Local
Md. Senate hears testimony on trans bill
bill barring gender identity bias in employment, housing & public accommodations died in the Senate last year
More than a dozen witnesses testified for and against a bill to ban discrimination against transgender people in Maryland on Tuesday before the State Senate’s Judicial Proceedings Committee.
Supporters of SB 212, the Human Relations, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Non-Discrimination Act, said they were hopeful the committee would quickly approve the bill and send it to the full Senate for a vote.
A different version of the legislation died in the Senate last year after several senators who had promised to vote for the bill changed their position and voted to send it back to committee. The Senate action came after the House of Delegates passed the bill, but without a provision banning discrimination against transgender people in the area of public accommodations.
This year’s bill, which has been endorsed by Gov. Martin O’Malley, includes a public accommodations provision. The measure would ban anti-trans discrimination in the areas of employment, housing, public accommodation and credit.
“The general sense was we had a very professional, very organized panel that covered a lot of issues with respect to this legislation,” said Sharon Brackett, board chair of the transgender advocacy group Gender Rights Maryland.
Brackett and transgender activist Dana Beyer were among several witnesses affiliated with Gender Rights Maryland who testified in favor of the bill. They said the bill was needed to address widespread discrimination faced by the state’s transgender residents in employment and housing as well as in public accommodations.
Similar to a hearing on the bill last year, witnesses testifying against the bill, among other things, said it would endanger women by allowing male “cross dressers” to use women’s bathrooms in public places. Supporters called that claim baseless, saying no problems have surfaced concerning bathrooms in jurisdictions across the country that have passed similar non-discrimination laws, including Baltimore City and Montgomery County in Maryland.
Sen. Brian Frosh (D-Montgomery County), chair of the Judicial Proceedings Committee, did not say when he would schedule a committee vote on the bill this year. Under rules of the Maryland General Assembly, the full Senate must approve the bill by March 26 and send it to the House of Delegates in order to keep it alive for this year.
Many of the bill’s supporters believe Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller (D-Prince George’s and Calvert Counties), who has opposed the bill, orchestrated the effort to send it back to committee last year without an up or down vote. Miller has said he arranged for it to be returned to committee after determining it did not have the votes to pass.
“We hope that Sen. Miller will see his way to allow a vote on the bill this year,” Brackett told the Blade.
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Congratulations to Yadiel Meléndez, on their new role as Community Associate, with the Wanda Alston Foundation. Meléndez is piloting a new role as a Community Associate at the Wanda Alston Foundation, where they support queer and trans young people in finding their footing, building independence, and experiencing a housing community where they are seen, valued, and affirmed. They are coming into this role with more than a decade of experience as a community organizer and operations specialist, supporting diverse communities through service, advocacy, and program coordination.
Previously they worked for Right Proper Brewing Shaw as a server and bartender and at Sephora, Washington, DC, and at FreshFarm, DC, in bilingual food access. They also worked freelance to build foundational structures for local queer BIPOC performance art coalitions, producing variety shows to curate space for marginalized performance artists in the community. They were a production manager for Haus of Hart Productions, a BIPOC centric performance art production. They also worked as field staff with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in Stafford, Va.
Meléndez is bilingual, Spanish and English. Their work is guided by a commitment to dignity, safety, and trauma-informed engagement, particularly within LGBTQ and BIPOC communities.
Congratulations also to Ben Rosen LICSW, on his new role as program director, with the Wanda Alston Foundation. Rosen previously worked with Fountain House’s OnRamps program, helping to build a new, innovative outreach program for individuals considered chronically homeless, and living with serious mental illness, in the Times Square area of New York. Rosen is a Psychotherapist, having worked with SG Psychotherapy, and as the psychotherapist with the Nest Community Health Center (URAM).
Rosen has a B.F.A. in Theatre Arts: Musical Theatre, Minor in Psychology (Cum Laude) from Malloy University Conservatory; and his M.S.W. in Clinical Practice with Individuals, Families, and Groups, from The Silberman School of Social Work, Hunter College, N.Y. He is independently licensed in New York and Washington, D.C.
Rehoboth Beach
BLUF leather social set for April 10 in Rehoboth
Attendees encouraged to wear appropriate gear
Diego’s in Rehoboth Beach hosts a monthly leather happy hour. April’s edition is scheduled for Friday, April 10, 5-7 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to wear appropriate gear. The event is billed as an official event of BLUF, the free community group for men interested in leather. After happy hour, the attendees are encouraged to reconvene at Local Bootlegging Company for dinner, which allows cigar smoking. There’s no cover charge for either event.
District of Columbia
Celebrations of life planned for Sean Bartel
Two memorial events scheduled in D.C.
Two celebrations of life are planned for Sean Christopher Bartel, 48, who was found deceased on a hiking trail in Argentina on or around March 15. Bartel began his career as a television news reporter and news anchor at stations in Louisville, Ky., and Evansville, Ind., before serving as Senior Video Producer for the D.C.-based International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union from 2013 to 2024.
A memorial gathering is planned for Friday, April 10, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at the IBEW International Office (900 7th St., N.W.), according to a statement by the DC Gay Flag Football League, where Bartel was a longtime member. A celebration of life is planned that same evening, 6-8 p.m. at Trade (1410 14th St., N.W.).
Minimal version of ‘Streetcar Named Desire’ heading to Dupont Underground
Comings & Goings
An effort to increase the number of psychiatrists of color
Calendar: April 10-16
BLUF leather social set for April 10 in Rehoboth
Police mental health struggles gain growing attention
Man faces first S.C. ‘hate intimidation’ charge
Cuba under pressure and without answers
Tenn. lawmakers pass transgender “watch list” bill
