There were about 120 people in attendance including a Girl Scout troop of about thirty girls and their troop leaders. The girls lead the pledge of allegiance at the beginning of the proceedings. Supporters of the bill made themselves obvious by wearing purple.
A variety of business was quickly addressed, and the meeting was adjourned. Individuals on the speakers’ list were then invited and moved one by one to the microphone and provided his or her reasons for supporting or opposing the proposed Act Concerning Human Relations. The numbers in support and opposition were relatively balanced.
Many supportive groups were present and testified: Gender Rights Maryland, PFLAG of Baltimore, Howard & Carroll Counties, Equality Maryland, TransMaryland , Young Democrats of Maryland, the Rainbow Youth Alliance of Baltimore County and the community organizing group: The Esimorp Coalition.
The opponents followed their now scripted routine trying to fill the Council members with scary stories of what might happen if this bill were to pass. They totally ignored the fact that many in the LGBT community are still discriminated against on a regular basis. The most passionate and articulate supporting statements were made by Catherine Hyde, Dana Beyer, Sharon Brackett and Jenna Fischetti. Mathew Munk’s powerful and emphatic speech drew a thunderous round of applause.
The passage of this bill, from PFLAG’s perspective, will work to create a society that is healthy and respective of diversity. PFLAG envisions a society that embraces everyone, including those of diverse gender expressions, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Only with respect, dignity and equality for all will we reach our full potential as human beings, individually and collectively.
The working session is scheduled for February 14th at 2pm. If you want to speak, you will need to be signed-in by 1:45 p.m. PFLAG and Gender Rights Maryland encourage you to attend and speak up for your civil rights. Be in the chamber wearing purple if you support the bill.
