The Policy Advisory Board (PAB) serves as an adjunct to the formal Board of Directors of each of the 501(c)3 and 501(c)4 organizations. The PAB creates initiatives and programs for consideration by the formal boards of Gender Rights Maryland. The PAB also serves as a vehicle for interested parties to participate actively in the direction of Gender Rights Maryland. If you are interested in participating please send us a note.
PAB Members --
Rev. Emma Chattin
Is is a member and Assistant Pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church of Northern Virginia. Emma Chattin was born in the Allegheny Mountains. She has been blessed to live in many different places, all over the state of Virginia. In 1997, she discovered and joined the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, a denomination founded in 1968 with a primary outreach to Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered, and Questioning individuals. Soon after, she resumed her studies to enter the ministry. She was ordained in 2004 at MCC Richmond. Her father and her Uncle, both Methodist ministers, participated in the service (at 87 years of age, her father still preaches from time to time). Emma currently resides in Fairfax, Virginia, with Heather, her life-partner of 10 years. While she lives and works in Northern Virginia, she currently spends a portion of the weekend in the Shenandoah Valley, and is hoping to plant an MCC Church here. She enjoys religious diversity, and her theological perspective can be succinctly summed up with the words of her bumper sticker: "God [Divinity] is too big to fit into one religion."
Alison Gardner - A co- founder of VenusPlusX.org, is an independent activist who is applying her experience as a publicist and teacher to the struggle for universal equality rights
Lea Gilmore
Lea is a blues, gospel and jazz singing civic activist who has lent her voice, literally and figuratively, to advocacy for the underserved of the world and made a huge difference. A former deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland and Program Director for the Association of Baltimore Area Grantmakers, in addition Gilmore has testified before local, state
and federal commissions on issues ranging from immigration laws to the civil rights and liberties of women of color. Appointed by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, she served for several years as a member of the Maryland Advisory Board to the United States Commission on Civil Rights.
Laura Hart - Former Equality Maryland Board Member
Irene A. Huskens
Irene A. Huskens is currently in her nineteenth year of law enforcement in a position of upper management as well as a decorated officer. Her philosophy of community oriented policing blends well with her passion for activism and equal rights. Irene volunteers with several civil rights organizations particularly those focused on equal marriage, LGBTQ youth, and transgender rights. She received her Master’s of Science in Management from Johns Hopkins University. Having served in the United States Air Force, she is a veteran of Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm. Irene is a resident of Prince George’s County where she resides with her dog, Aunni, and four rescues.
Catherine Hyde
Jay Lee - Co-Moderator of the Gender Identity Group of the GLCCB in Baltimore
Dan Massey -A co- founder of VenusPlusX.org, is an independent activist committed to the creation of a New Age of liberty, freedom, justice, and equality for all
Rev. Mother Meredith Moise
Meredith Moise has been a teacher, truancy counselor, child protective service worker and social justice activist. Most importantly, she is a passionate human rights advocate. Moise has long been involved in LGBT advocacy, serving as a freelance writer for LGBT (and African American) publications. Moise is a core volunteer at the Portal, Baltimore's black LGBT community center.She has served as a Deacon at St. Sebastian United Reform Catholic Church in Baltimore. She is presently serving as Rev. Mother of the Byzantine Rite Old Catholic Church, in Baltimore. Meredith lives in Baltimore City.
Lisa Mottet
Lisa Mottet is the Director of the Transgender Civil Rights Project at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, which she has led since 2001. Lisa assists transgender activists and allies with transgender-related legislation and policy, with a focus on passing anti-discrimination laws. She has helped pass 10 state and nearly 100 local laws. Lisa co-authored “Transitioning Our Shelters: A Guide to Making Homeless Shelters Safe for Transgender People,” “Opening the Door to the Inclusion of Transgender People: A Guide to Making LGBT Organizations Fully Trans-Inclusive,” and “Injustice at Every Turn: A Report of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey.” Lisa lives in Maryland with her spouse.
J. Rhodes Perry
Rhodes Perry joined PFLAG National in 2008, and serves as the Associate Director of Policy and Programs managing the organization’s advocacy and coalition efforts at the federal, state and local levels. Before joining PFLAG, Rhodes worked for the White House Office of Management and Budget, focusing on federal benefit programs and policies that provide assistance to low-income communities. He has also worked for the Ali Forney Center (AFC), a New York City LGBT homeless shelter, where he designed and managed a street outreach program aimed at reducing the inordinate rates of substance abuse and sexually transmitted infections amongst LGBT youth.
Diego Sanchez
Legislative Assistant to the Honorable Barney Frank, Member of Congress, 4th District, MA.
Mark F. Scurti
Mark is a partner with Hodes, Pessin & Katz, P.A. headquartered in Towson Maryland where he heads the Same Sex Law practice group handling estate planning, adoption, name and gender changes, divorce and dissolution and custody matters. He is Past President of the Bar Association of Baltimore City, Baltimore Bar Foundation, LGBT Bar of Maryland, Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland, and past Chair of the Maryland State Bar Association Consumer Bankruptcy Section. He has served on the MSBA Board of Governors, the National LGBT Bar Association board and chaired the Free State Legal Project, a clinic for low income L/G/B/T individuals across the state of Maryland that is opening in July 2011. He currently chairs the MSBA Local Specialty Bar Liaison Committee, serves on the executive council of the Bar Association of Baltimore City and as a Trustee on the Baltimore Bar Foundation. In his free time he serves as an adjunct professor at both the University of Baltimore and University of Maryland Schools of Law teaching Sexual Orientation and the Law.
Jessica
Serensits
Jessica
Serensits, a born and raised Washingtonian, first found her voice as an
advocate for LGBT rights when she started using her theatre training in
gender performance in the DC queer community. A staunch proponent of queer, trans, and women’s rights, Jessica
likes to explore expressions of feminism in all forms, and challenge
everyday perceptions of gender roles, stereotypes, and expectations. Legally married in DC in 2010 to her
partner, Jessica views every day as an
opportunity to incite thought, critical thinking, and discussion to help
pave the way for creating positive change for everyone within the LGBT
community.
Melissa Sklarz
Melissa Sklarz became the first transgender person elected to office in New York in 1999 when she was elected Judicial Delegate from the 66th Assembly District. In 2004, Melissa became the first transgender person from New York to be part of the state delegation at the Democratic National Convention, by being appointed to the Credentials Committee and again on the Rules Committee in 2008. She helped bring civil rights to transgender people in New York City when INT 24 became law in 2002, served on the Working Group with the New York Human Rights Commission to flesh out the law, and has been a lobbying leader for GENDA (Gender Expression Non Discrimination Act) since the bill was developed. Melissa is a past president of Gay & Lesbian Ind. Democrats, and is now a vice president of Stonewall Democratic Club of New York. She served on the Board of National Stonewall Democrats for 8 years, the last 2 as Board Co-Chair.
Owen Smith
Owen Smith is the Field Organizer for Gender Equality Issues for Equality Maryland. He has taught workshops on various sex and gender issues for the last five years at gatherings on the East Coast. Owen has been producing and performing in a gender performance troupe called the Charm City Boys for eight years. He is also one of the founding members of Baltimore's Team Trans, a grassroots group aimed at raising awareness and conducting trans-positive trainings. Owen is motivated to do social justice work because of the many ways in which oppression impacts various populations. His goal is to build strong programs and active, working coalitions in order to create real change and reach the goal of gender equality.
Lise Van Susteren
A psychiatrist in private practice in Washington, DC, environmental activist. and former U.S. Senate candidate for Maryland
JD Warford, DVM
Since moving to Maryland from the deep south in 2001, the last decade has been a period of personal exploration, first with gender performance, and now branching into political activism for equal rights for all within the LGBT community. In smaller circles, JD is known as a veterinarian and as an advocate for animals and disadvantaged communities and access to quality animal/veterinary care. Education and working within the boundaries of each client's unique situation are hallmarks of JD's practice, and these same listening and critical thinking skills are the ones JD hopes to bring to this organization. A smart activist is always up to shenanigans, and JD enjoys rejecting labels and tip-toeing on the lines that others have drawn- for all of us.