Baltimore council takes up trans rights
Ordinance would be first in Maryland to protect gender identity, expression

By RHONDA SMITH, BALTIMORE
Reporter for The Washington Blade

Baltimore MD, August 16, 2002 ---- The 19-member Baltimore City Council introduced a proposed ordinance Aug. 12 to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity or expression in employment, housing, education, public accommodations, and health and welfare agencies.

The statewide gay civil rights law enacted in Maryland last year does not include protection against discrimination based on gender identity or expression. Gay civil rights advocates in Maryland plan to approach individual jurisdictions throughout the state that already provide legal protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation and lobby them to grant the same protections for transgender people. Baltimore is the first jurisdiction they approached in this effort.

"This was an area in which many within the gay, lesbian and transgender community felt they were not protected," said Alvin O. Gillard, director of the Baltimore Community Relations Commission.

The 10-member commission requested the proposed law and would be in charge of enforcing it. Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley, a Democrat who supports the proposal, appoints members to the Community Relations Commission. In Baltimore, discrimination of various forms already is prohibited based on race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, marital status, physical or mental disability, and sexual orientation. The city has included protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation since 1988.

"Through this bill, Mayor O'Malley is saying that everyone deserves an equal opportunity for a good job and a decent home without fear of discrimination," said Blake Humphreys, managing director of Free State Justice, a gay political organization in Maryland that represents residents statewide. The proposed anti-discrimination ordinance would not apply to religious or denominational institutions in Baltimore.

O'Malley was on vacation this week and unavailable to comment on the proposal. Gerry Shields, a spokesperson for O'Malley, described him as a longtime supporter of gay civil rights and said the mayor introduced the proposed ordinance on gender identity through his floor leader on the City Council, Stephanie Rawlings, the council's vice president. All 19 of Baltimore's City Council members are Democrats.

"The mayor doesn't want anyone to discriminate against anybody for any reason," Shields said. He also noted that when O'Malley was a Baltimore City Council member in the early 1990s, he supported a proposal to grant health benefits to domestic partners of gay employees.

"Discrimination surrounding gender identity is an issue that must be addressed," Baltimore City Council President Sheila Dixon said in a written statement. "Now that this bill has been introduced, I look forward to scheduling a hearing and listening to the debate. We'll see where the bill goes from there."

A date has not been scheduled for the hearing, but a spokesperson for Dixon said it most likely would take place in the fall. Karen Randle, executive secretary for the Baltimore City Council, said the Judiciary & Legislative Investigations Committee must consider the proposed ordinance before the full City Council votes on it. A public hearing would be held on the measure before the vote.

Various city agencies have received a copy of the ordinance, Randle said, and have 30 days to report back to the Council any concerns or suggestions they have about it. The Council's next regular meeting is scheduled for Sept. 9.

Trans protections needed?

Gillard, director of the Community Relations Commission, noted that opinions vary on the commission about whether specific protections against transgender discrimination are needed.

"Some feel 'gender identity' is already covered under the existing language in the law. But we feel that to amend the law specifically to spell out gender identity is in no way inconsistent with the existing law, and we would support the change," Gillard said. "Certainly, we feel that everyone should be protected if, in fact, they feel the existing language does not offer the same protections."

The proposed measure, Council Bill 02-0857, defines gender identity or expression as "an individual's having or being perceived as having a gender-related self-identity, self-image, appearance, expression, or behavior, whether or not those gender-related characteristics differ from those associated with the individual's assigned sex at birth."

Jean-Michel Brevelle, a female-to-male transgender organizer for Free State Justice and Marylanders Advocating Toward Transgender Equal Rights (MATTER), an arm of the gay civil rights group, said he and others have spoken with O'Malley's staff members about the proposed ordinance.

"We were really quite pleased that the mayor's office agreed," he said, noting that the Human Rights Campaign and the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force have provided resources to help Free State Justice gain approval of the measure.

If the ordinance were approved, Baltimore would be the first city in Maryland to protect people against discrimination based on gender identity or expression.

"Baltimore is a very progressive city," Brevelle said. "It seemed like a natural match for this effort."

Brevelle began in April organizing to get the proposed ordinance approved in Baltimore. He and other members of MATTER hold monthly meetings and have had conversations about the proposal with various supporters, including the Gay & Lesbian Center of Baltimore.

"What we'll see in our next step is a much more visible advocacy effort involving support in and outside the gay community," he said.

Gay group sets strategy

Free State Justice is leading the effort to gain legal protection for residents statewide based on gender identity or expression. The gay civil rights group created MATTER to coordinate the strategy. Free State Justice organizers said they plan to work with the Baltimore mayor's LGBT Task Force on the effort to gain legal protection against discrimination for transgender residents.

The Free State Justice Web site includes sample cases of transgender discrimination in various Maryland cities and counties. The most common type of discrimination committed against transgender persons in Maryland is employment-related, according to the group. Discrimination is most prevalent among transgender people who are in the process of making a gender transition, the groups said.

"It is very common for employers to threaten dismissal if an employee expresses a desire to gender transition," they said. "If they are not actually fired, transgender people who transition while working in their current job often deal with hostility and harassment from their co-workers."

News reporter Rhonda Smith can be reached at rsmith@washblade.com.

FOR MORE INFO
Baltimore City Council
City Council President
Sheila Dixon
City Hall, Room 400
100 N. Holliday St.
Baltimore, MD 21202
410-396-4804
www.baltimorecitycouncil.com Baltimore Community Relations Commission
10 N. Calvert St., Suite 915
Baltimore, MD 21202
410-396-3141 Free State Justice
P.O. Box 922
Glen Burnie, MD 21060-0922
301-891-1111
www.freestatejustice.org

Sent by Blake Humphreys, August 23, 2002