Local
Gender Rights Maryland launches
Trans group gets rolling; Equality MD announces strategic plan
‘There’s never been a trans-focused politically directed organization in Maryland before,’ said Dana Beyer of Gender Rights Maryland. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Things continue percolating for LGBT activist groups in Maryland. Gender Rights Maryland, a new group dedicated to getting trans protection legislation passed, had its launch events last weekend. And this week Equality Maryland announced a strategic plan for how it plans to regroup and rebuild for the rest of the year.
On June 23, Gender Rights held a gathering at Blair Mansion Inn Restaurant in Silver Spring. According to Dana Beyer, the group’s volunteer executive director, about 60 attended.
“It was kicked off with a lot of enthusiasm,” Beyer said. “There was a nice broad spectrum of people there and it was very inspiring. There was definitely a sense that this was a historic event. There’s never been a trans-focused politically directed organization in Maryland before.”
Last weekend, the group’s organizers met with leaders from national LGBT groups based in Washington at the DoubleTree Hotel on Rhode Island Avenue, then on Sunday the board held its first meeting. The organization has a 16-member board but hopes to expand to 18.
Beyer, who co-founded the organization with four other transgender Maryland residents, says the group has been a dream of hers for years. A number of considerations, Beyer says, factored into the timing of the group’s formation — a public accommodations bill getting further along toward passage (though it ultimately fell one vote shy of what it needed) in the state’s most recent legislative session and the national media attention that a video received showing Maryland resident Chrissy Lee Polis getting beaten in a McDonald’s restaurant in April. Beyer says many in the group have assisted Polis in getting help. They say she’s doing well. Polis attended Baltimore Pride two weekends ago.
Also last week, Equality Maryland announced a six-month “strategic action plan” that the organization’s remaining five board members are enacting. The organization is in the midst of “a thorough self-evaluation” the release said. Recent months have been tumultuous for the group. Former director Morgan Meneses-Sheets was fired in April. Two LGBT bills — one for same-sex marriage and another for transgender accommodations — failed earlier this year. The board is about half the size it was six months ago. Only one person remains on staff, an office manager. Other employees of recent months had contracts that were not renewed, the board said. After June 30, the organization will have two staff members — an office manager and a gender identity field organizer — and plans to retain Lynne Bowman as a contractor and to add Andy Szekeres as a fundraising consultant.
“Over the past two months, the remaining members of the board have undertaken a thorough process of self-evaluation,” said Patrick Wojahn, chair of Equality Maryland Foundation, which leads the organization’s education efforts, in the announcement. “Through individual conversations, over a dozen Listening Tour stops and more than 1,200 responses to our online survey, we have actively gathered input about what people want to see from their statewide equality organization. We have coupled that input with the results of a comprehensive internal review and developed a strong six-month plan that will allow Equality Maryland to become the organization it must be in order to achieve legislative and cultural equality in our state.”
Board Chair Lisa Polyak mentioned several other goals, such as a “major” reconstitution of the board with “more diversity and a bigger skills set,” the hiring — tentatively slated for fall — of a new executive director with a new job description, financial stabilization and “more input from the community about what our mission should be.”
Polyak said board members have left for a variety of reasons. At least one resigned over the handling of Meneses-Sheets’ employment but another, Scott Davenport, moved out of the area and another took on more responsibilities at his job, Polyak said.
“It wouldn’t be fair to characterize it as any one thing,” she said.
Polyak said the formation of Gender Rights Maryland is a “natural evolution for the trans community” and cited other states, such as New York and Massachusetts, that have both state LGBT organizations and separate transgender political groups.
“I think it’s a great thing,” she said. “It ultimately gives more power to the issue of gender identity concerns, which, frankly, just based on numbers, is numerically small. It makes sense that they might have their own organization for protections. … We look forward to working with them.”
Did the Equality Maryland upheaval contribute to the formation of Gender Rights Maryland? Beyer, a former Equality Maryland board member, said “nothing in politics or life is ever completely isolated” and that it’s hard to quantify to what degree one series of events affected her group’s launch.
“Our desire, willingness and determination to start really had nothing to do with Equality Maryland,” she said. “But that’s not to say that the vacuum left by having no trans board members there and the organization having spent most of its political capital on marriage didn’t provide an opening for us to take off and grow … I think it was the time. The time was now for us to grow, regardless of the state of Equality Maryland.”
The group’s main priority is to pass a comprehensive gender identity anti-discrimination bill by the end of the 2012 legislative session.
And has the passage of same-sex marriage in New York cast this year’s Maryland failings in a harsher light? Gov. Martin O’Malley told regional news outlets a stronger stance on his part in support would “have kicked it into the gutter of partisan division.”
Polyak doesn’t buy it.
“When you see executive leadership that is fully invested in the passage of any law, the chances of its success are much higher and that’s what we saw in New York. Gov. Cuomo used his policy tools as well as the bully pulpit and in closed door meetings admonished senators that our families and our relationships are just as valid. He spoke from the heart and there’s no substitute for authenticity. If Gov. O’Malley would show similar heart when he speaks of the commitment to this bill that he says he possesses, if he really put his heart into it and made it part of his legislative package for 2012, it would pass. It’s not a partisan issue. Sen. Allan Kittleman, a Republican, has spoken very movingly of his commitment from a civil rights standpoint and we believe there are those of a similar mind in the House of Delegates.”
District of Columbia
Judge rescinds stay-away order in Capital Pride anti-stalking case
Evidence hearing to determine if order should be reinstated against Darren Pasha
A D.C. Superior Court judge on April 17 rescinded an anti-stalking order he approved in February at the request of Capital Pride Alliance against local LGBTQ activist Darren Pasha.
In a ruling at a court status hearing, Judge Robert D. Okun agreed with defendant Darren Pasha’s stated concern that the initial order was too broad and did not specify who specifically he must stay at least 100 feet away from, as called for in the order.
Okun ruled on April 17 that the initial order, which he noted was oral rather than written, would be suspended until an evidentiary hearing takes place in which Capital Pride will need to present evidence justifying the need for such an order.
“I’m fine with scheduling a hearing at which the plaintiff can present evidence, and the defendant can present evidence,” Okun said. “But I’m not fine with just continuing this oral TRO [Temporary Restraining Order] that Mr. Pasha really doesn’t even have notice of. That seems unfair,” he said.
After asking both Pasha and Capital Pride Alliance Attorney Nick Harrison when they would be available for the evidence hearing, Okun set the date for April 29 at 11 a.m. in Superior Court.
The case began when Capital Pride Alliance, the D.C.-based LGBTQ group that organizes the city’s annual Pride events, filed a Civil Complaint on Oct. 27, 2025, against Pasha, accusing him of engaging in a year-long effort to harass, intimidate, and stalk Capital Pride’s staff, board members, and volunteers.
The complaint was accompanied by a separate motion seeking a restraining order, preliminary injunction, and anti-stalking order prohibiting Pasha from “any further contact, harassment, intimidation, or interference with the Plaintiff, its staff, board members, volunteers, and affiliates.”
In his initial ruling in February, Okun issued an order requiring Pasha to stay at least 100 feet away from Capital Pride staff, board members, and volunteers until the April 17 status hearing. He reduced the stay-away distance from the 200 yards requested by Capital Pride.
Pasha, who has so far represented himself in court without an attorney, has argued in multiple court filings and motions that the Capital Pride stalking allegations are untrue. In his initial 16-page response to the complaint, Pasha said it appears to be a form of retaliation against him for a dispute he has had with Capital Pride and its former board president, Ashley Smith, who has since resigned from the board.
“It is evident that the document is replete with false, misleading, and unsubstantiated assertions,” Pasha’s court response states.
At the April 17 hearing, Okun also ruled that, as standard procedure for civil complaints such as this one, he has ordered both parties to enter into court-supervised mediation to attempt to reach a settlement rather than go to trial.
In an earlier ruling Okun denied Pasha’s request for a jury trial, stating that civil cases such as this must undergo a trial with the judge determining the verdict under existing civil court statutes.
The April 17 court hearing was held in a courtroom at the courthouse, but as allowed under current court rules, Capital Pride attorney Harrison and Capital Pride official June Crenshaw participated virtually through a video connection. Pasha attended the hearing in the courtroom.
“This matter is proceeding through the court in the normal course,” Capital Pride released in a statement. “We look forward to presenting the relevant evidence at the scheduled hearing. Capital Pride Alliance remains committed to maintaining a safe and respectful environment for our staff, volunteers, and community, and to addressing concerns through appropriate channels.”
“This is clearly a case of retaliation,” Pasha told the Blade after the hearing. “Today the judge removed the stay-away order and asked Capital Pride Alliance to present enough evidence and examples to see if a stay-away order should be granted,” he said. “Because Pride is coming up in June, we need to see where this is going.”
District of Columbia
Gay D.C. police lieutenant arrested on child porn charges
Matthew Mahl once served as head of LGBT Liaison Unit
D.C. police announced on April 14 that they have placed one of their lieutenants, Matthew Mahl, on administrative leave and revoked his police powers after receiving information that he was arrested in Maryland one day earlier.
Although the initial D.C. police announcement doesn’t disclose the reason for the arrest it refers to a statement by the Harford County, Md. Sheriff’s Office that discloses Mahl has been charged with sexual solicitation of a minor and child porn solicitation.
“On Tuesday, the Harford County Sheriff’s Office contacted MPD’s Internal Affairs Division shortly after arresting Lieutenant Matthew Mahl,” the D.C. police statement says.
“The allegations in this case are extremely disturbing, and in direct contrast to the values of the Metropolitan Police Department,” the statement continues. “MPD’s Internal Affairs Division will investigate violations of MPD policy once the criminal investigation concludes,” it says.
“MPD is not involved in the criminal investigation and was not aware of the investigation until yesterday,” the statement adds.
Mahl served as acting supervisor of the MPD’s then Gay & Lesbian Liaison Unit in 2013 when he held the rank of sergeant. D.C. police officials placed him on administrative leave and suspended his police powers that same year while investigating an undisclosed allegation.
A source familiar with the investigation said Mahl was cleared of any wrongdoing a short time later and resumed his police duties. Around the time he was promoted to lieutenant several years later Mahl took on the role as chairman of the D.C. Police Union, becoming the first known openly gay officer to hold that position.
NBC 4 reports that Mahl, 47, has served on the police force for 23 years and most recently was assigned to the department’s Special Operations Division.
Records related to Mahl’s arrest filed in Harford County District Court, show Sheriff’s Department investigators state in charging documents that he allegedly committed the offenses of Sexual Solicitation of a Minor and Child Porn Solicitation on Monday, April 13, one day before he was arrested on April 14.
The court records show he was held without bond during his first appearance in court on April 14. A decision on whether he would be released while awaiting trial or continue to be held without bond was scheduled to be determined during an April 15 bond hearing. The outcome of that hearing could not be immediately determined.
Maryland
Evan Glass is leaning on his record. Is that enough for Montgomery County’s top job?
Gay county executive candidate pushing for equitable pay, safer streets, and cleaner environment
By TALIA RICHMAN | During a meet-and-greet at Poolesville Memorial United Methodist Church, Evan Glass got his loudest applause of the night with a plan he acknowledged was decidedly unsexy.
“Day one, I’ll hire a director of permitting services,” the county executive candidate said.
Doing so, he added, is a step toward easing the regulatory burdens that can stifle small businesses in Montgomery County.
The only problem? At least one of his fiercest competitors is making a similar pledge.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
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