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Md. House committee kills bill to ban transgender kids from sports teams

FreeState Justice said measure ‘specifically’ targeted trans girls

Published

4 years ago

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(Public domain photo)

A Maryland House of Delegates committee has struck down a bill that sought to bar transgender children from joining school sports teams consistent with their gender identity.

The House Ways and Means Committee on Feb. 24 killed the “Save Women’s Sports Act,” which would have required interscholastic or intramural athletic teams or sports sponsored by a public or private school to expressly designate based on biological sex. 

“This bill specifically targets transgender girls because of a false presumption that they have an unfair advantage,” said Jamie Grace Alexander, policy coordinator at FreeState Justice. 

FreeState Justice is a statewide advocacy organization that coalesces direct legal services and policy advocacy to serve the needs of LGBTQ communities in Maryland. 

The bill also suggested that governmental entities, licensing organizations and athletic organizations be barred from “[accepting] a complaint, [investigating], or [taking] any adverse action against a school or county board for maintaining separate [sports] for students of the female sex,” according to the fiscal and policy note. 

Now that it has been voted down, Alexander said that they and other LGBTQ activists can “focus on actual trans-affirming legislation we’ve been working on.”

“These things — [the bill] — are distractions that take energy away from the work we do year round,” they said. 

This recent legislative proposal follows a national trend wherein legal action is being taken to infringe upon the rights of trans children. 

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott last week instructed state agencies to investigate families who provide gender-affirming treatments to their children following his opinion that such treatments are a form of “child abuse.”

“Since the beginning of the 2021 legislative session, anti-LGBTQ+ politicians … have sought to turn Texans against their LGBTQ+ neighbors through an onslaught of harmful legislation, inflammatory rhetoric and discredited legal opinions,” Equality Texas CEO Ricardo Martinez told the Washington Blade last week in a statement. 

“They have found it politically advantageous to spread lies about and villainize LGBTQ+ people, especially transgender people, grossly mischaracterizing our lives to paint us as scary caricatures that need to be feared, all in service of securing their re-elections,” said Martinez.

Looking to the future, Alexander said that they and other LGBTQ activists are watching closely for the emergence of any anti-trans legislation.

“The senators who proposed [the Save Women’s Sports Act] are not senators we have relationships with,” they said. “So, we have to be proactive and put protections for trans people ahead of any anti-trans legislation.”

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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

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4 days ago

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April 15, 2026

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Montgomery County Council member Evan Glass, center, speaks to attendees of a meet and greet event at Poolesville Memorial United Methodist Church. (Photo by Meredith Rizzo for the Baltimore Banner)

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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Maryland

Supreme Court ruling against conversion therapy bans could affect Md. law

Then-Gov. Larry Hogan signed statute in 2018

Published

3 weeks ago

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April 1, 2026

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(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

By PAMELA WOOD, JOHN-JOHN WILLIAMS IV, and MADELEINE O’NEILL | The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled against a law banning “conversion therapy” for LGBTQ kids in Colorado, a ruling that also could apply to Maryland’s ban on the discredited practice.

An 8-1 high court majority sided with a Christian counselor who argues the law banning talk therapy violates the First Amendment. The justices agreed that the law raises free speech concerns and sent it back to a lower court to decide whether it meets a legal standard that few laws pass.

Justice Neil Gorsuch, writing for the court’s majority, said the law “censors speech based on viewpoint.” The First Amendment, he wrote, “stands as a shield against any effort to enforce orthodoxy in thought or speech in this country.”

The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.

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Maryland

Md. lawmakers reaffirm legislative priorities

2026 General Assembly to end April 13

Published

3 weeks ago

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March 31, 2026

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The Maryland State House in Annapolis, Md.(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Maryland’s legislative caucuses outlined their legislative priorities heading into the final weeks of the 2026 General Assembly during a joint press conference on March 24.

The press conference was titled “We are Maryland,” where a representative for each of the legislative caucuses outlined priorities. 

State Del. Kris Fair (D-Frederick County) of the LGBTQ+ Caucus opened the press conference with a statement on the unity of Maryland’s caucus. 

“Together we can show our state and our community a different world, one where we mutually support one another and through that support uplift every Marylander,” he said. 

In a press conference on March 5, the LGBTQ+ Caucus outlined its top legislative priorities. Fair highlighted two of those bills again during the “We are Maryland” press conference. 

The first of the two highlighted pieces of legislation was Senate Bill 626 and House Bill 1589. 

The bills would simplify the process of updating an individual’s birth certificate and align the Department of Health and DMV systems to reflect those changes. The bill is being led by state Sen. Clarence Lam (D-Anne Arundel and Howard Counties) and state Del. Ashanti Martinez (D-Prince George’s County). 

The second piece of legislation is Senate Bill 950 and House Bill 1209, which would update and modernize laws and regulations around so-called conversion therapy. The bills have failed to pass either chamber thus far. They are being led by state Sen. Cheryl Kagan (D-Montgomery County) and state Del. Bonnie Cullison (D-Montgomery County). 

(The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled against a Colorado law that bans so-called conversion therapy for minors. Maryland is among the U.S. jurisdictions that prohibit the widely discredited practice for anyone under 18.)

Martinez and Lam have introduced bills in their respective chambers that would expand PrEP access in Maryland. Martinez did not attend the press conference, and Fair did not mention it when he spoke.

State Del. N. Scott Phillips (D-Baltimore County) represented the Black Caucus during the press conference. State Del. Dana Jones (D-Anne Arundel County) spoke on behalf of the Women’s Caucus, State Del. Teresa Woorman (D-Montgomery County) represented the Latino Caucus, and State Del. Lily Qi (D-Montgomery County) represented the Asian-American and Pacific Islander Caucus. State Del. Jared Solomon (D-Montgomery County) represented the Jewish Caucus, and state Del. Sean Stinnett (D-Baltimore County) represented the Muslim Caucus during the press conference. 

Solomon ended the press conference by explaining the importance of all the caucuses coming out together. 

“We are stronger when we’re together, and many of these issues that we have talked about, again, impact all of us,” said Solomon.

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