Maryland
Md. attorney general candidates highlight LGBTQ rights support
Primary to take place on July 19
Candidates who hope to succeed Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh will face off in the July 19 primary. Here are there positions on LGBTQ rights.
DEMOCRATS:
ANTHONY BROWN
Anthony Brown (Washington Blade file photo by Michael K. Lavers)
Anthony Brown is a Democrat running for Maryland Attorney General.
Brown currently represents Prince George’s and Anne Arundel Counties in the U.S. House of Representatives. As attorney general, Brown has promised to fight for LGBTQ rights, and as he explained to the Washington Blade in a written statement, the issue is close to home.
“As the proud father of a trans son, I understand the challenges facing the LGBTQIA+ community and the importance of leadership at every level ready to fight for their rights,” Brown wrote. “I’m running for attorney general to tear down these barriers for all Marylanders, no matter who you are or who you love.”
Brown backed Maryland’s marriage equality and trans rights laws when he was the state’s lieutenant governor from 2007-2015. Brown as a member of Congress fought the previous administration’s efforts to ban trans servicemembers from the military.
“I’ll bring my decades of experience as a lawyer, legislator and executive to not only defend LGBTQ+ Marylanders’ rights in court but push forward real change in Annapolis,” Brown said. “True allyship must go beyond words and acknowledgment and include action.”
KATIE CURRAN O’MALLEY
Katie Curran O’Malley (Photo courtesy of O’Malley’s campaign)
Katie Curran O’Malley is running against Brown in the primary.
She served as an associate judge on the Baltimore City District Court from 2001-2021 and was the Baltimore County Assistant State’s Attorney prior to that appointment. O’Malley’s husband is former Gov. Martin O’Malley.
Katie O’Malley was born and raised in Baltimore. Her father, J. Joseph Curran, Jr., was Maryland’s attorney general from 1987-2007. If elected, Katie O’Malley would be the state’s first female attorney general.
In a written statement to the Blade, Katie O’Malley expressed her strong support for LGBTQ rights and included an action plan for LGBTQ advocacy as attorney general.
“Over the course of the last 20 years there have been extraordinary advancements in the field of LGBTQ+ rights. However, these advancements have neither been sufficient nor are fully secured,” she wrote. “Maryland needs an attorney general that is a tenacious, relentless and inspired advocate for LGBTQ+ rights. Throughout my career, I have been an advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, and my support of same-sex marriage’s passage in 2011 is one of my proudest moments. I was proud to call out the moral cowardice then, and I will be proud to rebuke intolerance towards the LGBTQ+ community as attorney general.”
REPUBLICANS:
MICHAEL PEROUTKA
Michael Peroutka (Photo courtesy of Peroutka)
Michael Peroutka is a Republican running for attorney general.
He represented District 5 on the Anne Arundel County Council from 2014-2018.
Peroutka during his 2014 campaign posted a video arguing that the Maryland General Assembly had lost is validity after passing legislation — the marriage equality and trans rights bills, an assault weapons ban and a a stormwater runoff contamination bill — that “violated God’s law.” Peroutka also refused to disavow ties to the League of the South, an anti-gay, pro-successionist group.
Peroutka’s current campaign website does not have specific information about his stance on LGBTQ rights.
In 2017, Peroutka’s political operatives were found guilty of violating Maryland’s election laws, after making robocalls against Peroutka’s gay opponent for the District 5 council seat.
Peroutka’s campaign did not respond to the Blade’s request for comment.
JIM SHALLECK
Jim Shalleck (Screen capture via YouTube)
Jim Shalleck is running against Peroutka in the July 19 primary.
Shalleck was previously the president of the Montgomery Board of Elections. The former local, state and federal prosecutor’s campaign platform centers on cracking down on violent campaign crime. Shalleck’s campaign platform centers on cracking down on violent crime, and his campaign website does not have information concerning his stance on LGBTQ rights.
Shalleck could not be reached for comment.
Maryland
Baltimore Heritage wants Md. LGBTQ historical sites added to National Registry
Mary Elizabeth Garrett’s Mount Vernon home among historical sites
Baltimore Heritage is continuing its mission to preserve Maryland’s LGBTQ history.
The group, using documentation, is attempting to get statewide LGBTQ historical sites listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. Kentucky was the first state to make this effort, using a similar study to Maryland, which outlined a comprehensive list of LGBTQ heritage sites.
Baltimore Heritage, a local non-profit, 15 years ago began its efforts to promote LGBTQ heritage within the local community, mainly with walking tours to sites important to LGBTQ history. Preservation Maryland in 2018 received a grant, and Susan Ferentinos spent two years compiling a comprehensive list of LGBTQ historical sites, later published in 2022.
Suffragist Mary Elizabeth Garrett’s Mount Vernon home is one of the examples of the LGBTQ historical sites.
Although Garrett never labeled herself, she was involved in same-sex relationships, was a leader in the feminist movement, and played a large role in advancing education for women.
Although the effort has been ongoing, Baltimore Heritage Executive Director Johns Hopkins explained that Baltimore Heritage and its partners’ goal is to add Maryland to the public conversation on LGBTQ history.
“Bringing a little bit of a spotlight to some of the sites that are important, locally and nationally, would be meeting a goal of trying to have a broader, more in-depth public discussion around LGBTQ history, so we all know where we’re coming from,” said Hopkins.
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.
Maryland
Supreme Court ruling against conversion therapy bans could affect Md. law
Then-Gov. Larry Hogan signed statute in 2018
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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