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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, March 9, 2009
Equality Maryland Enlists Additional Organizers for Transgender Issues
CONTACT:
Kate Runyon, Executive Director
Cell: 410 585-4107
Mindy Daniels, a long-time local LBGT activist and civil rights attorney, and KT Thirion, an activist in the LGBT movement for more than six years, have joined Equality Maryland as organizers for transgender issues.
Equality Maryland brought on Daniels and Thirion under contracts made possible by a grant provided by Tides Foundation's State Equality Fund, a philanthropic partnership that includes the Evelyn And Walter Haas, Jr Fund, the Gill Foundation, and anonymous donors.
Dr. Dana Beyer, Vice President of Equality Maryland, said, "Equality Maryland is very fortunate to have received the grants to hire these two terrific people to work on issues of gender identity and expression, now at the forefront of the concerns of the greater LGBT community. KT did yeoman's work last year in protecting Montgomery County residents from a national campaign to deprive our residents of their rights and dignity. Mindy has been a leader in DC, successfully serving the city's LGBT residents with her advocacy and her professional work, and is now narrowing her focus to the needs of the transgender community in Maryland."
Daniels will manage a six-month long project focused on state-wide outreach and education. Among other projects, she will cultivate and develop working committees to address transgender issues. Thirion will focus efforts on mobilizing community support for gender identity anti-discrimination protections during the critical months of the legislative session.
KT Thirion began working on LBGT issues in Austin, Texas, and graduated from American University in Washington, DC, where he served as the President of the student club Queers and Allies and led campus-organizing efforts to promote LGBT equality. He has worked as the Lead Organizer for Basic Rights Montgomery, the campaign to uphold Montgomery County’s gender identity anti-discrimination law, as well as an Organizing & Training Fellow at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and a Field Organizer for No on 8, Equality for All in Los Angeles, CA.
Mindy Daniels served as President of the D.C. Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance and on the Executive Committee of Gay Men and Lesbians Opposing Violence. She also held two terms on the Metropolitan Washington Regional HIV Health Services Planning Council. Daniels organized and led coalitions that succeeded in obtaining protections and rights in the areas of sodomy reform, domestic partnership, condom availability and bias-related crimes. She has represented numerous LGBT persons in her legal practice, and, most recently, successfully litigated a case against the D.C. Fire Department for discrimination based on personal appearance.
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Equality Maryland is Maryland's largest LGBT civil rights organization, focused on making life better for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender citizens of Maryland. Equality Maryland works to secure and protect the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Marylanders by promoting legislative initiatives on the state, county and municipal levels and educating the public about the issues faced by our diverse community.