Local
Trans bill hits snag in Md. Senate
Surprise move could mean end of the line this year
Less than a week after being approved in the Maryland House of Delegates by a vote of 86-52, a transgender non-discrimination bill is facing an unexpected roadblock in the State Senate.
In a development that has baffled many supporters of the bill, Senate President Thomas Mike Miller (D-Prince George’s and Calvert Counties) bypassed normal procedures by sending the bill to the Senate Rules Committee, which is known as a “graveyard” for controversial legislation.
“This is not a good sign,” said transgender activist Dana Beyer, who is closely following the bill.
The Gender Identity Non-Discrimination Act calls for banning discrimination against transgender Marylanders in areas of employment, housing, and credit.
Its approval in the House of Delegates by such a large margin gave advocates hope that the legislation would clear the Senate before April 11, when the Maryland Legislature adjourns for the year.
Beyer and officials with Equality Maryland, the statewide LGBT group leading the lobbying effort for the bill, have said they believe they have the votes to pass the bill if it reaches the Senate floor.
But they have long expressed concern over getting the bill out of committee. The gender identity measure has died in the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee for the past four years. This year, following its strong showing in the House, supporters and others familiar with the Senate were hopeful that the Judicial Proceedings Committee would approve the measure.
Miller’s decision to send the bill to the Rules Committee rather than directly to Judicial Proceedings is being viewed as an ominous sign that Miller or Judicial Proceedings Committee Chair Sen. Brian Frosh (D-Montgomery County) are seeking to kill the bill this year by preventing it from reaching the Senate floor.
Neither Miller nor a spokesperson for his office returned a call seeking comment as of late Tuesday.
Frosh denied reports by some Annapolis insiders that he asked Miller to divert the bill from his committee because he didn’t want to deal with it.
“I don’t make bill assignments, so it’s not me,” he told the Blade. “The president makes those determinations, and it’s not up to a committee chairman. When he sends me the bill, I’ve got it. But until he does, I don’t.”
Should it reach his committee, Frosh said he isn’t certain whether the bill has enough votes to clear the panel.
“I have four new members on the committee, none of whom has ever heard the issue before,” he said. “I have no idea where they are on the bill.”
In yet another development likely to trouble the bill’s supporters, Frosh said his office was “inundated” on Monday by calls from transgender activists opposed to the bill because it has been stripped of a provision banning discrimination against transgender persons in the area of public accommodations.
The bill’s lead sponsor in the House of Delegates, Del. Joseline Pena-Melnyk (D-Prince George’s and Calvert Counties), said she reluctantly removed the public accommodations provision as the only way to ensure approval of the bill this year in the House.
“They are livid that that was taken out and oppose the bill,” Frosh said of Trans Maryland members. “So there’s a division within the transgender community apparently about whether or not it’s a good idea. I have no idea how that will affect the four people who have never heard the bill, let alone the other folks on the committee.”
Most transgender activists, including officials with the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force’s transgender rights project, are supporting the bill with the objective of adding the public accommodations provision next year.
Frosh, who also serves as vice chair of the Rules Committee, said the chair of that panel, Sen. Katherine Klausmeier (D-Baltimore County), along with Senate President Miller, who is a member of the committee, would make the decision on whether to quickly send the bill to Judicial Proceedings.
With less than two weeks before the legislature’s adjournment for the year, the Rules Committee would have to debate and vote on whether to release the bill to the Judicial Proceedings Committee this week in order to allow time for Judicial Proceedings to hold a hearing on the bill before voting to send it to the Senate floor.
Seven members of the 11-member Rules Committee voted against the same-sex marriage bill that the Senate passed in February. Committee Chair Klausmeier and Frosh voted for the marriage measure, but four other Democrats on the committee voted against it, including Miller.
Although the marriage bill may not be a precise predictor of how senators will vote on the transgender bill, some Annapolis observers say at least some of the conservative Democrats in the Senate who oppose marriage equality might also be opposed to a transgender bill.
“This is another hurdle to advancing job and housing protections in Maryland this year,” said Equality Maryland’s executive director, Morgan Meneses-Sheets, in commenting on Miller’s decision to send the transgender bill to the Rules Committee.
“We are already working with allies to keep this important bill moving,” she said. “It is challenging, but this bill literally would save lives and is worth fight for.”
In a statement, Equality Maryland said it will “keep working until the final hours of the session” to secure passage of the Gender Identity Non-Discrimination Act.
Although the bill has died in Frosh’s Judicial Proceedings committee for the past four years, he told the Blade Tuesday he would vote for it if it reaches his committee. He said he’s being unfairly blamed for derailing the bill.
“I’ve gotten calls saying I’m responsible for killing it, I’m responsible for sending it to Rules,” he said. “I’ve gotten calls saying make sure the bill dies and you got to do something to make sure it passes. I wish I had as much power as people ascribe to me.”
Virginia
Man went on ‘homophobic rant’ inside Va. pub that displayed Pride flags
Suspect arrested on charges of public intoxication, assaulting police officer
The Hawk & Griffin British Pub located in Vienna, Va., posted a message on Facebook last week saying a man was arrested after going on a “homophobic rant” inside the pub on June 28 when he saw that LGBTQ Pride flags were displayed at the pub for Pride month.
“Last night we had an incident here at the pub when a man came off the street to accost patrons in our beer garden because of our flags displayed for pride month,” the Hawk & Griffin Facebook posting says. “He then spit on our windows and came inside to confront our staff and patrons with homophobic rants,” the posting continues.
“Our manager and staff handled the situation very professionally and police were called to investigate and later arrested a man a couple of blocks away,” the message says. “We want to thank the Vienna Police Department for their quick response. We are and will continue to be community focused and we will never stop working to create and maintain a place of inclusion and tolerance,” the statement concludes.
Vienna police charged Justin Wayne Hendricks, of no known address, with misdemeanor counts of being “drunk in public” and providing false identification to a police officer and with a felony count of assault on a police officer. A police spokesperson said Hendricks was also found to be in violation of an outstanding arrest warrant from Alexandria, Va., related to a prior charge of failing to register as a sex offender.
The spokesperson, Juan Vazquez, said Hendricks is currently being held without bond at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center. Online records for the Fairfax County General District Court show that Hendricks is scheduled to appear at a preliminary hearing on Oct. 9.
“On Friday, June 28, around 9:28 p.m. the Vienna Police Department responded to reports of an intoxicated individual threatening customers of the Hawk & Griffin,” a Vienna police statement says. “Upon the arrival of the officers the individual had already left the premises but was promptly located at an address nearby,” according to the statement.
The statement adds that Hendricks was subsequently charged with being drunk in public, providing false information about his identity to police, and assault on a police officer along with being served with the outstanding warrant related to the prior charge in Alexandria of failing to register as a sex offender.
Details of the prior sex offender charge couldn’t immediately be obtained from online court records. However, the online records show that Hendricks has at least a dozen or more prior arrests between 2014 and 2023 on charges including public intoxication, trespassing, and failing to register as a sex offender.
Police spokesperson Vazquez said it would be up to prosecutors with the office of the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney to determine if a subsequent hate crime related charge would be filed in the case.
Virginia
Parades, community events held to mark Pride Month in Va.
Upwards of 30,000 people attended PrideFest in Norfolk on June 22
Activists across Virginia last month held a series of events to mark Pride Month.
Hampton Roads Pride, a volunteer-run organization founded in 1997, held 37 different Pride events throughout the region in June.
Their biggest event, PrideFest, which is part of their larger three day event, Pride Weekend, celebrated its 36th anniversary on June 22. Pride Weekend took place from June 21-23 and began with a block party at NorVa in Norfolk.
PrideFest took place at Town Point Park, and an estimated 30,000 people attended. More than 70 venders participated, while Todrick Hall and Mariah Counts are among those who performed.
Another PrideFest event with a DJ in the afternoon and live music at night took place in Virginia Beach on June 23. Congressman Bobby Scott and U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) are among those who attended Pride events in Suffolk on June 30.
Norfolk Mayor Kenneth Alexander, along with members of the Norfolk and Virginia Beach City Councils, also attended the Pride events in their respective cities. Jamar Walker, the first openly gay federal judge in Virginia, also took part.
“You know people all throughout Pride Month, at all of our various events, tell me all kinds of stories about their own experiences and the past of this community … and some of our older folks especially, remember when we couldn’t have this,” Hampton Roads Pride President Jeff Ryder told the Washington Blade on Monday during a telephone interview.
“It was a great year,” he added. “It was a big achievement for us to have unique celebrations in each of our seven communities. Each of these cities is so different from one another, but to be able to create a Pride celebration that’s unique in each of those places was really great, and I think really well received by folks who may not have felt represented previously. We’re always trying to do better, to embrace every aspect of our community, and take a big step forward there this year.”
State Dels. Adele McClure (D-Arlington County) and Alfonso Lopez (D-Arlington County) are among those who spoke at Arlington Pride that took place at Long Bridge Park on June 29. The Fredericksburg Pride march and festival took place the same day at Riverfront Park in Fredericksburg.
Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin on June 10 hosted a Pride Month reception in Richmond.
Youngkin in previous years has hosted Pride Month receptions, even though Equality Virginia and other advocacy groups have criticized him for supporting anti-LGBTQ bills.
The Republican governor in March signed a bill that codified marriage equality in Virginia. Youngkin last month vetoed a measure that would have expanded the definition of bullying in the state.
Baltimore
Baltimore street named in honor of trans activist
Iya Dammons is founder of support groups Safe Haven in Baltimore, D.C.
Baltimore city officials and LGBTQ activists participated in a ceremony on June 29 officially dedicating the renaming of a street in honor of transgender woman Iya Dammons, who founded and serves as executive director of the LGBTQ services organization Maryland Safe Haven.
A section of Baltimore’s 21st Street at the intersection of North Charles Street, where the Maryland Safe Haven offices are located, has been renamed Iya Dammons Way.
The ceremony took place six years after Dammons founded Maryland Safe Haven in 2018 and one year after she launched a Safe Haven operation in D.C.in 2023 located at 331 H St., N.E.
A statement on its website says Safe Haven provides a wide range of supportive services for LGBTQ people in need, with a special outreach to Black trans women “navigating survival mode” living.
“Through compassionate harm reduction and upward mobility services, advocacy support, and community engagement, we foster a respectful, non-judgmental environment that empowers individual agency,” the statement says. “Our programs encompass community outreach, a drop-in center providing HIV testing, harm reduction, PrEP, medical linkage, case management, and assistance in accessing housing services,” it says.
Among those participating in the street renaming ceremony were Baltimore City Council member Zeke Cohen, interim director of Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs Alexis Blackmon, and Dominique Morgan, an official with the national foundation Borealis Philanthropy, which provides financial support for transgender supportive nonprofit organizations, including Safe Haven.
“This is a significant achievement and historic moment for our city,” a statement by Maryland Safe Haven announcing the ceremony says. “Iya Dammons has been a tireless advocate for transgender rights and has worked tirelessly to provide safe spaces and resources for transgender individuals in our city,” it says. “This honor is well-deserved, and we are thrilled to see her contributions recognized in such a meaningful way.”
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