Senator Frosh’s legislative aid, David Brewster, was extremely supportive in fielding this overwhelming number of calls and should be commended for his professionalism.

TransMaryland feels it is entirely unfair to place the blame on Senator Frosh for the assignment of this bill. Senator President Mike Miller, in an interview with the Baltimore Sun stated, “When we are through with the budget we’ll have time to deal with other issues that might have a chance of passage,” he said after the morning session. “At this point in time I’d say the chances of passage of that bill are next to none.”

Additionally from the same Baltimore Sun report :

Miller noted that his chamber “spent a lot of time” on “important social issues” earlier in the session that died in the House of Delegates. The Senate passed a landmark bill legalizing same-sex marriage, only to see their efforts wilt when votes could not be secured for House passage.

It is clear Senate President Miller wishes to secure a workable budget for the State of Maryland and if the opportunity arises, may revisit HB235.

We continue to urge lawmakers to support Senator’s Rich Madaleno’s public statement on HB235:

“I have been the lead sponsor or lead cosponsor of the Gender Identity Antidiscrimination Act for the past four years. In advance of the 2011 Session, I had a bill drafted that is identical to the bill I had introduced previously. This draft prohibited discrimination based on gender identity in employment, housing, and public accommodations. However, our advocacy coalition asked me to not introduce the bill, preferring a strategy of pursuing a House bill alone. This approach has not diminished my commitment to enacting these much needed protections, and I urge the House of Delegates to pass HB 235, with an amendment that prohibits discrimination against transgender individuals regarding public accommodations.

Providing transgender individuals with basic protections against discrimination is long overdue. Although much of the media attention this legislative session has centered on marriage equality, we cannot let that debate overshadow efforts to enact these essential protections. Protection against discrimination, including gender identity discrimination, is a basic human right. Our state laws must reflect the values of equality and equal opportunity – values that are central to who we are as Americans.

Now is the time for Maryland to join thirteen other states, Washington, D.C., Montgomery County, and Baltimore City in protecting individuals from discrimination on the basis of gender identity. In 2007, Governor O’Malley signed an executive order adding protections against discrimination to our state personnel policies. We now must pass a statewide law that protects transgender individuals from discrimination when seeking employment, housing, and public accommodations.”

We support nothing less.

If you GL peeps had done the morally correct thing and not cut us out of the full civil rights bill you passed for the Maryland GL community in 2001, you wouldn’t be dealing with this issue now.

If incremental progress is unacceptable for you GL peeps on the marriage issue, incremental progress on trans rights issues is unacceptable to us as well.

So what are you: a senator or a paramecium?