Delaware
Anti-trans bill in Delaware expected to die in committee
GOP measure would ban trans girls from competing on women’s teams
A Republican-backed bill introduced in the Delaware Senate earlier this year that calls for banning female transgender students from competing on women’s sports teams in the state’s schools came under fire in a March 23 committee hearing.
The hearing by the state Senate’s Health and Social Services Committee was led by its chairperson, Delaware State Sen. Sarah McBride (D-Wilmington), the nation’s first openly transgender state senator. McBride, in referring to dozens of similar bills introduced in state legislatures across the country, said the Delaware bill was “part of a national strategy” aimed curtailing the rights of transgender people, including trans kids.
“The outcome of this strategy is to make life so difficult for trans kids, to make them feel so alone, that some never grow up to be adults,” she told the committee and the bill’s lead sponsor, Sen. Bryant Richardson (R-Seaford).
Political observers familiar with Delaware politics believe the six-member committee, which consists of four Democrats and two Republicans, with McBride as the chair, is certain to defeat the bill by letting it die in committee without voting to send it to the full Senate. No vote was taken on the bill during the March 23 hearing.
Neither McBride nor a spokesperson for her office could be reached for comment.
Even in the unlikely development that it was to be released by the committee, Delaware gay Democratic activist Mitch Crane, a former chair of the Sussex County, Del., Democratic Committee, said the Democratic-controlled state Senate and House of Representatives would defeat such a bill by a large margin.
Crane said he thought it was significant that three of the Delaware Senate’s seven Republican members did not sign on as co-sponsors of the bill. The 21-member state Senate consists of 14 Democrats and seven Republicans.
In the 41-member Delaware House of Representatives, just three of the 16 House Republicans signed on as co-sponsors of the bill. None of the 25 Democrats in the state House signed on as co-sponsors, nor did any Democrats in the state Senate.
The bill in question, Senate Bill 227, states that “a school district, charter school, member school, or higher education institution may not allow a student to compete for an athletic team or in a sport designated for the biological sex opposite to the student’s biological sex as correctly stated on one of the following…”
It goes on to list two criteria to determine a student’s biological sex – the student’s “official birth certificate” and, “If the student’s birth certificate is unobtainable, another government record.” The bill also states that a document confirming the student’s biological sex, such as a birth certificate, must have been “entered at or near the time of the student’s birth.”
The bill allows cisgender female students, who it says are girls who were born as girls, to compete on boys’ sports teams if there are no girls’ teams for a specific sport such as wrestling.
“The bill was introduced by the most right-wing homophobic Republicans in the legislature,” Crane told the Washington Blade. “The sponsors of this bill knew it could never pass,” he said. “They are just appealing to their base.”
The Delaware General Assembly website identifies the bill’s sponsors as Republican Sens. Bryant Richardson, Colin Bonini, Gerald Hocker, and Dave Lawson and House Republicans Timothy Dukes, Richard Collins, and Jesse Vanderwende.
Richardson, the state senator who introduced the bill, stated during the March 23 committee hearing that his intent was not to discriminate against anyone.
“You can be anything you want to be in this great country,” the online news site Delaware Live quoted him as saying. “The purpose of this bill is not to undermine that privilege,” the site quoted him as saying. “The purpose of the bill is to protect the gains in women’s sports that came about almost 50 years ago under Title IX.”
He was referring to the Title IX provision of the U.S. Education Amendment Act of 1972 that bans sex discrimination in education related programs, including school sports.
The online site reports that Richardson referred to transgender girls as “male-bodied,” and said they have an unfair advantage over biological girls because on average they are bigger and stronger.
“The inclusion of male-bodied athletes in women’s sports inevitably means that more females lost out,” he said, according to Delaware Live. “We have an obligation to defend everyone’s rights. What is wrong is when the rights of some put at risk the rights of others.”
McBride disputed Richardson’s assertions, saying that claims that trans female athletes in school sports have prevented cisgender women athletes from successfully competing in competitive sports have been shown to be wrong in the cities and states where trans athletes have participated in school sports.
“I want to say, as a senator, as the chair of this committee, and as a trans person, to the trans kids and their families watching this hearing – your government sees you and, for the first time ever, really understands you,” McBride said during the hearing. “You are loved and you are worthy,” she said. “Trans people are here to stay.”
Delaware
Delaware governor issues executive order creating LGBTQ+ Commission
Body to ‘strengthen ties’ between government and community
Delaware Gov. Bethany Hall-Long on Jan. 16 signed and issued an executive order creating a Delaware State LGBTQ+ Commission that she said will hold public forums for the exchange of ideas on the needs of the state’s diverse LGBTQ community.
“The nine-member commission will serve to strengthen ties between the government and LGBTQ+ organizations,” a statement released by the governor’s office says.
The statement adds that the new commission will “help remove barriers to societal participation for LGBTQ+ people and improve the delivery of services to the community in Delaware to areas such as employment, equality, education, and mental health.”
It says that members of the commission will be appointed by the governor and serve without monetary compensation for a three-year term.
According to the statement, the commission members “will represent different facets of the LGBTQ+ community, taking into account age, race, gender, identity, background, life experiences and other factors, and reflect the geographic diversity of the state.”
Hall-Long’s executive order creating the new commission came at a time when she is serving in effect as interim governor for a period of just two weeks. As lieutenant governor, she became governor on Jan. 7 when outgoing Gov. John Carney resigned to take office in his newly elected position of mayor of Wilmington.
Carney, who served two terms as governor, could not run again for that position under Delaware’s term limit law. Democrat Matt Myer won the governor’s election in November and will be sworn in as Delaware’s next governor on Jan. 21, when Hall-Long will step down.
Myer was expected to appoint the commission members in the weeks following his assumption of gubernatorial duties.
“Ultimately, the commission will advise the governor, members of the governor’s Cabinet, members of the General Assembly, and other policymakers on the effect of agency policies, procedures, practices, laws, and administrative rules on the unique challenges and needs of LGBTQ+ people,” the statement released by Hall-Long’s office says.
“It is truly an honor to bring this commission to fruition, and I am very excited to see the positive changes the commission will make in the lives of our LGBTQ+ neighbors,” Hall-Long said in the statement.
David Mariner, executive director of Sussex Pride, an LGBTQ advocacy group based in Delaware’s Sussex County, which includes Rehoboth Beach, praised the new executive order as an important step in advancing LGBTQ equality.
“It is my hope that through this commission, we can address the critical issues facing LGBTQ Delawareans,” Mariner said in his own statement.
“This includes developing an LGBTQ health report with a tangible roadmap to health equity, increasing collaboration and communication on hate crimes and hate-related activities, and ensuring that nondiscrimination protections, guaranteed by law, are a reality for all of our residents,” he said.
The statement announcing the LGBTQ+ Commission and the full text of the executive order can be accessed here.
Delaware
Delaware advocacy group to host panel on media’s role in countering hate
Blade editor among journalists participating in Wednesday event
LEWES, Del. — Speak Out Against Hate (SOAH) will hold its bi-monthly community meeting at 5 p.m. on Nov. 13 at the Lewes Library and via Zoom. The meeting will concentrate on the role of the press in responding to the divisiveness and rising tide of hatred in our country and communities.
The meeting will feature a panel of journalists comprised of Chris Rauch, owner and publisher of the Cape Gazette; Benjamin Rothstein, journalist at the Daily State News and its sister paper the Greater Dover Independent; Kevin Naff, editor and co-owner of the Washington Blade; and Jake Owens, editor-in-chief of Spotlight Delaware.
Patty Maloney, president of SOAH said, “Following a national and state elections that saw our country nearly evenly divided, this important discussion with our local press will shine a light upon the role of the press locally and nationally in confronting the obvious chasm within our citizenry.”
For more information about the event and to register, please visit Speak Out Against Hate at soah-de.org.
Speak Out Against Hate was formed to confront and counter the rising tide of hate, whenever and wherever it exists.
The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at [email protected].
The Comings & Goings column also invites LGBTQ college students to share their successes with us. If you have been elected to a student government position, gotten an exciting internship, or are graduating and beginning your career with a great job, let us know so we can share your success.
Congratulations to Second Block Hospitality, winners of the Delaware Restaurant Association’s designation as Restaurateurs of the Year. This award was won by business partners Lion Gardner, David Gonce, Tyler Townsend, and Bob Suppies, whose Second Block Hospitality restaurants include Bodhi Kitchen, The Pines, and Drift, all in Rehoboth Beach, Del.
“The partners of Second Block Hospitality, each bring unique expertise from diverse business backgrounds, and have successfully united to create a flourishing restaurant group in downtown Rehoboth Beach. Their first venture, The Pines, was inspired by the rich history and hospitality of old Rehoboth Beach, where pine trees meet the ocean. Their newest ventures, Drift Seafood & Raw Bar, and Bodhi Kitchen, showcase sophisticated seafood and Asian-inspired street food, earning awards, accolades, and features in top regional publications. Driven by a mission of hospitality, innovation, and community, the team exemplifies the qualities honored by the Restaurateurs of the Year Award, celebrating their passion, diversity, and creativity in Delaware’s dining scene.”
Townsend said, “The entire team at Second Block Hospitality is thrilled to have won Restaurateurs of the Year. Since 2018, we have worked hard to bring the very best in dining, cocktails, entertainment, and décor.”
Suppies added, “Yes, winning this award truly validates we are on the right path to keep bringing innovative design paired with amazing food and drinks. More is coming from Second Block for sure.”
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Down to shuck!
