Tag Archives: Equality Maryland

Ben Jealous’s Need to Claim Credit for Marriage Equality is Just so Wrong

It’s a strange day when a straight man takes credit for marriage equality in Maryland but Ben Jealous is that guy.

I’m certainly happy that the NAACP moved to endorse marriage equality on his watch. It was a good decision and showed leadership. But it is a far cry from claiming to be the critical guy who made marriage equality happen.

In debates and on twitter, Jealous and his campaign have repeatedly cited the Baltimore Sun editorial honoring him as Marylander of Year as evidence to back up his claim. Indeed, it’s a generous editorial:

“Maryland is a better state — and ours is a more perfect union — because of Ben Jealous and his commitment to justice, equality, and the dignity of every child’s home,” Governor O’Malley said. “Here in Maryland, he was an indispensable part of repealing the death penalty, passing the Maryland Dream Act, ensuring civil marriage equality and expanding access to voting.”

When it comes to his being “indispensable” on marriage equality, however, Jealous and his campaign have been categorically unable and unwilling to provide any evidence to back up the claims of the editorial.

When the Jealous campaign tweeted a link to the editorial at me, I read it and then asked which legislators’ minds he had changed. The reply is revealing:

In other words, Jealous cannot identify a single legislator who changed their mind thanks to his efforts. I followed up by asking how many community organizers he had placed on the ground, as he claimed that had made the difference:

Personally, I preferred the Taylor Swift version of his reply. But again, it’s revealing. Rather than answer the hard-hitting question, he attacks the questioner. It takes a certain amount of chutzpah to accuse me of “pride” when he’s the guy claiming to have gotten marriage equality and numerous other legislative initiatives done.

So ultimately, beyond the editorial and the nice quote from Martin O’Malley of the sort that politicians tend to give when asked about someone receiving an award, we’re left with a whole lot of bupkis for evidence.

As someone who was actively part of Equality Maryland’s legislative lobbying team and Co-President of Equality Maryland during the referendum fight, I have some knowledge on the question. Jealous never showed up at any of the strategy sessions held with key legislators that I attended.

Jealous  was certainly never mentioned when it came to recruiting key votes on the issues. Carrie Evans, the Executive Director of Equality Maryland, played a key role in recruiting at least one Republican to a yes vote. Rep. Jamie Raskin, then a state senator, played a similar role in wooing the vote of a colleague on the fence.

Most importantly, I know that Sen. Rich Madaleno, who I support, spent years indefatigably working on this issue long before it was fashionable. As part of a long-term strategy, he built legislative capital and support to get the bill on the floor and passed. So many outsider candidates like to denigrate Annapolis politics, yet how do they think bills become laws and why then are they running for office?

Moreover, Rich Madaleno focused his energies so heavily on raising money for the marriage campaign that his own campaign account was sufficiently low to attract a challenge from deep pocketed Dana Beyer. (I should also mention that Ben Jealous’s running mate, Susie Turnbull, was very active in assisting the effort to win the 2012 referendum.)

None of the leaders of Equality Maryland, or any other incredibly kind and giving people who worked hard on the bill, have ever claimed to have been the key person in getting marriage equality accomplished. While I feel I did my bit, I also know that many were on the scene long before I arrived and also personally saw the self-effacing involvement of many good people.

One example I remember often is that of Del. Ben Barnes. He carried the bill for years in the House before it had a real chance of becoming law. Nevertheless, when asked to step aside for other sponsors in order to help advance the bill, he did so without any hesitation whatsoever. That’s someone who will never get much public credit but deserves it. The late Sen. Gwendolyn Britt similarly sponsored the bill in the Senate until she passed.

I do want to thank two straight African-American men for their incredibly helpful support: President Barack Obama and the late former NAACP President Julian Bond. President Obama’s timely evolution on the issue in advance of his own 2012 reelection bid created a critical and noticeable bump in the polls among African-American voters. When I asked Julian Bond if he’d be willing to appear in pro-marriage ads (he had the office next door to me at AU), he said yes immediately. I’ve also never seen anyone look so embarrassed when I thanked him in his office just before I got legally married.

Back to pride for a moment. If Ben Jealous wants to spout quotes on pride at me, he might think on another one before claiming credit for being the critical person in a long-term effort of someone else’s civil rights movement: “Pride goeth before a fall.”

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EQMD’s Final Endorsements

Here is a list of Equality Maryland’s final endorsements for 2014. I’ve done my best to boldface the non-incumbents but have undoubtedly made a few mistakes here.

Statewide Offices
Governor/Lt. Governor: Anthony Brown/Ken Ulman
Attorney General: Brian Frosh

General Assembly
District 3
House: Carol Krimm (D3A), Karen Young (D3A)
Senate: Ron Young

District 4  
House: Gene Stanton (D4A)

District 5
House: Dorothy Scanlan

District 6
Senate: John Olszewski, Jr.

District 8
House: Eric Bromwell
Senate: Katherine Klausmeier

District 9  
House: Tom Coale (D9B)
Senate: Ryan Frederic

District 10
House: Benjamin Brooks, Robert “Bob” Johnson, Adrienne Jones
Senate: Delores Kelley

District 11
House: Shelly Hettleman, Dan Morhaim, Dana Stein
Senate: Bobby Zirkin

District 12
House: Rebecca Dongarra, Terri Hill, Clarence Lam
Senate: Ed Kasemeyer

District 13
House: Vanessa Atterbeary, Frank Turner
Senate: Guy Guzzone

District 14
House: Anne Kaiser, Eric Luedtke, Craig Zucker
Senate: Karen Montgomery

District 15
House: Kathleen Dumais, David Fraser-Hidalgo, Aruna Miller
Senate: Brian Feldman

District 16
House: Bill Frick, Ariana Kelly, Marc Korman
Senate: Susan Lee

District 17
House: Kumar Barve, Jim Gilchrist, Andrew Platt
Senate: Cheryl Kagan

District 18
House: Al Carr, Ana Sol Gutierrez, Jeff Waldstreicher
Senate: Richard Madaleno

District 19
House: Bonnie Cullison, Benjamin Kramer, Marice Morales
Senate: Roger Manno

District 20
House: (four endorsements for three seats): Sheila Hixson, Will Jawando, David Moon, Will Smith
Senate: Jamie Raskin

District 21
House: Joseline Pena-Melnyk
Senate: James Rosapepe

District 22
House: Tawanna Gaines, Anne Healey, Alonzo Washington
Senate: Paul Pinsky

District 25
House: Stanley Onye

District 26
Senate: Veronica Turner
House: Kris Valderrama

District 28
House: John Coller

District 30
House: Michael E. Busch (D30A), Mitchelle Stephenson (D30B)

District 31
House: Robert Haynes (D31A)

District 32
House: Spencer Dove

District 34
House: Cassandra Beverly (D34B)

District 39
House: Charles Barkley, Kirill Reznik, Shane Robinson
Senate: Nancy King

District 40
House: Barbara Robinson

District 41
House: Samuel “Sandy” Rosenberg

District 42
House: Stephen Lafferty

District 43
House: Curt Anderson, Maggie McIntosh, Mary Washington

District 44
House: Keiffer Mitchell (D44A), Charles Sydnor, III (D44B)

District 45
House: Cory McCray
Senate: Nathaniel McFadden

District 46
House: Luke Clippinger, Peter Hammen, Brooke Lierman
Senate: Bill Ferguson

District 47
House: Will Campos (D47B), Diana Fennell (D47A), Michael Summers (D47A)
Senate: Victor Ramirez, D47

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Achieving Marriage Equality in Maryland

marriage winElection Night 2012

In a blog post today, Andrew Sullivan hails Freedom to Marry and attacks the Human Rights Campaign for their respective roles in the national fight for marriage equality. I’m not going to do the traditional snip from his post because you need to read the full argument to really do it justice and it’s made in the context of a scathing book review.

I have no interest in defending the book (haven’t read it, don’t plan to) in this post or the overall record of either F2M or HRC. But the record needs correction in terms of the roles that each organization played here in Maryland if only to show that the overall picture is far more nuanced than Andrew presents. I was President of Equality Maryland at the time and in a reasonable position to know much of the background, so here goes.

Freedom to Marry was a barrier to progress in Maryland. Its leader, Evan Wolfson, had absolutely no faith in our ability to win a referendum. Even after President Obama endorsed marriage equality and polls showed that support increased further in our state–strongly Democratic and with a large share of African-American voters–Evan still remained adamantly opposed.

Not only did Evan refuse to invest in Maryland but his gatekeeper role with major donors made it much harder to raise the needed funds (note: I am not the anonymous source in the linked article). Even more galling, F2M continued to send fundraising emails into Maryland but never mentioned its unwillingness to get behind the referendum effort.

In contrast, HRC played an absolutely essential role here in Maryland, providing money and people vital to support our media and organizational efforts. I know it’s not Andrew’s favorite group (understatement) but its critical role in Maryland should be acknowledged and applauded.

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley also raised money and provided real leadership in the State. Of course, Equality Maryland had worked hard on this issue for a very long time and focused its efforts and resources virtually entirely on the referendum fight. Many others, such as the Maryland’s wonderful and large LGBT Caucus, the ACLU, NAACP, Latino organizations, and the unions also lent welcome and necessary support. It was a team effort.

marriage win2

We were all so happy and proud that night in 2012 when Maryland became the very first state to uphold marriage equality at the ballot box. I know Evan played a wonderfully positive role in other states and, more importantly, in building up organizational support for the overall movement. In short, he’s done a lot of good work.

But we won marriage in Maryland in spite of him.

 

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Equality Maryland Endorses Brian Frosh

From Equality Maryland’s press release:

“Brian Frosh has been a firm ally and leader on LGBT issues in the General Assembly. He has the maturity, experience and commitment to be an effective advocate for the LGBT communities of Maryland as our next Attorney General,” said Equality Maryland Executive Director Carrie Evans.

Evans added, “During the just-completed General Assembly session, Equality Maryland worked closely with Senator Frosh on passage of SB 212, the Fairness for All Marylanders Act. He worked with Senate leaders and advocates to shepherd the bill through the Senate. His leadership was instrumental in achieving the 8-3 vote for the bill in the Judicial Proceedings Committee which he chairs.”

“Equality Maryland members were already aware of Brian Frosh’s record of support on our issues.  During his interview with us he spoke convincingly about his commitment to fairness and how his own convictions were shaped by the example of his father, who supported civil rights for African Americans as a member of the Montgomery County Council more than 50 years ago,” said Equality Maryland PAC Chair Tim Williams.

“Senator Frosh has more than 35 years of experience as a practicing attorney and has served in the General Assembly for 27 years.  He understands the duties of the Attorney General and articulates a clear vision for how this office can continue to move Maryland forward on fairness or equality,” said Equality Maryland, Inc. Board Chair Stephanie Bernstein, adding, “We strongly urge the LGBT community and its allies to support Senator Frosh in his bid to be Maryland’s next Attorney General.”

To find out more information about Senator Frosh and his campaign, click here.

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FAMA Passes the House–Vote Tally

FAMA

Today, the House voted 82-57 to pass the Fairness for All Marylanders Act, the transgender equality bill. This day would not have come without the hard work of many people. The Maryland Coalition for Trans Equality along with Equality Maryland’s Carrie Evans and Keith Thirion worked indefatigably on this issue.

Of course, the bill’s sponsors, Sen. Rich Madaleno and Del. Luke Clippinger, also deserve much credit. While she was not the lead sponsor this year, Del. Joseline Peña-Melnyk worked hard for many years on this issue, as did Sen. Jamie Raskin. I know Del. Bonnie Cullison did much to move the bill forward this year as well.

A total of twelve Democrats voted against the bill. No Republicans voted for the bill. Here is the vote tally in the House of Delegates (listed  by district):

YEA (all D): Busch, Clagett, Olszewski, Bromwell, Jones, Nathan-Pulliam, Cardin, Morhaim, Stein, Bobo, DeBoy, Mallone, Guzzone, Pendergrass, F. Turner, Kaiser, Luedtke, Zucker, Dumais, Fraser-Hidalgo, A. Miller, Frick, A. Kelly, Lee, Barve, Gilchrist, Simmons, Carr, Gutiérrez, Waldstreicher, Arora, Cullison, Kramer, Hixson, Hucker, Mizeur, Barnes, Frush, Peña-Melnyk, Gaines, Healy, A. Washington, Holmes, Hubbard, Valentino-Smith, Howard, Swain, Braveboy, Davis, Griffith, V. Turner, Valderrama, Proctor, Vallario, Murphy, Beidle, Love, Cane, Barkley, Reznik, S. Robinson, Conaway, B. Robinson, Tarrant, Carter, Oaks, Rosenberg, Lafferty, Anderson, McIntosh, M. Washington, Haynes, Mitchell, Stukes, Branch, Glenn, Clippinger, Hammen, McHale, Ivey, Niemann, Summers.

NAY (all R unless indicated): Beitzel, K. Kelly (D), Myers, Donoghue (D), Parrott, Serafini, Hogan, Hough, Afzali, Elliott, Schulz, Kach, Ready, Stocksdale, Minnick (D), Weir (D), Impallaria, McDonough, Szeliga, Boteler, Cluster, Bates, Krebs, W. Miller, Burns (D), Vaughn (D), Walker (D), Fisher, Jameson (D), Wilson (D), Bohanan (D), O’Donnell, Wood, George, McMillan, Dwyer, Kipke, Schuh, Sophocleus (D), Costa, McConkey, Vitale, Glass, James (D), Rudolph (D), McComas, Norman, Stifler, Arentz, Jacobs, Smigiel, Eckardt, Haddaway-Riccio, Conway (D), McDermott, Otto, Aumann.

NOT VOTING: Frank (R), Harper (D)

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Trans Marylanders Make Their Voices Heard

The following are excepts from testimony by Trans Marylanders from the committee hearing in the House of Delegates:

Zane Walsh is a trans teen:

Things about me– I’m not a dirty prostitute or a pervert lurking in the men’s bathroom which is the image that comes up in a lot of people’s minds when the word ‘trans’ is mentioned. I am a normal kid. I love animals and rock music. I play drums and I sing. I cherish my dog Bebe. I love punk music and Billy Idol.

Maybe I love playing music so much because it does not judge based on appearance, like so many bigots do. The people who are watching me in concert don’t care about my sexuality or what gender I was assigned at birth, just my music. I LOVE dogs.

I am not that different. I get up, I eat breakfast, I take care of Bebe, I go to school, I come home, I eat, I listen to music and play with Bebe and sometimes even play with my sister who by the way has more rights than me which is downright unfair.

We are normal children so why don’t you support us?

Jennifer Fischetti spoke about being fired from her job:

The tension that week broke at 8:30am Wednesday as I arrived for a managers’ meeting and was pull out by a peer. I was to find out; it was his job to terminate me. I was being let go for what was described as performance deficiencies. I could easily refute any allegation with facts and stats, for I had to keep those records, but the peer who dismissed me simply shrugged his shoulders as if to say “It’s out of my hands”.

Yet when I filed unemployment, the agent at unemployment was astonished at the fact the company did not contest my claim. They replied I was dismissed for lack of work; that they could not afford to pay me because business was off. Yet the very next day someone else occupied my old office, holding the same capacity as I had just held. The auto industry is a very small and close-knit. Word traveled quickly and I have not held a position in my given career of 19 years since. That was nearly 10 years ago.

Blake Wideman is a police officer in Prince George’s County who worries about losing his job and ability to support his family:

I was born African American in Baltimore City which seemed to be a curse that I learned to turn into a gift. I grew up in poverty and learned to persevere through all the discrimination and hatred I had to face on a daily basis because my skin was darker, even darker than the average black person. My black features were prominent and afforded me many opportunities to be ostracized from jobs and housing that were rightfully mine. All adversity aside I and many like me not only survive but thrive.

At a very young age I knew that I was different, and not due to the color of my skin but because I had a burning desire to become great in every facet of my life. And honestly for a while I did very well, I was the first of my mother’s children to graduate high school and attend college. I have no criminal record, and even more exciting I am a part of the law enforcement sector. Every day I wear that bullet proof vest, gun, and badge to serve and protect a state and city that will not protect me because I am Transgender.

Even though I currently have a job. I work in Prince George’s County a jurisdiction that does not currently protect me from discrimination based on my gender identity. I am afraid what might happen to me and my family if I get a supervisor that doesn’t like transgender people.

I put my life on the line. I am a law abiding citizen. I pay taxes. Yet I am not protected by Maryland’s anti-discrimination laws.

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Fairness for All Marylanders Act Passes Senate

The Fairness for All Marylanders Act (FAMA) easily passed the Senate on a 32-15. Sponsored by Sen. Rich Madaleno (D 18) and strongly supported by floor leader Sen. Jamie Raskin (D 20), the bill protects the rights of transgender Marylanders.

The bill was earlier amended by the Senate to strengthen it after it had been weakened, though passed, by the Judicial Proceedings Committee. The bill now heads over to the House of Delegates, which has passed versions of this legislation in previous sessions.

The passage of marriage equality and then the referendum vote by the people of Maryland in favor of it seems to have taken the sting out of LGBT legislation. There is a lot lest angst about voting for this relatively straightforward anti-discrimination bill now that the tide has turned on the LGBT issue which attracts the most press.

Sen. Kittleman (R 9, Howard) was the only Republican to vote yes. Four Democrats voted no: Sens. Astle (D 30, Anne Arundel), De Grange (D 32, Anne Arundel), Dyson (D 29, Calvert, Charles, St. Mary’s), and Mathias (D 38, Somerset, Wicomico, Worcester).

Kittleman voted for the marriage bill and is probably the Republican who represents the most pro-marriage Republican district, as Howard voted strongly for marriage equality. More surprising are the no votes by two Anne Arundel Democrats. Anne Arundel also voted for marriage equality, and presumably more strongly in areas prone to elect Democrats.

The no votes by two Democrats hailing from southern Maryland and the Eastern Shore shock less. Marriage equality lost in both of their districts, though with more support than one might expect. Here is how the Senate voted:

YEA: Miller, Benson, Brochin, Conway, Currie, Feldman, Ferguson, Forehand, Frosh, Gladden, Jones-Rodwell, Kasemeyer, Kelley, King, Kittleman (R), Klausmeier, Madaleno, Manno, McFadden, Middleton, Montgomery, Muse, Peters, Pinsky, Pugh, Ramirez, Raskin, Robey, Rosapepe, Stone, Young, Zirkin.

NAY: Astle (D), Brinkley, Colburn, De Grange (D), Dyson (D), Edwards, Getty, Glassman, Hershey, Jacobs, Jennings, Mathias (D), Reilly, Shank, Simonaire.

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Senate Strengthens Trans Equality Bill

MCTE-corrected-logo-300x111Logo for the Coalition of 44 Members

The Fairness for All Marylanders Act of 2014, also known as the Transgender Equality bill, passed second reader in the Senate today by a voice vote. Sen. Rich Madaleno (D 18-Montgomery) is the lead sponsor and Sen. Jamie Raskin (D 20-Montgomery) is the floor leader, as he is on the Judicial Proceedings Committee and a strong supporter of the bill.

The bill was strengthened by an amendment thanks to the hard work of a number of senators, including Sen. Catherine Pugh (D 40-Baltimore City) and Sen. Joseph Getty (R 5-Baltimore and Carroll) as well as Madaleno and Raskin. The Senate adopted an amendment sponsored by Getty that adopts a broader definition of gender identity so it includes individuals beyond those who have chosen to have and can afford gender reassignment surgery.

The Maryland Coalition for Trans Equality has strongly advocated for the bill. Its members include Equality Maryland, ACLU of Maryland, CASA of Maryland, SEIU, Jews United for Justice, Baltimore Black Pride, and Maryland NOW among the many groups who have allied to support the bill.

 

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