UPDATE @ 5:55 PM from Metro Weekly. This bill is moving faster than anticipated:
The Gender Identity Anti-Discrimination Act, House Bill 235, went through it's second reading this afternoon on the Maryland House of Delegates Floor and was ordered to be "printed" for its third and final reading. According to the clerk's office of the Maryland House of Delegates, the third reading is scheduled to take place Saturday, March 26, in order to get the bill to the Senate floor by Monday, March 28.___________
There was some good news out of the State House in Annapolis today. From Metro Weekly's Yusef Najafi:
The Gender Identity Anti-Discrimination Act, House Bill 235, passed through the Maryland House's Health and Government Operations Committee with a 15-8 favorable vote, according to Equality Maryland.Dana always has her finger on the pulse of what's happening in the State House. So, maybe we'll see one pro-equality bill pass this year in Maryland.
The legislation, which seeks to prohibit discrimination in the areas of housing, employment, licensing and commercial leasing against transgender Marylanders, will now move on to the Maryland House of Delegates floor for a full vote.
[UPDATE] According to prominent transgender activist Dana Beyer, the bill's third reading and final vote are expected on the House floor before midnight on Monday, March 28. The bill will then move to the Senate.
"The party-line vote is indivcative of the fact that there's strong support on the floor," Beyer says.
Also, as Yusef has reported, not everyone in the LGBT community is on board with this legislation:
Opponents of the legislation include members of the LGBT community who argue that the bill is inadequate because it only provides some, not all, protections by excluding "public accommodations" on a state level. Similar legislation, which included protections for transgender people with regard to Maryland public accommodations, has failed in the past.
