House Bill 235, the Gender Identity Non Discrimination Act was introduced in the Maryland House of Delegates by Del. Joseline Pena-Melnyk and Del. Ariana Kelly.
However, there's a major problem with it. The GINDA doesn't include 'public accommodations' language while the four previous Maryland trans specific rights bills did.
Without that 'public acconmodations' language, it still leaves the door open for transpeople to be discriminated against, and as we know too well, if you give the bigots a millimeter, they will take that millimeter and discriminate with it .
Trans people in the Old Line State are justifiably concerned about the lack of effort Equality MD seems to be putting in this bill vis a vis the marriage equality one. They still remember being cut out of the 2001 rights bill that protects GL people only, so Maryland transpeeps, in order to avoid being thrown under the bus again, time to be agents of your own liberation.Go to Annapolis, lobby your legislators and get the GINDA bill passed with the language you need in it your damned selves .
The ability to go to the gender appropriate bathroom may not be of major importance to you marriage obsessed GL peeps, but to transpeople it is essential.
We see this as currently constructed as nothing more than an incremental approach, which we reject..
Bottom line is we painfully know the incremental approach to our legislation doesn't work. While the Maryland legislature has the political will, control of both houses and a friendly governor willing to sign it, let's load up what transpeople need in one comprehensive bill, get it passed and into law, then we can get busy defending it from the right wing attack on it that is as sure to come as a Baltimore Ravens blitz.
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