One More Time Maryland Tries To Pass A Non-Discrimination Bill

Legislators have introduced a gender identity and expression anti-discrimination bill SB 212 called the ''Fairness for All Marylanders Act of 2014,'' in 2011 the bill did not include public accommodation but this bill does. The bill is backed by 25 state legislators and the governor is expected to back the bill.

Md. Senate Committee Sets Hearing for Gender Identity Bill
Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee still seen as greatest hurdle to statewide transgender protections
Metro Weekly
By John Riley
Published on February 2, 2014

The Maryland Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee will hold a hearing Tuesday afternoon to take up SB 212, the ''Fairness for All Marylanders Act of 2014,'' a measure that would prohibit various forms of discrimination based on a person's gender identity or expression.

Specifically, the bill would extend protections for transgender individuals in employment, housing, credit and the use of public accommodations. Four of the five county-level jurisdictions permitted under state law to enact their own nondiscrimination laws – Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Howard County and Montgomery County, accounting for about half of the state's population – have already adopted such protections. The remaining 19 counties, constituting about a third of the state's population, can only secure such protections through a statewide law.

There is tension over the bill because a trans-person is running against one of the sponsors for the bill; the Washington Post reports that,

A bill that would give greater protection to transgender people will set up a public encounter between the openly gay senator who is sponsoring the bill and the transgender candidate who announced her candidacy against him last week.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Richard S. Madaleno Jr. (D-Montgomery), would prohibit discrimination based on “gender identity” in the workplace, housing and public accommodations. The bill defines “gender identity” as the gender-related identity, appearance, expression or behavior of an individual regardless of the individual’s biological sex at birth.

Dana Beyer, a former Montgomery County Council aide, said that as executive director of Gender Rights Maryland, she plans to testify at the hearing before the Senate’s Judicial Proceedings Committee on Tuesday.

Will Ms. Beyer candidacy affect the bill passage? Will Sen. Madaleno Jr. feel snubbed? Stay tune.