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Friday, March 5, 2010


UPDATE from Annapolis


Equality Maryland worked hard this week to fight for the advancement of equal treatment under the law in our state Capitol!

We spent hours in testimony in the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee on Wednesday pushing hard to advance Maryland’s marriage equality bill, the Religious Freedom & Civil Marriage Protection Act (Senate Bill 582) and the Gender Identity Anti-Discrimination Act (Senate Bill 583), which would protect transgender Marylanders against debilitating discrimination in housing, credit, the workplace and public accommodations. We also worked to halt Senator Norm Stone’s bill which would take away the legal acknowledgement of the valid out of state licenses of same sex couples (Senate Bill 852).

It was a tough week, which included a rally aimed at not only rolling back marriage protections and preventing the advancement of marriage equality, but also really denigrating the transgender community with particularly hateful fear mongering by the Family Research Council’s Peter Sprigg. Click here to see a clip from his testimony.

While there were many people who made very passionate pleas for the right to equal marriage protections, we were especially thankful to our own Equality Maryland board member, Lisa Polyak and her daughter, Maya Deane-Polyak for really putting their hearts out there to the Senate committee. Click here to see Lisa and Maya testify before the committee.

We were joined by activists from across the state, as well as our partners from the Maryland Black Family Alliance, the ACLU, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Pride at Work, AFSCME, the Maryland state AFL-CIO, the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force and the Women’s Law Center. Rev. Madeleine Beard of the Maryland Episcopal Public Policy Network and Rev. Lisa Ward of the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry were also there to stand with us in our efforts to push for equal treatment for all families. A special thanks to our bill sponsor and stalwart champion, Sen. Rich Madaleno (D-18).

Thursday we headed over to the House to testify in support of the Religious Freedom & Civil Marriage Protection Act (House Bill 808) and ensure the defeat of Delegate Don Dwyer’s annual attempt to write discrimination into the Maryland state Constitution (House Bill 1079).

Partners from throughout Maryland joined us in the House hearings including the Maryland Black Family Alliance, the ACLU, the Women’s Law Center and Rev. Lisa Ward of the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry were also there to stand with us in our efforts to push for equal treatment for all families. We would also like to extend a special thank you to local attorney, Jonathan Shurberg and Delegates Ben Barnes (D-21) and Heather Mizeur (20), as well as to our strong allies on the House Judiciary Committee.

This was a busy week in the fight for equality. We will take a moment to celebrate the progress made in Washington, DC this week. But we will not stop fighting until every Marylander is treated with dignity and respect! Next up, the House hearing on the Gender Identity Anti-Discrimination Act on Monday, March 8th at 1:00pm.

You can also find out what we are up to, sign up to attend events and hear about how you can help by visiting our Facebook page.

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Wednesday, March 3, 2010


I DO applaud the District of Columbia!


Dear Friends,

As of today the District of Columbia provides equal marriage rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender couples. Marriage licenses will be issued three days after filing the application. Couples looking to have a civil ceremony will need to wait at least 10 business days after filing their applications. The DC Mayor’s Office of GLBT Affairs has published updated information on applying for marriage licenses at www.glbt.dc.gov.

The win in DC has important implications after the release of Attorney General Doug Gansler’s opinion last week asserting that Maryland law provides for the recognition of out of state licenses. While there are still questions to be answered on the implementation of the opinion, it is an exciting move forward.

The fight for marriage equality is about providing couples with basic legal rights. It is about ensuring that the children who are being raised by loving, committed same-sex parents have the same safeguards as children being raised by opposite sex parents.

Now that LGBT couples can obtain a marriage license by simply traveling to the district, Maryland must move forward in not only recognizing out-of-state marriages, but we must also pass Maryland’s marriage equality bill, the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act (HB 808, SB 582).

  • You can demonstrate your support for marriage equality by taking a few minutes to reach out to your legislator. Click here to use our convenient action center.


  • We also ask that you oppose Delegate Don Dwyer’s so-called Maryland Marriage Protection Act (HB 1079), which would in fact write discrimination into Maryland’s constitution by banning same sex marriage. Click here to urge your legislators to unfavorably report this attack on our families.

It is hard to imagine that couples will be entitled to equal rights in the District of Columbia, but when their car or metro passes over the border into Maryland they lose those crucial protections for their families.

Equality Maryland is celebrating along with the residents of Washington, DC, but we must continue to urge our lawmakers to stand on the right side of history by advancing full marriage equality in the Free State!

Yours in Equality,

Morgan Meneses-Sheets
Executive Director

P.S. Only civil marriage here at home and an end to discrimination by the federal government will provide full and equal protection under the law. Help us to keep up the fight by donating online TODAY at http://www.equalitymaryland.org/donate/supporteqmd.htm or by sending a check to 1201 Sharp Street, Suite 109, Baltimore, Maryland, 21230.

Monday, March 1, 2010


Maryland AG Opinion Already Under Attack!


Last Wednesday, Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler issued an opinion stating that Maryland law permits the recognition of valid out-of-state marriage licenses for same-sex couples. The opinion was issued last Wednesday and stated that Maryland law permits the recognition of valid out-of-state marriage licenses for same-sex couples, which compels state agencies to begin the process of honoring legal out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples.

This is a major step forward in the fight for equal protections in Maryland. Already anti-equality forces are mobilizing to ban out-of-state same-sex marriage recognition and reject the sound legal analysis of the attorney general.

State Delegate Donald Dwyer (R-31) has announced his intention to introduce articles of impeachment against Attorney General Gansler as a result of his opinion, and State Senator Norman Stone (R-6) has put forward Senate Bill 852, which would effectively end any kind of out-of-state same-sex marriage recognition.

Baltimore County Senator Norm Stone recently declared, “if people strongly believe in same-sex marriages, they should go live in those states that allow it.” Well, we are not going anywhere Senator Stone! We are going to stay right here and keep on fighting for equality. Will you take a moment today to contact your lawmaker to tell them that LGBT individuals and families will not be forced to leave Maryland to secure marriage equality?

  • Take action TODAY! Click here for a letter that will automatically send to your state senator.

Senate Bill 852 would roll back the recent progress in Maryland by invalidating out-of-state marriage licenses, thereby ensuring that LGBT couples would be an exception to Maryland state law and creating yet another area of law in which our families are discriminated against. Please, take action today!

Equality Maryland is committed to halting this attack on LGBT couples! We hope that you will stand with us.

Yours in Equality,

Morgan Meneses-Sheets
Executive Director

P.S. We need your help to stop the rollback on our rights! Help us to keep up the fight by donating online TODAY at http://www.equalitymaryland.org/donate/supporteqmd.htm or by sending a check to 1201 Sharp Street, Suite 109, Baltimore, Maryland, 21230.

Friday, February 26, 2010


Celebrating the AG Opinion


Dear Friends,

Yesterday was an exciting day! Maryland took a big step forward in the march towards equality. Equality Maryland is committed to doing all that we can to ensure that the Attorney General's opinion has a real and powerful meaning in the lives of LGBT Marylanders. We are committed to seeing to it that the legally valid marriages of same sex couples in the Free State are honored and that state agencies comply with state law by offering equal protections!

Equality Maryland is working to push for state agencies to act in accord with the opinion and the law by reviewing their practices and regulations to see what changes are necessary to act in compliance by honoring valid, out of state licenses.

  • This process may take time, but with your support we will be there each step of the way to stand up for equality! Visit http://equalitymaryland.org/give to donate, or send a check to EQMD, 1201 South Sharp St. Suite 109, Baltimore MD 21230.

We understand that people are curious about what the opinion will really mean for them individually, as well as in the long run. We wanted to take a moment to tell you what we know so far.

  • Click here to read Equality Maryland’s Frequently Asked Questions document regarding the AG Opinion. Please, do not hesitate to reach out to us with any questions.

One thing is abundantly clear - only full civil marriage equality here at home and an end to discrimination at the federal level will provide truly equal protections for all LGBT couples, so we pledge to continue the very important fight to advance the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act in order to ensure that every family is treated fairly under the laws of our state! But we need your help!

At its heart, this issue is about respecting families and putting an end to discrimination. Same-sex couples should be entitled to equal treatment under the law. Equality Maryland is fighting everyday to ensure that members of the LGBT community are treated as an equal part of the family of Maryland.

We are working hard and will continue to as long as our community is denied basic human rights. Please commit to being part of this crucial work to ensure that all Marylanders are treated with respect and dignity!

Yours in equality,

Morgan Meneses-Sheets
Executive Director

P.S. Maryland's marriage equality is being heard NEXT WEEK (March 3rd and 4th) along with a hearing regarding a constitutional amendment, the gender identity anti-discrimination bill and a bill preventing discrimination against teachers based on sexual orientation. Visit our legislative page by clicking here to sign up to attend or learn more about the bills. To make your voice heard on these important issues, just click here to support the Gender Identity Anti-Discrimination Act (House Bill 1022, Senate Bill 583) and click here to support the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act (SB 582/HB 808).

Wednesday, February 24, 2010


AG Says Maryland Law Should Recognize Legal Marriages of Same-Gender Couples


Today is a day to celebrate! Equality Maryland applauds a favorable opinion released by the Office of Attorney General Doug Gansler that states that the marriages of same-gender couples legalized in other jurisdictions have standing to be honored here at home. The Attorney General’s opinion relies on longstanding legal precedent that says couples who have been legally married in another state should be treated as fully married, even if that marriage was not performed in the State of Maryland.

The opinion is consistent with a long tradition of legal recognition of marriages performed in other states. And it is a positive development that will mean greater security, stability and peace of mind for legally married same-sex spouses whose marriages should rightfully be honored here at home.

Maryland has taken small steps in recent years to grant approximately 15 protections of legal marriage to same-gender couples in the areas of medical decision-making and inheritance. However, most of the 400+ state-level legal protections of marriage still remain out of reach to thousands of committed couples. We call on state agencies honor the laws of Maryland by taking steps immediately to honor the legal marriages of these couples.

This is a wonderful day, but only full civil marriage equality here at home and an end to discrimination by the federal government will provide full and equal protection under the law for all of Maryland’s LGBT couples. Please, invest to help us win! Whether you can give $5, $50 or $500 – we need you to stand with Equality Maryland as we take the next step in securing full equality in the Free State! You can visit https://secure.ga4.org/01/ag to donate or send a check to EQMD, 1201 South Sharp St. Suite 109, Baltimore MD 21230.

Equality Maryland will do everything in our power to see to it that the laws of our state are followed and the marriages of same-sex couples legalized in other jurisdictions are honored here in Maryland. We pledge to keep up the fight! We hope that you will be in it with us for the long haul!

Friday, February 12, 2010


EQMD in Annapolis: Supporting Fair Employment Practices


House Bill 175 would prohibit an employer from using an applicant's or employee's credit report or credit history in determining whether to deny employment, discharge the employee, or determine their compensation. The bill is sponsored by Delegate Kirill Reznik (D-39).

The use of credit checks for employment decisions has skyrocketed in the past few years. Many people don't know about it until they can't get a job. Credit checks may be appropriate to work at a bank, but for other people this forces them into a sort of debtor's prison where there's no way out.

Overly invasive pre-employment checks are also a privacy concern when there's a lot of fishing around for data and personal information with no real reason behind it. That is why Equality Maryland has signed on in support of this important legislation.

The bill will be heard in the House Economic Matters Committee on Thursday, February 18th at 1:00 pm in Room 230 of the House Office Building.

Equality Maryland will be there to stand up for the many Marylanders struggling financially simply because they are out of work. This bill seeks to prevent a needlessly punitive roadblock to become a productive, tax paying citizen.

TAKE ACTION! Click here to urge your legislators to support HB 175.

By standing up for those who are struggling in these trying times, we are not only working on behalf of LGBT people, but also acting as good community partners. We hope that you will stand with us! Please support our work in the state legislature and throughout the Free State by making a contribution today! You can donate online at www.equalitymaryland.org/give or by sending a check to us at 1201 Sharp Street, Suite 109, Baltimore, MD, 21230.

Thursday, February 11, 2010


EQMD-Montgomery County Responds to Ex-Gay Propaganda in Schools


Many of you have already heard that hundreds of students in the Montgomery County Public School system were given fliers by an ex-gay organization known as Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays or PFOX as part of the distribution of report cards.

PFOX touts themselves as "promoting diversity for the ex-gay community." Their main agenda is to push the idea that people with same sex attractions can overcome their feelings through so-called reparative therapy. Based on a 2006 court ruling, public school districts are required to distribute, four times a year, any literature from a registered non-profit. That means that PFOX's material qualifies for mandated distribution even if America's leading psychological groups think such therapy is not only ineffective, but also harmful.

This type of misinformation only serves to strengthen the stereotypes that being gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender is unnatural, or something that can be easily changed. Teenagers of all sexual orientations are already struggling to find who they are. Schools should be a place where all students are respected.

Equality Maryland is already looking into having fliers distributed about the important work being done in our state to protect the rights and dignity of LGBT Marylanders and our families. We are also looking into the current policy around the distribution of fliers.

TAKE ACTION! EQMD encourages Montgomery County residents to reach out to the President of the Board of Education, Patricia O'Neill and the Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Jerry Weast. Click here to send an e-mail asking that they prevent the distribution of materials that demean LGBT students and families.

By turning a blind eye to the dangerous message of these fliers, our local leaders have done a disservice to their students. Furthermore, by allowing these fliers to go out with official school documents it is a virtual endorsement by the school of a truly disturbing agenda.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010


Equality Maryland 2010 Legislative Agenda


We are on the verge of enacting sweeping anti-discrimination legislation for the transgender community and passing marriage equality into law here in the Free State. We are working to engage key constituencies across the state to not only win, but to stand our ground and continue moving forward. We are grateful to the lawmakers who stand with us as we move forward together in the fight to create true and lasting equality throughout the Free State!

Equality Maryland Supports:

  • Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act (House Bill 808, Senate Bill 582)
  • Gender Identity Anti-Discrimination Act (Senate Bill 582)
  • Family Medical Leave Act
  • De Facto Parent
  • Education - Discrimination Prohibited - Protected Classes (House Bill 462)
  • Credit Reports and Credit Histories of Applicants and Employees - Limitations on Use by Employers (House Bill 175)
  • Maryland Open Government Act (House Bill 344 and Senate Bill 407)

To find out more about our diverse and ambitious legislative agenda, click here.

TAKE ACTION! The Equality Maryland Lobby Day has been rescheduled for Feb. 22, but we still need to push now for our key bills! Click here to send an e-mail to your legislators urging them to support equality for all Marylanders.

Thursday, February 4, 2010


Victory for LGBT Families in Maryland


Yesterday, we celebrated a victory for LGBT families across Maryland with the defeat of anti-equality House Bill 90 in the House Judiciary Committee! HB 90 would have not only invalidated marriages between same-sex couples entered into in another state or in a foreign country, but also declared that "marriages between individuals of the same sex are against the public policy of the State."

In his statements in support of HB 90, lead sponsor Delegate Emmett Burns claimed that civil marriage equality is "bad economic policy, bad social policy and bad educational policy". By halting this harmful legislation we have demonstrated that in fact it is discrimination that is truly bad policy for the Free State. You made this win possible with your e-mails and calls. We are also grateful to the over 50 LGBT and Allied individuals who made the trip to Annapolis last week for the hearing to reject this attack on our rights and our families.

Help us build on this important victory:

  • EQMD's Lobby Day was re-scheduled for Monday, February 22nd. We need your help as we continue our work to advance civil marriage equality and gender identity anti-discrimination legislation. Lobby Day is completely free. For more information or to register, click here.


  • Your financial support will ensure that we are able to keep up the fight for equality in Annapolis and throughout the state! We need your help to be ready to take on whatever attacks come our way and keep up the momentum behind our proactive legislation. Visit http://equalitymaryland.org/giv to donate, or send a check to EQMD, 1201 South Sharp St. Suite 109, Baltimore MD 21230.

We are working hard and will continue to as long as our community is denied basic human rights. Please commit to being part of this crucial work to ensure that all Marylanders are treated with respect and dignity!

Wednesday, January 27, 2010


Meet Our Interns!


Equality Maryland is excited to welcome three new interns to the EQMD family! Below we've included a post from each of them so you can hear, in their own words, what our work means to them.

Mary Schulte

Hi, I’m Mary Schulte, and I am very excited to begin my work with Equality Maryland! As a sophomore Government and Politics major at the University of Maryland in College Park, I began to become more aware of the gross equality gap that currently exists for LGBT individuals when I was confronted with the realities in a seminar course my freshman year. Through dialogue with instructors and separate research, I grew to learn more about this movement that, embarrassingly enough, I hadn’t realized was going on- but I knew I needed to help. Since then, under the guidance of the Office of LGBT Equity and the truly tremendous undergraduate courses the Department offers, I have become increasingly motivated to commit myself toward working for LGBT equality. As a student, I have served as a member of the Speakers’ Bureau, a group within the Office of LGBT Equity that visits classrooms, fraternities, sororities, and various other campus groups to facilitate discussions on current issues surrounding the LGBT community with the goal of reducing homophobia and heterosexism on campus. Aside from this, I have also participated in many events hosted by UMD’s Pride Alliance, such as the reception of Cleve Jones a few days prior to the National Equality March last October.

Viewing personal conversations and testimony as foundational to forming alliances and changing the current system, I am very passionate about getting involved with community outreach pertaining to LGBT civil rights issues and eager to begin this internship. I was spurred to get involved because someone reached out to me; now, I see it as my responsibility to pay it forward. I hope to be a resource to the organization in whatever way EQMD sees fit, with particular interest in projects that capitalize on building a common ground with diverse racial, ethnic, religious, and cultural communities to contribute to a growing coalition for equality both within and beyond the state of Maryland.

You can contact Mary at marys@equalitymaryland.org.

David McMichael

David is a senior at the University of Maryland, College Park. His primary course of study is Dance, with minors in Spanish and LGBT Studies. While he spends most days holed up in the performing arts center on campus, he still manages to find time to check Facebook, listen to Miley Cyrus (most notably “Party in the USA”), and go to Chipotle. He did manage to escape the performing arts center once, fleeing to Madrid, Spain for a semester full of speaking Spanish, eating tapas, and drinking sangria.

Originally from Philadelphia, David came to Maryland primarily in search of seafood. While pursuing a very non-kosher happiness south of the Mason-Dixon Line, he also discovered an interest in and passion for LGBT advocacy. Due to its proximity both to school and shellfish, he joins Equality Maryland for what he hopes to be an exciting and fruitful internship.

Email David at david@equalitymaryland.org.

Paula McCusker

I have been a student-activist since I was 17, when I started the Gay/Straight Alliance at Perry Hall High School. Since then, I have become highly involved in student organizing and activism at UMBC, and have served both on the board of Freedom Alliance, the LGBTQ student organization, and in the executive branch of student government. I have also become involved in several radical projects in Baltimore City, including Red Emma’s Bookstore & Coffeehouse and their sister project, the Baltimore Free School. I am interested in pursuing a course of study in sexuality politics and plan to pursue a career in activism.

Specific projects I have worked on in my years as an activist have included: raising awareness about “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and lobbying university administration to visibly oppose the policy; planning outreach events such as an Allies’ Dinner and World AIDS Day Benefit Concert; serving on university committees related to gender-neutral housing and LGBTQ awareness training; lobbying student government to support the passage of inclusive bills by the MD State Senate; presenting to the UMBC Presidents’ Council about special challenges that face LGBTQ students; and opposing the passage of a speech-restrictive bill by the University System of Maryland. In my experiences with these projects I have built a solid network of relationships at UMBC and gained valuable experience working with organizers, faculty, administration, student-legislators, and the media.

Projects I am interested in pursuing now include issues that impact LGBTQ youth, specifically in college activism and youth homelessness. I hope to create valuable resources based partially in my experiences at UMBC to aid other student-activists in Maryland as they work to create change at their universities. I also hope to do a heavy amount of theoretical and hands-on research related to LGBTQ youth homelessness and work with both local community partners and well-established projects in other states to formulate a better idea of what can best be done to address the problem. I am also especially excited to gain exposure to the political lobbying process during my time with Equality Maryland.

You can reach Paula at paula@equalitymaryland.org.

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