A state bill to ban discrimination against transgender Marylanders has passed both the Senate and House of Delegates. State Del. Maggie McIntosh (D-Baltimore City) referenced the exclusion of trans Marylanders in a 2001 anti-discrimination bill when she said, “This is an important group of people today who frankly we left out 11 years ago. They’re beat up. They’re ridiculed. They are suffering and they need to hold their head up high just like I do.†Two amendments failed, one to ban anyone from asserting their gender identity and expression to “enter a place of public accommodation for the purpose of committing an illegal activity†and the other to exempt bathrooms from the measure. Maryland is a place to watch: those opposing the bill may initiate a referendum against it.
