Local
Md. House debates trans rights bill
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Supporters of a Maryland bill to ban discrimination in employment and housing based on gender identity greatly outnumbered opponents testifying at a hearing Wednesday.
About 30 witnesses spoke in favor of the Gender Identity Anti-Discrimination Act, compared to about 10 opponents, including one transgender activist who testified against the bill on grounds that it lacks language barring discrimination in public accommodations.
“Today, every Marylander should expect to work or live in comfortable housing without fear of losing a safe space because of who they are,” said Del. Joseline Pena-Melnyk (D-Prince George’s and Anne Arundel Counties), the lead sponsor of the bill.
Pena-Melnyk and the other witnesses testified before the House of Delegates Committee on Health and Government Operations, which has jurisdiction over a bill that has died in the committee every year since 2007.
As a member of the committee who knows the sentiment of its members, Pena-Melnyk told the Blade last week that she decided to remove a public accommodations non-discrimination provision from the bill this year with the expectation that doing so would greatly improve the chances of the bill passing.
Nearly all the Maryland and national transgender advocates familiar with the bill, including those testifying at the Wednesday hearing, have said they reluctantly agreed with Pena-Melnyk’s decision to remove the public accommodations clause as a means of advancing the bill.
Lisa Mottet, director of the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force’s Transgender Civil Rights Project, pointed to a joint report released by the Task Force and the National Center for Transgender Equality showing what she called an alarming incidence of job and housing discrimination faced by transgender residents in Maryland.
The report found that 71 percent of trans residents in the state experienced harassment or mistreatment on the job and 18 percent lost their job “just because of who they are,” Mottet told the committee.
Mottet called the enactment of a bill banning employment and housing discrimination against transgender people “critical” to their safety and security.
Transgender resident Owen Smith, who works for Equality Maryland, the statewide LGBT group coordinating the lobbying effort for the bill, gave a first-hand account of how employment discrimination resulted in him becoming homeless.
“I have been harassed and even assaulted at work because I am transgender,” he told the committee. “I was kicked out of my apartment for not being able to afford my monthly rent…I was forced to live out of my car,” he said, adding, “I am just one of the hundreds of transgender Marylanders in need of these protections.”
Several of the opponents who testified against the bill reiterated arguments made during the committee’s hearings on the bill in past years – that the bill would open the way for male pedophiles and rapists to target heterosexual women in women’s bathrooms or locker rooms at health clubs or other public places.
“This bill is a friend to males with ill intentions,” said Elaine McDermott, an official with Maryland Citizens for Responsible Government. “HB 235 [the Gender Identity Anti-Discrimination Act] robs me of my right to safety and privacy.”
Supporters of the bill noted that the removal of the public accommodations provision means the bill no longer covers places like public bathrooms or gyms and health clubs. But backers of the bill have said that none of the potential problems cited by McDermott and other opponents have surfaced in the states and cities that have had transgender non-discrimination laws in place for 20 years or longer.
Mottet noted that Baltimore and Montgomery County have enacted transgender non-discrimination laws that include public accommodations protection and they, too, have not encountered any of the bathroom-related problems raised by opponents.
Other opponents testifying at Wednesday’s hearing in Annapolis cited religious grounds for their opposition to the bill, saying biblical teachings hold that God determines a person’s gender and anyone seeking to change their gender is violating “God’s law.”
This assessment was challenged by several religious leaders who testified in favor of the bill, including Fr. Joseph Palacios, a Roman Catholic priest who teaches at Georgetown University. Palacios noted that the bill specifically exempts religious institutions from being bound by the bill’s non-discrimination provisions in employment and housing.
He said Catholic teaching has long stood up against discrimination and persecution of minorities. Palacios, who is gay, and gay Catholic activists Phil Attey and Manley Calhoun, who also testified in support of the bill, came to the hearing bearing cross marks on their foreheads in connection with Ash Wednesday.
The committee was expected to vote on whether to approve the bill and send it to the floor of the full House of Delegates within the next week or two.
Committee members asked very few questions of the witnesses during the three-hour hearing. Morgan Meneses-Sheets, Equality Maryland’s executive director who also testified in favor of the bill, attributed the lack of questions to a familiarity with the bill among many of the committee members.
“We’ve had a number of these hearings before,” she said. “And many of us have visited and spoken with committee members on the bill and why we feel it’s crucial for protecting the rights of transgender Marylanders.”
Virginia
Woman arrested for anti-gay assault at Alexandria supermarket
Victim recorded video of Christmas Day attack
Alexandria police announced on Jan. 12 that a Maryland woman has been arrested for allegedly assaulting a man while shouting anti-gay slurs at him at a Giant supermarket in Alexandria on Christmas Day.
The arrest came after a video of the assault that the victim captured with his phone and on which the woman can be heard shouting anti-gay slurs went viral on social media.
Police identified the woman as Shibritney Colbert, 34, of Landover, Md. Alexandria Police Chief Tarrick McGuire stated at a news conference that police responded to a 911 call placed by the victim and attempted to apprehend the woman, but she drove off in her car before police could apprehend her.
He said following an investigation, Colbert was apprehended and arrested in Prince Goerge’s County, Md., on Jan. 8. He said arrangements were being made for her to be brought to Alexandria where she was expected to face charges of assault and battery, destruction of property, felony eluding, and driving an unregistered vehicle.
The video of the incident shows Colbert pushing a shopping cart she was using in an aisle at the Giant store, located at 3131 Duke St., into the victim and another woman who was trying to help the victim. She can be seen throwing groceries at the victim while shouting anti-gay names. “Boy, get out of here with your gay ass,” was among the words she yelled at him that could be heard on the video.
The victim, who police identified only as a 24-year-old man, could be heard on the video saying he does not know the woman and urging her to “please back up.”
“Based on the victim’s statement, comments exchanged prior to the assault, and the totality of the circumstances, investigators believe the victim was targeted because of his sexual orientation,” police said in a statement.
Tarrick said Colbert’s arrest came at a time when Alexandria police were completing a strengthened hate crime policy calling for detectives to investigate crimes based on hate and for the department to prepare reports on hate crimes twice a year.
“Hate crimes are not just crimes against individuals, they are offenses that threaten the entire community and undermine the fundamental principles of dignity, equality, and safety,” Tarrick said.
Alexandria police didn’t immediately respond to a request from the Washington Blade for a copy of the official police report on the incident.
A link to the video posted on the social media site Reddit in which an unidentified man provides some details of the attack, can be accessed here:
Virginia
Mark Levine running in ‘firehouse’ Democratic primary to succeed Adam Ebbin
Outgoing gay Va. state senator has endorsed Elizabeth Bennett-Parker
Gay former Virginia House of Delegates member Mark Levine (D-Alexandria) is one of four candidates running in a hastily called “firehouse” Democratic primary to be held Tuesday, Jan. 13, to select a Democratic nominee to replace gay state Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria)
Ebbin, whose 39th Senate District includes Alexandria and parts of Arlington and Fairfax Counties, announced on Jan. 7 that he was resigning effective Feb. 18, to take a job in the administration of Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger.
The Jan. 13 primary called by Democratic Party leaders in Alexandria and Arlington will take place less than a week after Ebbin announced his planned resignation.
According to the Community News of Alexandria publication, a public debate between the four candidates was scheduled to take place one day earlier on Monday, Jan. 12, from 7-9 p.m. at the Charles Houston Recreation Center in Alexandria.
The winner of the so-called firehouse primary will compete in a Feb. 10 special election in which registered voters in the 39th District of all political parties and independents will select Ebbin’s replacement in the state Senate.
The other candidates competing in the primary on Tuesday, in addition to Levine, include state Del. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker, former Alexandria Vice Mayor Amy Jackson, and World Wildlife Fund executive Charles Sumpter.
Another Alexandria news publication, ALXnow, reports that Ebbin, Spanberger, and at least four other prominent Democrats in the Virginia General Assembly have endorsed Bennett-Parker, leading political observers to view her as the leading contender in the race.
“I have worked alongside Elizabeth and have seen her fight for the values of our community,” Ebbin said in a statement, ALXnow reports.
Arlington gay Democratic activist TJ Flavall said Parker-Bennett has attended LGBTQ community events and is known as an LGBTQ ally.
Ebbin’s endorsement of Bennett-Parker over fellow gay politician Levine in the Jan. 13 firehouse primary follows what observers have said is a longstanding rivalry between the two over disagreements around legislative issues.
In 2021, Ebbin endorsed Parker-Bennett when she challenged Levine in the Democratic primary for his House of Delegates seat in the then 45th House District in Alexandria.
Parker-Bennett defeated Levine in that race at a time when Levine, in an unusual move, also ran for the position of lieutenant governor. He also lost that race.
ALXnow reports that in his Facebook announcement of his candidacy for Ebbin’s state Senate seat Levine discounted the relevance of the large number of prominent endorsements that Parker-Bennet has received. In campaigns that last for just a few days rather than weeks or months, “it’s about turnout,” ALX now quoted him as saying.
Levine, an attorney, has a longstanding record as an LGBTQ rights advocate. He worked as a legislative counsel to gay former U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) before becoming a radio talk show host and TV political commentator in Virginia prior to his election to the Virginia House of Delegates.
The firehouse primary on Jan. 13, which is open only to voters with identification showing they live in the 39th District, will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. in these locations:
Alexandria: Charles E. Beatley, Jr. Public Library, 5005 Duke St.; and the Charles Houston Recreation Center, 901 Wythe St.
Arlington: Aurora Hills Library, 735 18th St. S.
Annandale: New John Calvin Presbyterian Church, 6531 Columbia Pike
Virginia
Gay Va. State Sen. Ebbin resigns for role in Spanberger administration
Veteran lawmaker will step down in February
Alexandria Democrat Adam Ebbin, who has served as an openly gay member of the Virginia Legislature since 2004, announced on Jan. 7 that he is resigning from his seat in the State Senate to take a job in the administration of Gov.-Elect Abigail Spanberger.
Since 2012, Ebbin has been a member of the Virginia Senate for the 39th District representing parts of Alexandria, Arlington, and Fairfax counties. He served in the Virginia House of Delegates representing Alexandria from 2004 to 2012, becoming the state’s first out gay lawmaker.
His announcement says he submitted his resignation from his Senate position effective Feb. 18 to join the Spanberger administration as a senior adviser at the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority.
“I’m grateful to have the benefit of Senator Ebbin’s policy expertise continuing to serve the people of Virginia, and I look forward to working with him to prioritize public safety and public health,” Spanberger said in Ebbin’s announcement statement.
She was referring to the lead role Ebbin has played in the Virginia Legislature’s approval in 2020 of legislation decriminalizing marijuana and the subsequent approval in 2021of a bill legalizing recreational use and possession of marijuana for adults 21 years of age and older. But the Virginia Legislature has yet to pass legislation facilitating the retail sale of marijuana for recreational use and limits sales to purchases at licensed medical marijuana dispensaries.
“I share Governor-elect Spanberger’s goal that adults 21 and over who choose to use cannabis, and those who use it for medical treatment, have access to a well-tested, accurately labeled product, free from contamination,” Ebbin said in his statement. “2026 is the year we will move cannabis sales off the street corner and behind the age-verified counter,” he said.
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