill this bill.  He has told me directly that he believes it is better to litigate protections through the courts than for the elected officials to create law (He’s a lawyer). We had the lawyer from the Diane S. vs. Library of Congress case explain to him why that is a bad idea (including legals fees of $750,000, what TG person looking for a job could afford that?) And I believe because he is not a strong supporter he amended the House bill so it would have yet another hurdle to go through after it passed in the Senate because he knew we had the votes. By making another stumbling block he helped run out the clock which is what he wanted to happen.
Every elected official who spoke on our behalf has said that PA is an issue that we will be talking about next year regardless if HB 235 passed or not. Joseline is leading the charge there, too.  It’s on the tape from the testimony and I know because I was there when she introduced it to the committee.
Let’s stop turning on our allied elected officials and our allied support groups. EQMD was trying to do the right thing. You may not agree with the two step approach but I didn’t see any other well organized group down there fighting for us.  I also agreed with that approach. It’s been done before (including in California) and unlike those who haven’t really been involved, I have spoken to the legislators in Maryland and I know how adamant some are about not treating us equally. We could only push so far and we all know ENDA is not going anywhere, so it seemed like three steps in the right direction were far better than none.
The beating was a terrible thing and I wish it never happened.  All kinds of people were speaking about it but not the TG community and Chrissy was standing alone in that respect. That’s why I organized the rally.  Everyone’s emotional reaction to this horrific crime will help the larger community realize that they have to do all that they can to stop this.  We wanted people to know that some of us face this kind of thing everyday and it is far worse if you are a person of color living in inner cities with little to no income.
So before people push keys criticizing our allies I hope you think and educate yourself.  Get involved so you know the truth and learn to trust that good people do care and at the top of my list of elected officials who do care are Joseline Pen-Melnyk and Mary Washington.

Greatest SPAM

Having been in the trenches in MarylandI agree tenfold.

Even from a cross country distance……I can clearly see what you and Lara see.

Bye-Bye.mikehudson banned for spamming.

Well……which House of Delegates legislator are you personally going to lobby to replace Del. Joseline Pena-Melnyk to sponsor and heavily push an HB235-plus-public-accommodations bill through the Maryland House?
You’re mentioning senators, but not mentioning delegates — and it would take a Delegate to shepherd such a bill through that legislative body.
Talk is cheap, Dana. You need to match action to your words for your words to have value regarding trans equality, and I’m not clear on what actions you plan on personally taking to create a better world for trans people in Maryland.

I’m a writer Autumn.
So if your view is that “talk is cheap” you and I are already on a collision course for disagreement on first principles. In my public life I am a writer first and an activist second. I have had a few newspaper people in my family the most well known being Richard Harding-Davis, who may have had more to do with starting the Spanish American war than either the Spanish or the Americans. I have also had people in the family that wrote for the now defunct Baltimore News-American and the Catholic Review.
So I grew up with the notion that the written word is the most powerful tool for social change at our disposal.
My column is widely read and well respected. Politicians I have met have read and commented on my observations. I offer something different than a regurgitation of Equality Maryland press releases and I’m not afraid to call out those who are popular in the Washington based gay press. And it is very much the “gay” as opposed to “LGBT” press. People read what I write. It’s that simple.
Had I yet decided who I would support in the House of Delegates as a sponsor for Gender Identity legislation I would not post it at PHB. Since I haven’t decided yet “cannot tell you” trumps “will not tell you” for now. But when I’m ready to tell it will be in my column first.
I was lobbying in Annapolis this past season and I continue contact with my legislators as we speak. I don’t know where you get the impression that I don’t organize in the community or lobby. I do. Prior to Morgan’s departure I was meeting with her about getting more African American involvement and reaching out to adjudicated youth (Danaspeak for sex workers) and high school students. That meeting was prompted by a facebook discussion with two former EQMD board members Dr. Beyer and Alex Hickox. Rather than spending Easter with my family I met with other activists planning strategy. And on Monday morning I was meeting with a coalition that involved both those that had opposed HB235 and Equality Maryland staff members.
The rest of the week I have been writing.
All three of those meeting, while not secret, were private. Much of our activism is private, not from a want for publicity, but because privacy is more effective. As far as plans for the future you can expect a statement by mid-week from my partners. I have not yet decided if my name will be attached to that statement.
I hope this answers your concerns both about my writing and about your misunderstanding that writing is all that I do.