Every June, gays and lesbians across the country celebrate Pride, an event marked by festive parties, parades, and copious amounts of alcohol consumption. The current incarnation of Pride has seemingly lost much of its sense of history as a time to recognize the progress made politically by gay and lesbian people since the Stonewall Rebellion of 1969. Yes, Virginia, we have Pride to commemorate political advances and political power, not to help you get your rocks off with as many people as possible (although, thanks to the American Civil Liberties Union, you can do that in private with willing adult partners without fear of arrest!). Both Maryland and Baltimore City have a rich tradition of efforts to advance the political and civil rights of lesbian and gay people and, more recently, transgender people.
In 1977 – less than ten years after the Stonewall riots in New York – a group of gay Baltimoreans founded the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Baltimore to give Baltimore-area gays a resource and a support network. Shortly after the forming of the GLCCB, the Baltimore City Council considered a measure to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation, which it ultimately passed in 1988, marking the emergence of gay political power in the city. Also during the 1980s, AIDS wracked the Baltimore gay community, as it did with gay centers across the country. What is now viewed by Generation WTF as a manageable condition was a death sentence in the early days of AIDS, and gays and their allies organized to create resources against this new threat. The founding of the Baltimore Alternative in 1986 by Bill Urban, who later succumbed to complications from AIDS, resulted in timely chronicling of the crisis.
The 1990s kicked off in Baltimore City with two significant developments. The Baltimore City Circuit Court quietly began to grant second-parent adoptions for gay couples, marking the beginning of the “Gay Family” movement in the state. Perhaps more importantly, the Baltimore Justice Campaign spearheaded efforts to amend Baltimore City’s law to extend domestic partnership recognition to Baltimore City employees and their families. Baltimore Justice Campaign worked to have both then-councilman Martin O’Malley and perennial mayoral candidate Carl Stokes co-sponsor a bill that broadly covered both gay and straight unmarried couples. Expectations ran high that the bill would pass. However, church leaders eventually pressured several co-sponsors to withdraw support. Instead of admitting that he folded under this pressure, Stokes introduced legislation to limit domestic partnership to lesbians and gay men only, an effort widely seen as a cynical “divide and conquer” move. Ultimately Stokes did not vote for the bill, and it failed – to the bitter disappointment of Baltimore City’s gay community – in 1994. Some years later, city workers did secure domestic partnership benefits, but the rift forged from this defeat had a lasting impact on the Baltimore and Maryland political scene.
After the domestic partnership debacle, Baltimore gay activists played a key role in helping ensure the election of Martin O’Malley as Mayor, as the GLCCB’s ad hoc political action committee endorsed O’Malley – and not Stokes – for Mayor in 1999, in part because of O’Malley’s support of domestic partnership battle. O’Malley’s election meant that the community had enhanced access and power, which it exercised on a number of occasions, including asking O’Malley to testify in favor of the statewide law to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation. That effort took on renewed urgency when then-Governor Parris Glendenning appointed a number of Baltimore activists, including Ann Gordon, Shannon Avery and Carlton Smith, to a commission that held hearings throughout the state, soliciting details of the discrimination faced by gay and lesbian Marylanders. The commission issued a report that helped support the enactment of the Anti-Discrimination Act in 2001, capping off almost two decades of effort to pass a statewide anti-discrimination law. Shortly thereafter, O’Malley became the first elected official in the state to sign a law banning discrimination against transgender people, thanks in part to the efforts of Baltimore City gay activists.
Subsequent to the enactment of the Anti-Discrimination Act, the ACLU, which sued the state over its laws criminalizing gay sex in 1999, fought off an attempt by an anti-gay organization to repeal the law at the voting booth. The ACLU continued its commitment to equality for gay and lesbian Marylanders by taking the lead on marriage equality, filing suit in 2004 challenging Maryland marriage law and discriminatory as same-sex couples. Although the lawsuit came to a bitter end in 2007, the ACLU continued to work – in partnership with Equality Maryland and other organizations, to fight for marriage equality.
So, as you down kamikazes and dance to whatever summer anthem fuels your Pride party, remember that literally hundreds of people worked – and continue to work – to secure the rights non-LGBT folks take for granted.
Friday, 17 June 2011
July 20, 2001
You think I just don't understand, but I don't believe you. 
Baltimore Sun, June 18, 2001 501 N. Calvert Street, Baltimore, MD, 21278 (Fax: 410-332-6977 ) (E-Mail: letters@… ) ( http://www.sunspot.net/ ) http://www.sunspot.net/news/local/bal-md.mayor18jun18.story?coll=bal% 2Dlocal %2Dheadlines
Mayor welcomed at Pride Festival
In wake of Graziano incident, task force on gay issues created
By Heather Dewar, Sun Staff
The winter’s chill that marred relations between Mayor Martin O’Malley and his supporters in the gay community was all but forgotten in yesterday’s bright sunshine at Druid Hill Park, where cheers and applause greeted the mayor at the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Baltimore’s annual Pride Festival. O’Malley took the festival stage to announce the creation of a Gay and Lesbian Task Force, made up of eight community activists and representatives of every city agency. The task force will meet four times a year to help frame city policy on issues raised by gay and lesbian activists, O’Malley said, and it will also serve “a trouble-shooting function” to prevent misunderstandings between the gay community and City Hall. The administration is also planning task forces to act as liaisons to the city’s Hispanic and Korean communities, the mayor said. O’Malley said the task force was inspired by a controversy in January. When newly appointed Housing Commissioner Paul T. Graziano made insulting and sexually graphic remarks about gays in a Fells Point bar, O’Malley rebuked the commissioner but did not fire him, saying that alcohol was a “mitigating factor” in his behavior. Many members of the gay community demanded Graziano’s firing, but O’Malley instead ordered the commissioner to enroll in a monthlong alcohol treatment program. Graziano publicly apologized, and O’Malley apologized, too, agreeing with activists who said he should have condemned Graziano’s behavior more publicly and forcefully. “When that came up, we all agreed there was a need to have a group like this task force,” O’Malley said yesterday, “so we have a way to communicate as problems arise.” The mayor’s fence-mending efforts appeared to have paid off. Yesterday’s crowd, estimated by organizers at between 22,000 and 25,000, greeted O’Malley warmly with applause and cameras snapping away. “If you have friends around the country, tell them Baltimore is a city on the rise,” O’Malley said to loud cheers. “Please spread the word that Baltimore is a welcoming place.” Task force member Cathy Brennan, who serves on the community center’s board of directors, said gay and lesbian voters overwhelmingly backed O’Malley in the 1999 mayor’s race and still support him. She said most gay activists have gotten over their anger involving the Graziano incident. “That incident was a learning experience for the administration,” Brennan said. “They’ve been very positive on our issues.” Brennan said the task force will begin work by drawing up a list of the city services that are most needed in the gay and lesbian community.
Baltimore Sun, July 20, 2001
501 N. Calvert Street, Baltimore, MD, 21278
(Fax: 410-332-6977 ) (E-Mail: letters@… )
( http://www.sunspot.net/ )
Gay rights law set for referendum
Groups gather required number of petition signatures
‘A sense of relief’: Anti-bias measure in limbo until vote next year
By David Nitkin, Sun Staff
A coalition of religious and family-values groups has gathered
enough
voter signatures to force a referendum in November next year on a law
prohibiting discrimination against homosexuals, state elections
officials
said yesterday.
The successful petition drive by TakeBackMaryland.org means
that an
anti-bias law approved by the General Assembly this year will not take
effect Oct. 1 and will be in limbo until the referendum vote.
The measure was adopted in March after an arduous 10-year
campaign by
supporters, who were led in recent years by Gov. Parris N.
Glendening. It
now returns to the political fray and could affect next year’s
gubernatorial
race.
“It’s a sense of relief,” said Gary Cox, head of Family
Heritage
Matters, the Frederick-based group that helped collect signatures.
“The
process we have to go through now is to get the message out to the
public.
It becomes a regular, political election year-type issue.”
Cox and others collected 47,539 valid signatures, said Donna
Duncan,
director of the state election management division. They needed
46,128
voters’ signatures to trigger a vote, or 3 percent of the total votes
cast
for governor in 1998.
Backers of the anti-discrimination initiative said they were
disappointed that their fight must continue, but predicted victory at
the
ballot box.
“While this is a temporary setback for Maryland, we fully
expect that
voters will uphold the law and will provide a strong mandate against
discrimination,” said Cathy Brennan, a board member of the Gay,
Lesbian,
Bisexual and Transgender Community Center of Baltimore and Central
Maryland.
“A broad coalition of individuals across the state worked hard to
enact
this, and that same coalition will be working to protect the
legislation.”
This year, Maryland became the 12th state, plus the District of
Columbia, to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation. The
Anti-Discrimination Act of 2001 made it illegal for sexual status to
be
considered in buying or renting a house or apartment, applying for a
job, or
seeking public accommodations such as hotel rooms and restaurant
meals.
A similar ban is on the books in Baltimore and Howard,
Montgomery and
Prince George’s counties, covering nearly half of the state’s
population.
To appease wavering lawmakers, the law was amended to state
explicitly that it “not be construed to authorize or validate” same-
sex
marriage or require employers to offer health benefits to unmarried
domestic
partners.
The impending debate has the potential to color the
gubernatorial
election and other races next year, political observers say.
“Everybody will be asked about it, and everybody will have to
take a
position on it,” said Carol Arscott, a GOP pollster. “It’s not going
to be
something you will be able to duck. And most candidates would
probably
prefer to duck it.”
How important the issue becomes in next year’s campaign depends
largely on the extent of media coverage, Arscott said.
A statewide poll conducted for The Sun and two Washington-area
news
outlets released in January found that 60 percent of Marylanders
favor gay
rights.
Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, the early favorite in the
governor’s race, has been far less outspoken than Glendening on the
issue.
Her chief of staff, Alan Fleischmann, said yesterday that she
supports the governor’s position. “She does believe it is important
to have
tolerance, inclusion and fairness,” he said.
Opponents of the law say they are undaunted by polls and that
government should not support homosexual behavior
“This campaign has demonstrated that the state’s politicians
are out
of step with the majority of Marylanders who believe that homosexual
behavior is immoral and dangerous, both to the individual and to
society,”
the Rev Matthew Sine, pastor of Allentown Baptist Church, said in a
statement last month when the coalition submitted its final
signatures.
The law’s supporters accuse TakeBackMaryland.org’s leaders of
misinterpreting its impact.
“We’ve already seen tactics to distort what the bill does,”
said Mike
Morrill, a spokesman for Glendening. “The point that the governor and
others who helped pass the bill will make is that this law extends
the same
basic protection that so many of us take for granted to all
Marylanders. It
does not create special rights.”
Baltimore Sun, July 19, 2001
501 N. Calvert Street, Baltimore, MD, 21278
(Fax: 410-332-6977 ) (E-Mail: letters@… )
( http://www.sunspot.net/ )
Letter: Prejudice forces gays to seek public protection
If gay men and lesbians weren’t called names, didn’t have
derogatory
things written about them on bulletin boards at work and weren’t
belittled
behind our backs and discriminated against in housing and employment
we
would have no reason for a “gay agenda” (“Keep public sexual identity
out of
the public arena,” letters, July 13).
If gay and lesbian couples were given the right to the same
legal
status as straight couples in marriage, we would have no reason for a
gay
agenda.
Whether people are gay by nature or nurture, we were created
by the
same God who created others. And I doubt any gay person who has
changed his
orientation was ever a homosexual in the first place.
– Tim Sharman, Baltimore
Letter: Christian right wastes its energy on hatred (July 20, 2001)
If the Christian right, which professes to follow a loving,
forgiving, gentle savior, put as much energy into ending violence and
ridding the streets of illegal weapons and drug dealers as into
obsessively
hating gay people, the world would be a much better place.
What would the founder of their religion (the “love thy
neighbor,”
“forgive trespasses,” “turn the other cheek” dude) think of their
quest to
dehumanize and isolate a whole segment of the population through
ignorance
and fear, rather than working for the good of all?
Not much, I should think.
– Michael S. Eckenrode, Baltimore
Baltimore Sun, November 22, 2001
501 N. Calvert Street, Baltimore, MD, 21278
(Fax: 410-332-6977 ) (E-Mail: letters@… )
( http://www.sunspot.net/ )
http://www.sunspot.net/news/local/bal-md.rights22nov22.story?coll=bal%
2Dlocal%2Dheadlines
Gay rights now law
Md. bill takes effect after foes concede failure of petition bid; ‘A
beacon
of fairness’; Measure’s backers had filed lawsuit contesting names
By Michael Dresser and Andrea F. Siegel, Sun Staff
A bill banning discrimination against homosexuals became state
law
yesterday after organizers of a campaign to overturn the legislation
admitted they did not gather enough valid signatures to force a
referendum.
The measure took effect at 3:31 p.m., when Judge Eugene M.
Lerner of
Anne Arundel Circuit Court approved an agreement reached by opponents
and
advocates earlier in the day.
“I’m glad you were able to work it out,” Lerner said, shaking
the
hands of lawyers Charles J. Butler and Dwight H. Sullivan, who
represented
gay rights organizations. Attorneys for the law’s opponents did not
attend
the four-minute huddle around Lerner’s desk.
Brian Fahring, an attorney for opponents of the law, said his
clients
conceded after “an honest appraisal” of the evidence forced them to
conclude
they had no chance of prevailing in a lawsuit brought by supporters
of the
gay rights legislation.
“It’s the simple acknowledgement of what in fact is true,” said
Fahring, who represented TakeBackMaryland.org, which sponsored the
referendum drive.
The General Assembly approved the anti-discrimination
legislation
this year after a determined lobbying effort by Gov. Parris N.
Glendening,
who made its an enactment a top priority.
Glendening, in a statement celebrating the legal capitulation,
said,
“With this law now in effect, Maryland begins the 21st Century as a
beacon
of fairness, justice and inclusion. We move forward in the new
economy
knowing that every Marylander will be able to reach his or her full
potential without regard to race, gender, ethnicity or whom they
happen to
love.”
The law in effect adds gays and lesbians to the groups,
including
women and minorities, protected by state law banning discrimination in
housing, employment and public accommodations.
Four Maryland jurisdictions – Baltimore City and Montgomery,
Howard
and Prince George’s counties – have gay rights laws, but no statewide
statute existed until yesterday. Eleven states and Washington have
such
laws.
A co-founder of TakeBackMaryland.org said the new law will
encourage
gay rights groups to seek legislation liberalizing adoption practices
and
establishing gay marriage.
“It has opened the door wide open to what is clearly a pro-
homosexual
agenda,” said the Rev. Matt Sine, a Baptist pastor in Prince George’s
County.
The deal to end the fight for a referendum was sealed in
Lerner’s
Annapolis chambers, with two of the General Assembly’s leading
advocates of
the bill looking on.
House Majority Leader Maggie L. McIntosh hugged the
lawyers. “It’s a
great day,” the Baltimore Democrat said.
“This is an historic occasion,” said Del. Samuel I. Rosenberg,
a
Baltimore Democrat, comparing the legislation with civil rights laws
of a
generation ago.
The bill was supposed to become law Oct. 1, but the referendum
bid
delayed its effective date.
After the General Assembly session, religious conservatives
mobilized
to collect the 46,128 signatures necessary to put the issue before the
voters. They claimed success in July when they turned in 56,557 to
the
state elections board. The board certified 47,730 as valid, enough
to force
a referendum.
The American Civil Liberties Union and gay rights groups
responded
with a lawsuit charging that many of the certified signatures were
invalidly
collected.
A special master appointed by the judge found that hundreds of
the
signatures – enough to knock the question off the ballot – did not
stand up
to legal scrutiny.
The opponents’ case crumbled after lawyers for gay rights
advocates
took depositions in which some petition circulators acknowledged that
they
hadn’t witnessed each signature as it was collected.
Fahring, an attorney with the American Family Association for
Law and
Policy, said his clients were disappointed with the result. “When we
came
in to the litigation, we had a good, firm belief we could prevail,”
he said.
The lawyer said that in the process of discovery and
deposition-taking, it became clear that “missteps” on the part of
people
circulating petitions would leave the law’s opponents short of the
required
number of signatures.
He said he knew of no further legal steps the law’s opponents
could
take. That would leave repeal by the General Assembly as their only
possible route, and that would require a seismic shift in Maryland
politics.
Sine of TakeBackMaryland.org held out hope.
“I believe it will be a major issue in the next election,” he
said.
“A lot of Maryland citizens are very upset at their elected officials
right
now.”
Butler, lead attorney for gay rights advocates, said the
settlement
“vindicates our position.” He and the ACLU’s Sullivan represented
Free
State Justice, the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Baltimore and
23
individuals.
Jason Young, spokesman for Free State Justice, said Maryland
is a
safer place to live and work because of the law. “Someone asked if
we were
tickled pink,” he said. “I said we were tickled purple.”
Cathy Brennan, a board member of the community center, called
the
outcome “a tremendous victory, not only for the gay community, but
for all
Marylanders who value civil rights.”
She noted that the law protects not only homosexuals, but also
heterosexuals who are perceived as being gay. The law would also
protect a
straight person who was discriminated against by a gay employer or
landlord.
Fahring criticized the state’s “extremely onerous”
requirements for a
referendum challenging an act of the General Assembly.
The Tupelo, Miss., attorney said Maryland law does not leave
enough
time after the General Assembly acts to mount a petition drive. He
said the
failure to gain enough valid signatures could be attributed to “people
trying to meet deadlines, trying to do their level best and in the
process
making missteps.”
Deputy Attorney General Carmen Shepard said courts have struck
down
referendums because of invalid signatures before, but she said she
knew of
no such cases since the 1960s.
Washington Blade (glbt), November 30, 2001
Washington, DC
(E-Mail: forum@… ) ( http://www.washblade.com )
Surprise success
Marylanders on both sides of ballot issue reflect on long journey to
legal
resolution
by Kara Fox
ANNAPOLIS – The group seeking to invalidate Maryland’s
anti-discrimination law that protects gays conceded a legal challenge
to its
repeal drive last week out of concern that the legal process could
reveal
negative information about its signature-collection process, an
attorney for
the pro-gay side told the Blade this week.
Charles J. Butler, who represented two Maryland organizations
and a
group of activists challenging a November 2002 referendum effort by
the
conservative group Take Back Maryland, said he told that
organization’s
lawyer that a motion Butler intended to file on Nov. 19 “contained
things
that would not look favorable to Take Back Maryland and they didn’t
want
that to get out.” Brian Fahling, the Take Back Maryland attorney,
reportedly told Butler that he “strongly recommended to [Take Back
Maryland]
to accept the stipulation.”
Fahling did not return a reporter’s call seeking comment.
Butler’s motion sought “summary judgment” on the lawsuit –
asking the
judge to rule on the case’s merits without a trial.
“We didn’t think they were going to give in,” he said
Wednesday,
acknowledging that asking for the stipulation was a long
shot. “[But] they
could sense that we were going to win.”
The anti-discrimination law, passed by Maryland’s legislature
and
signed by Gov. Parris Glendening this spring, was scheduled to take
effect
Oct. 1, but was put on hold after Take Back Maryland submitted
signatures to
put the issue on the November 2002 ballot. Because of the outcome of
the
lawsuit last week, the law took effect the afternoon of Nov. 21,
immediately
after Anne Arundel Circuit Court Judge Eugene M. Lerner certified the
stipulation that the two sides signed. The stipulation acknowledged
that
the group seeking the referendum vote had not gathered enough valid
signatures to proceed.
Tres Kerns, chair of Take Back Maryland, had contended from the
beginning that his organization had gathered enough signatures, but
this
week he admitted defeat.
“We can all honestly say we were outgunned and outmaneuvered
in the
court system,” Kerns said. “The ACLU, Free State Justice, and Mr.
Butler
had a lot more resources than we did and it became apparent that we
weren’t
going to win. . To be honest and fair, we were beat.”
Said Butler, “The evidence just eventually came out. We
didn’t have
any fancy legal argument. They just didn’t get the petition
properly. It
was still a surprise [that they agreed to a stipulation.] A part of
me is
disappointed – it would have been a fun court fight. But the
important
thing is that the law went into effect – that was the important
thing.”
Blake Humphreys, managing director of the statewide gay civil
rights
group Free State Justice, said, “This was a surprise that they
conceded, but
it wasn’t a surprise that they didn’t have enough valid signatures.”
Free State and the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender
Community
Center of Baltimore & Central Maryland were the two organizations
behind the
lawsuit, along with a group of Maryland citizens.
After the law went into effect, Glendening, a Democrat who
strongly
backed the civil rights law, released a statement hailing the victory.
“With this law now in effect,” Glendening wrote, “Maryland
begins the
21st century as a beacon of fairness, justice and inclusion. We move
forward in the new economy knowing that every Marylander will be able
to
reach his or her full potential, without regard to race, gender,
ethnicity,
or whom they happen to love. . Today the people of Maryland indeed
have
reason to be thankful as we take a new step toward achieving the
vision we
have set for ourselves as a nation and as a people.”
Take Back Maryland’s Kerns reflected that his group recognized
that
the facts were against the referendum effort, but criticized the
state’s
process for bringing an issue before voters.
“There were not enough valid signatures to keep on going,” he
said.
“We needed more signatures – we needed more time. The whole process
should
be geared for the typical citizen. . The homosexual movement is well
organized and methodical. We have a lot to learn. . I hope both
sides can
learn from this.”
Kerns said he has contacted Dwight Sullivan from the American
Civil
Liberties Union, who was on the legal team representing the gay
advocates in
the lawsuit, for help in restructuring the state’s referendum law.
“We learned the pitfalls and the deficiencies in the
referendum law.
For example, Maryland is one of the only states where you only have
60 days
[between when a law passes to when petition signatures need to be
handed
in],” Kerns said. “We will probably go to the General Assembly
session to
improve the referendum law. We need to spell out some areas where
people
messed up. The average citizen had a hard time following the rules.
We’re
going to make a recommendation on extending the time.”
Butler, who is an attorney with Washington-based law firm
Covington &
Burling, said that even though petition circulators admitted to not
following state procedures while gathering petition signatures, he
would not
pursue the case any further and would not release any evidence he has.
“We can’t control whether the state decides to prosecute these
people. We can’t control what they do, but we’re not pursuing
anything
ourselves,” Butler said. “As far as we are concerned, this case is
over
unless Take Back Maryland starts misrepresenting why they went along
with
the stipulation.”
Assistant Attorney General Michael D. Berman, who represented
the
state, said he signed the stipulation because “when both parties
reached
that agreement, we had no reason to dispute that.” When asked
whether the
state will seek to prosecute the petition gatherers, Berman said he
had no
comment.
Observers noted that the upset to the referendum drive in
Maryland is
the first statewide court win of its kind.
Deputy Attorney General Carmen Shepard told the Baltimore Sun
that
Maryland courts have struck down referenda because of invalid
signatures
before, but she said she knew of no such cases since the 1960s. Seth
Kilbourn, national field director for the Human Rights Campaign, the
largest
national gay political organization, said other gay-related referenda
have
been overturned in courts, but not on a statewide level.
“On a statewide level, this is the first time signatures have
been
invalidated by the court,” Kilbourn said.
He noted the success in Maryland comes on the heels of ballot
battle
successes for the gay community in Michigan and Miami, painting a
positive
picture for gays. Two pro-gay ballot measures in Miami Beach, Fla.,
won by
large margins; three cities in Michigan voted down anti-gay ballot
initiatives.
“When you look at it all together, it paints a picture that the
backlashes don’t work,” he said. “We as a community are becoming
better at
the ballot box and [at fighting these battles.]”
Free State Justice’s Humphreys said he hopes the win in
Maryland will
help other states that go through similar referenda.
“I do see this as a historical event,” Humphreys
said, “especially
combined with the elections in Michigan and Florida. . I hope other
states
will look at how Maryland was fighting this. We were blessed to have
won in
the courts.”
Kilbourn added that the gay community needs to develop the
resources
to be ready to fight these kinds of battles across the country.
“The work of Free State Justice and the resources and help of
the
ACLU and partnerships that were formed with HRC and other groups –
those
kind of partnerships worked really well there,” he said. “We need to
do
that in other places as well. That is a good model to replicate.”
Humphreys noted that this was only the “first step in our civil
rights struggle in the state of Maryland,” but that the next focus
will be
on the upcoming November 2002 Maryland general election.
“We will be focusing on next year’s election to make sure fair-
minded
officials are elected and to support the overwhelming majority of
legislators who supported us.”
Other activists agreed.
“This should be a time for the community to reflect and think
about
what they want,” said Cathy Brennan, a gay civil rights
activist. “The
community needs to be smart about their next step. Our job is to
protect
those [legislators] who voted in our favor. If we don’t vote those
[into
office] who are friendly to our community, this law could be
repealed.”
Brennan said she didn’t think the gay civil rights issue would
be a
talking point in upcoming campaigns, except by “fringe” groups and
individuals.
“This is an issue of fairness,” Brennan said.
The law that took effect last week makes it illegal to
discriminate
on the basis of sexual orientation in the areas of employment,
housing, and
public accommodations across the state. Maryland now joins 11 other
states and the District of Columbia in enacting anti-discrimination
laws that
protect gays.
Baltimore Sun, August 16, 2001
501 N. Calvert Street, Baltimore, MD, 21278
(Fax: 410-332-6977 ) (E-Mail: letters@… )
( http://www.sunspot.net/ )
Letter: Little logic attends Kane’s criticism of gay rights statute
I am dismayed by the unvarnished bigotry expressed by Gregory
Kane in
his column “Gay rights law opponent says logic, not hate, is issue”
(Aug.
8).
Having served on the Governor’s Commission to Study Sexual
Orientation Discrimination, I learned of the extent of discrimination
based
on sexual orientation throughout our state.
Mr. Kane’s presumption that all gay people have high-paying
jobs and
fabulous lives is wrong. Gay and lesbian people come from all walks
of life
and struggle with the same problems as everyone else.
Stereotypes are destructive, whether positive or negative. The
positive stereotype that all gay people are wealthy white men with
high
incomes and loads of disposable cash is dangerous. It helps create
the
impression that members of such a group must be controlled and do not
experience discrimination.
Sweeping generalizations like the ones Mr. Kane expressed
about gay
men and lesbians are false and harmful. Mr. Kane’s column is also
amazingly
insulting to gay people who don’t fit that stereotype and struggle to
make
ends meet.
These are the people who lose their jobs and their homes, and
are
rejected by their families. These are the people who need protection
from
discrimination.
– Shannon Avery, Baltimore
The writer is vice chairwoman of the Baltimore City Community
Relations
Commission.
Gregory Kane’s veiled anti-gay hostility is a perfect example
why the
gay-rights law passed by the legislature is needed.
In the column, Mr. Kane describes the anti-discrimination law
as
being “crammed down the throats of Marylanders by our wacky
legislators.”
According to The Sun’s own polling, more than 60 percent of
Marylanders
support gay rights.
Even more absurd is Mr. Kane’s assertion that Tres Kerns, head
of
TakeBackMaryland.org, which opposes the law, is “a guy who doesn’t
want to
know what sexual activity his neighbors engage in behind closed
doors.”
– Robert L. Meyerhoff, Baltimore
Gregory Kane’s column “Gay rights law opponent says logic, not
hate,
is issue” (Aug. 8) lacks logic. And the selection of Tres Kerns’
quotes
does little for the column’s credibility.
Mr. Kerns says, “It’s a little insulting to compare somebody’s
sexual
orientation with things they can’t help like their skin color,”
suggesting
being gay or lesbian is not an immutable characteristic.
Have we forgotten that our civil rights laws protect us on the
basis
of other things, including religion, and that Americans have the
right (and
often exercise the right) to change their faith?
Shall we throw out religious protections as well to ensure
consistent
application of the notion that only immutable characteristics deserve
protection?
– Timothy Carson, Parkville
BALTIMORE SUN, July 3, 2001
501 N. Calvert Street, Baltimore, MD, 21278
(Fax: 410-332-6977 ) (E-Mail: letters@… )
( http://www.sunspot.net/ )
http://www.sunspot.net/news/local/bal-
te.md.census03jul03.story?coll=bal%2Dl
ocal%2Dheadlines
Count of same-sex couples jumps past 11,000 in state
Gays, lesbians say census falls short
By Frank D. Roylance, Sun Staff
More than 11,000 Maryland households were headed by same-sex
couples
last year, according to new data released today from the 2000 census.
The count of same-sex “unmarried partners” constitutes barely a
half-percent of the state’s nearly 2 million households. Members of
the gay
and lesbian community believe the figure falls well short of a true
count of
their numbers.
But it also represents the Census Bureau’s first deliberate
effort to
recognize and include long-term gay and lesbian relationships in its
decennial portrait of American households.
“That’s progress,” said Janet Goldstein, 37, who has lived
with her
47-year-old lesbian partner for 12 1/2 years in Baltimore, where they
own a
house together. “Whether or not you approve of same-sex
relationships, it
doesn’t do anybody any favors to undercount or to misrepresent.”
Andrew Cherlin, a professor of sociology at the Johns Hopkins
University, agreed that the Census Bureau’s count likely missed many
gays
and lesbians.
“There have to be some people who are hesitant to divulge their
sexuality,” he said. In the meantime, these “seem to be the most
reliable
numbers to start with.”
Census officials stress that they weren’t trying to count
people by
sexual preference.
“In no sense of the word are these questions even attempting
to get
an estimate of the gay and lesbian population,” said Martin
O’Connell, chief
of the bureau’s fertility and family statistics branch.
Unmarried “partners” are defined only as two unrelated people
sharing
living quarters and a “close personal relationship.” They’re
distinguished
from roommates, who share space simply to save money.
The data, he said, “are meant to provide an estimate of how
people
see themselves in the household, how they relate to each other and
how the
household functions.”
Nevertheless, gay rights advocates are seizing on the numbers
as
evidence that gays and lesbians live in all Maryland counties, rural
and
urban, and need statewide legislation to protect them from
discrimination in
jobs, housing and public accommodations.
“Protection from discrimination should not be an accident of
geography,” said Shannon Avery, political action chairman of the Gay
and
Lesbian Community Center of Baltimore.
A Maryland advocacy group, TakeBackMaryland.org, is
petitioning for a
referendum to block a new state law that would extend such
protections to
gays and lesbians, effective in October.
The new batch of 2000 census data also includes hundreds of
pages of
statistics on age, race, household relationships, home ownership and
prison
inmates.
Among the findings for Maryland:
The percentage of Marylanders living in owner-occupied homes
grew
from 68 percent to 71 percent during the 1990s. Blacks were
nevertheless
more than twice as likely as whites in 2000 to be renters.
The population of Maryland’s state prisons grew by almost 25
percent,
to 22,924 during the 1990s. The state population grew by less than 11
percent. Seventy-two percent of adult inmates in Maryland, and 64
percent of
those in state juvenile facilities, were black.
The number of Maryland children who are living in a
grandparent’s
home increased from 102,000 to nearly 118,000 during the 1990s.
That’s a
jump of more than 15 percent. Statewide, nearly 67,000 black children
lived
in a grandparent’s home, compared with 43,000 whites.
The 2000 census counted 110,335 Maryland households headed by
“unmarried partners.” About 90 percent were of the opposite sex;
nearly 10
percent were same-sex partners.
On the surface, the Maryland numbers suggest a significant
increase
since 1990 in the number of same-sex partners – up from 3,028 in
1990, to
11,243 in 2000. Comparable jumps have been noted in other states
where data
have been released in recent weeks. National figures are not yet
available.
But Census Bureau officials warn that the 1990 data cannot be
compared directly with the 2000 figures.
In 1990, officials invalidated responses from households who
reported
living with “spouses” of the same sex. “Federal law recognizes only
opposite-sex marriages,” O’Connell said.
But by 2000, a growing number of court cases and legal
petitions
seeking recognition of same-sex unions produced “a much more cognizant
awareness on our part of changes in the living arrangements of people
in the
1990s,” he said.
The bureau still could not recognize same-sex “spouses,” he
said.
But, after checking for obvious errors, officials routinely recorded
same-sex “spouses” as “unmarried partners.”
“Many couples, not legally, but culturally and religiously, are
married, and that’s how they refer to themselves,” said Paula
Ettelbrick,
director of family policy for the National Gay and Lesbian Task
Force. “I
think they [Census Bureau officials] now understand they have the
data to
count these people, and they’re willing to do it.”
People in the gay and lesbian community say many people are
still
fearful of revealing their relationships to the government, so the
count may
be too low.
“I would at least triple it,” said Shirley Hartwell, 66, who
shares a
home in Baltimore’s Roland Park neighborhood with her partner, Tammy
Borkowski, 37.
“We are both so ‘out,'” said Hartwell, who retired from her job
repairing computers for IBM. Even so, “we thought twice about how we
were
going to fill it out. We decided to be truthful about it, because
that’s the
only way we’ll be visible. … But I would think there were a lot of
people
who decided the other way.”
Jared Christopher, 53, and his partner of seven years, Dr.
Merle
McCann, 46, reported themselves to the 2000 census as same-sex
“spouses.”
Twenty-five years ago, Christopher said, many gay couples kept
separate bedrooms and dual phone lines to keep up a public pretense
of being
just roommates. “It’s changed a lot for the better,” he said.
Ettelbrick credited the Clinton administration for
improvements in
attitudes toward gay and lesbian couples.
Even so, same-sex couples don’t yet enjoy job benefits equal to
married couples. Goldstein said gays can’t even enter some “family
only”
hospital facilities to be with their partners.
And while Goldstein said she “never really had any fear of
coming out
to people, or being discovered,” she remains guarded about her
personal life
when traveling in parts of rural Maryland. She also said her partner
teaches
in the Baltimore City schools and has to be very circumspect.
The Maryland data released today show that same-sex couples –
at
least those who decided to report their relationships on their census
form –
can be found in every county.
Garrett County in Western Maryland had the fewest, and the
smallest
percentage – just 21 among a total of about 11,500 households.
Baltimore City had the largest number – 2,118 – even though it
is the
state’s fourth-largest jurisdiction.
Sixty-five percent are in the city or Montgomery (2,070),
Prince
George’s (1,680) and Baltimore (1,538) counties. Only 17 percent live
outside the metropolitan counties.
Gays and lesbians “gravitate to cities because they can meet
other
people like themselves,” Goldstein said. And like many other people,
they
also choose cities for the anonymity they offer.
Last year’s census did not reveal any city neighborhoods that
could
fairly be described as “enclaves” for same-sex couples.
Bolton Hill had the largest number, with 63 – just 2 percent
of the
households in that census tract.
Hartwell said that some neighborhoods are nevertheless
well-recognized within the community as lesbian-friendly. “It used to
be
Waverly 30 years ago,” she said. “Now it’s Lauraville,” just
northeast of
Lake Montebello.
The 2000 census counted 43 households with same-sex partners,
out of
more than 2,000 households in the two census tracts that include
Lauraville.
Twenty-nine of them were female.
For a more accurate figure, she said, “multiply by five.”
Baltimore Sun, July 1, 2001
501 N. Calvert Street, Baltimore, MD, 21278
(Fax: 410-332-6977 ) (E-Mail: letters@… )
( http://www.sunspot.net/ )
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te.md.petition01jul010.story?coll=bal%
2Dlocal%2Dheadlines
Gay rights foes deliver petitions for referendum
Group seeking repeal of law confident it has enough valid signatures
By Michael Hill, Sun Staff
Leaders of a group seeking a referendum on Maryland’s new gay
rights
law delivered their petitions to the secretary of state’s office in
Annapolis yesterday, confident that they had more than the 46,000
signatures
needed.
“We are very pleased,” said Tres Kerns, co-founder of
TakeBackMaryland.org, the group seeking to abolish the law. “We had
people
from every county in the state involved. People might be surprised
to learn
that our largest number of signatures came from Baltimore County,
where we
had over 8,500.”
Kerns and about 20 members of his group delivered four boxes of
petitions yesterday evening to the state office, which was darkened
by a
power failure from a thunderstorm. He said the petitions contained
37,197
signatures. Added to those already certified, that brings the total
to more
than 54,000.
The petitions were accepted by Nikki B. Trella, the secretary
of
state’s legal officer, who said they will be sorted by county and
sent to
the boards of elections, where signatures will be checked against the
registered voter rolls. If, after nonregistered voters and
duplicates are
eliminated, there are at least 46,128 signatures — 3 percent of the
votes c
asts in the last gubernatorial election — the measure will be put on
the
2002 ballot.
Matt Sine, TakeBackMaryland.org’s other co-founder, said the
group
will now “begin the process of educating Maryland voters about what
this law
contains.”
The gay rights bill was passed by the General Assembly this
year, the
third year that Gov. Parris N. Glendening had lobbied for an
extension of
the state’s anti-discrimination protections in employment, housing and
public accommodations to gays and lesbians.
In backing the bill, Glendening often referred to his brother
Bruce,
who had to keep his sexual orientation secret during a 19-year career
in the
military. Bruce Glendening died of AIDS in 1988.
Glendening spokesman Michael Morrill said that if there are
enough
signatures to put the measure on the ballot, the governor is certain
the law
will not be overturned.
“The people of Maryland strongly support fairness and justice
and
inclusion,” Morrill said. “We are confident when they realize that
this is
an effort to leave people out or leave them behind, that they will
support
basic fairness for all.”
A poll commissioned by The Sun backs that view. Taken before
this
year’s General Assembly session, it showed more than 60 percent of the
state’s residents supported outlawing discrimination based on sexual
orientation.
Supporters of the referendum drive could go to the
TakeBackMaryland.org Web site and download blank petitions, get them
signed
and turn them in at locations across the state, mainly Christian
bookstores.
“We’ve had a lot of petitions come in here,” said Scott Selby,
manager of His Way Christian Book Store in Glen Burnie. Selby said
representatives of TakeBackMaryland.org have been stopping by twice a
day to
collect petitions.
“We’ve got about 15 here now waiting to be picked up,” he said
yesterday afternoon.
The drive met its first deadline May 31 by handing in 17,024
valid
signatures — 1,647 more than were needed at that point.
Peter LaBarbara, a spokesman for TakeBackMaryland.org, said
the group
tried to get a recommended buffer of 20 percent more signatures than
required, which would be a total of more than 55,000. But LaBarbara
said
the group was encouraged that only about 10 percent of its initial
batch of
signatures was disqualified.
“We did hear that some of the gay groups, maybe just the
extremists,
were deliberately turning in petitions with invalid signatures,”
LaBarbara
said. “We don’t know how organized these dirty tricks were, but they
would
have to be pretty extensive to keep us from getting on the ballot.”
Shannon Avery, chairwoman of the political action committee of
the
Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Baltimore, said she had been in
touch
with gay and lesbian groups across the state and had heard of no such
activities.
“And I assure you that if I did hear of anything like that, it
would
have nothing to do with our organization,” Avery said. “We have made
a
concerted effort to respect the constitutional process. Now we are
just
going to wait and see how that process unfolds.”
The law, which takes effect Oct. 1, passed in its third
appearance
before the General Assembly after amendments were added making clear
that it
did not endorse gay marriages or require inclusion of gay issues in
school
curriculum. Religious groups are exempt, as are Boy and Girl Scouts
and
businesses with fewer than 15 workers.
“We feel confident that if Maryland voters have an accurate
understanding of what the law does and doesn’t do, they will support
the
legislation passed by the General Assembly,” Avery said.
Baltimore Sun, January 15, 2002
501 N. Calvert Street, Baltimore, MD, 21278
(Fax: 410-332-6977 ) (E-Mail: letters@… )
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coll=bal%2Dlo
cal%2Dheadlines
City delegate discloses she is gay
McIntosh, the new House majority leader, is first Md. legislator to
do so
By Sarah Koenig, Sun Staff
Del. Maggie L. McIntosh, a Baltimore Democrat, has become the
first
Maryland legislator to disclose that she is gay.
McIntosh, the new House majority leader in Annapolis, has been
a
spokeswoman for legislation important to gays in the past, but she
has not
made those issues publicly personal in her nearly 10 years as a
delegate.
That changed in an October speech to the Women’s Law Center of
Maryland.
McIntosh spoke about the state’s new law to protect gays and
lesbians
against discrimination, which was then threatened with reversal by a
possible referendum.
No press covered the event, but an account was published last
week in
the Washington Blade, a gay newspaper.
McIntosh, 54, said yesterday that she was moved to discuss her
private life after visiting friends in her Kansas hometown. She
noticed a
sadness in one, she said, and asked her about it.
“She said, ‘Growing up in a small town, and gay, leaves a
mark,'”
McIntosh said.
Conversation haunted her
The conversation haunted her for weeks, she said, and forced
her to
think about the protection the anti-discrimination statute would give
to
people who aren’t surrounded by tolerance.
At the law center event, she told her friend’s story and ended
by
saying that she, too, was from that town and gay.
She said yesterday that she still considers her private life
separate
from her political duties and she will not change the way she works or
campaigns.
McIntosh, a former teacher, is known as a progressive
politician.
She sponsored bills last year about education for incarcerated youth,
gun-safety training for children, mortgage lending and election law,
among
others.
‘None of my business’
Asked about the significance of McIntosh’s decision, House
Speaker
Casper R. Taylor Jr., an Allegany Democrat, said, “First of all, I
think
it’s very personal. And it’s none of my business. That’s it.”
Gay activists said they are proud of McIntosh and eager to
claim her
as one of their own, but stressed that what defines her in Annapolis
is her
political skill.
“Coming out the way that she did is a tremendous boost to the
collective self-esteem of our community,” said Catherine Brennan, a
gay
activist from Baltimore. “But the fact that she is the first woman
majority
leader in some ways is more significant.”
related: http://bugbrennan.tumblr.com/post/23744776520/does-baltimore-have-a-lot-of-transgenders-i-know-johns