Laurel, MD – January 25, 2012 – After consultations and discussion, the sponsors of the legislation decided to proceed by introducing the gender identity anti-discrimination bill in the Senate. The bill number is SB212, lead sponsor is Senator Raskin, and the lead co-sponsors are Senators Pugh, Gladden and Madaleno. Additional sponsors are Senators Manno, Montgomery and Pinsky.
The bill information is located here:
http://mlis.state.md.us/2012rs/billfile/SB0212.htm
The text of the bill is located here:
http://mlis.state.md.us/2012rs/bills/sb/sb0212f.pdf
At this time there will be no cross-filed House bill. “Recent discussions with sponsors and leadership have led us to conclude that the best path for the gender identity anti-discrimination bill in 2012 is to introduce SB212, with lead sponsor Senator Raskin, in the Senate. Once Senate passage is secured, I will move the Senate bill through the House committees and to the floor,” said Delegate Jim Hubbard, Assistant House Majority Leader.
The definitional language was inserted by Senator Frosh, chair of the Judicial Proceedings Committee. It was not our choice of language, given our consultation with the community. It is not as elegant and broad as we would like. Still, it is adequate, and given the 11th Circuit’s decision in December 2011, the specific language is not as important as it once was. Note that the word “persistent” applies to “gender identity,” while “consistent” applies to “gender expression.”
As matters progress with the committee we will notify the community when the Senate hearing is scheduled and seek to coordinate testimony at that time.
We have Governor O’Malley’s full support for the legislation, which, by the way, is comprehensive and includes public accommodations. We did not ask the Governor to sponsor the legislation, hence it is not part of his packet.
However, once again, we do not have Senate President Miller’s support. That has been the case for five years, and remains the overwhelming roadblock. When queried about the legislation his response was, “I only have time for one gay bill this session.” While we have been working on educating him as to the difference between gay and trans, and we believe he truly does understand the difference, he has decided marriage is taking up too much time as it is.