Maryland
Montgomery County Council approves bill for gender-inclusive, single-use restrooms
Measure passed by 9-0 vote margin on July 26
The Montgomery County Council has approved a bill that will pave the way for gender-inclusive, single-user restrooms in public and county-owned buildings.
The council in a 9-0 vote on July 26 passed Bill 4-22.
The bill requires at least one single-user restroom available for all gender identities in a place of public accommodation or county-owned buildings with signage that designates it as gender-inclusive.
Council member Sidney Katz and Council Vice President Evan Glass, who is the first gay man elected to the Montgomery County Council, co-sponsored the bill.
“This bill is supported by many advocacy groups including those representing the disability community and the LGBTQ+ community,” said Katz in a press news release, following the bill’s approval. “It is well reasoned, will not be burdensome to implement and will help everyone feel more comfortable.”
Beyond increasing accessibility for people of various gender identities and expressions, this bill also means to benefit people with disabilities with caregivers who are of a different gender, and parents with children of a different gender who may require assistance using a public restroom.
“We want everyone in Montgomery County to feel welcome here,” Glass told the Blade on Wednesday in a statement. “Members of our trans, nonbinary and disability communities often feel anxious and ignored by the choices of restrooms in commercial spaces. This legislation will help them and also provide relief for families with young children and caregivers who oftentimes are left waiting outside a restroom.”
Local activists also supported the bill.
“As a person with disabilities that sometimes needs assistance in the bathroom, gendered single occupancy stalls are stressful for both my spouse and I because we are perceived as differently gendered than one another,” said Ezra Towne, a Montgomery County activist, during a public hearing on the bill.
The bill exempts some locations that include private restrooms in a residence; a hospital; inn, hotel, motel, or an establishment that provides lodging for transient guests; or restrooms that are only accessible from a private room or office.
Similar legislation has been implemented in Maryland — Salisbury, Baltimore City and Howard County — and in cities across the country that include Seattle; Philadelphia and Austin, Texas. California has also enacted a similar measure.
Maryland
4th Circuit dismisses lawsuit against Montgomery County schools’ pronoun policy
Substitute teacher Kimberly Polk challenged regulation in 2024
A federal appeals court has ruled Montgomery County Public Schools did not violate a substitute teacher’s constitutional rights when it required her to use students’ preferred pronouns in the classroom.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a 2-1 decision it released on Jan. 28 ruled against Kimberly Polk.
The policy states that “all students have the right to be referred to by their identified name and/or pronoun.”
“School staff members should address students by the name and pronoun corresponding to the gender identity that is consistently asserted at school,” it reads. “Students are not required to change their permanent student records as described in the next section (e.g., obtain a court-ordered name and/or new birth certificate) as a prerequisite to being addressed by the name and pronoun that corresponds to their identified name. To the extent possible, and consistent with these guidelines, school personnel will make efforts to maintain the confidentiality of the student’s transgender status.”
The Washington Post reported Polk, who became a substitute teacher in Montgomery County in 2021, in November 2022 requested a “religious accommodation, claiming that the policy went against her ‘sincerely held religious beliefs,’ which are ‘based on her understanding of her Christian religion and the Holy Bible.’”
U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman in January 2025 dismissed Polk’s lawsuit that she filed in federal court in Beltsville. Polk appealed the decision to the 4th Circuit.
By PAMELA WOOD | Dan Cox, a Republican who was resoundingly defeated by Democratic Gov. Wes Moore four years ago, has filed to run for governor again this year.
Cox’s candidacy was posted on the Maryland elections board website Friday; he did not immediately respond to an interview request.
Cox listed Rob Krop as his running mate for lieutenant governor.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
Maryland
Expanded PrEP access among FreeState Justice’s 2026 legislative priorities
Maryland General Assembly opened on Jan. 14
FreeState Justice this week spoke with the Washington Blade about their priorities during this year’s legislative session in Annapolis that began on Jan. 14.
Ronnie L. Taylor, the group’s community director, on Wednesday said the organization continues to fight against discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS. FreeState Justice is specifically championing a bill in the General Assembly that would expand access to PrEP in Maryland.
Taylor said FreeState Justice is working with state Del. Ashanti Martinez (D-Prince George’s County) and state Sen. Clarence Lam (D-Arundel and Howard Counties) on a bill that would expand the “scope of practice for pharmacists in Maryland to distribute PrEP.” The measure does not have a title or a number, but FreeState Justice expects it will have both in the coming weeks.
FreeState Justice has long been involved in the fight to end the criminalization of HIV in the state.
Governor Wes Moore last year signed House Bill 39, which decriminalized HIV in Maryland.
The bill — the Carlton R. Smith Jr. HIV Modernization Act — is named after Carlton Smith, a long-time LGBTQ activist known as the “mayor” of Baltimore’s Mount Vernon neighborhood who died in 2024. FreeState Justice said Marylanders prosecuted under Maryland Health-General Code § 18-601.1 have already seen their convictions expunged.
Taylor said FreeState Justice will continue to “oppose anti anti-LGBTQ legislation” in the General Assembly. Their website later this week will publish a bill tracker.
The General Assembly’s legislative session is expected to end on April 13.
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