Maryland
Andy Harris attacks transgender people during debate against Heather Mizeur
Republican congressman has represented Md. Eastern Shore since 2011
Republican Maryland Congressman Andy Harris on Wednesday attacked transgender people during a debate against Democratic challenger Heather Mizeur.
“This is not the Defense Department that I signed up for 1988,” said Harris, who is a U.S. Navy veteran. “It’s more interested in whether or not you fund transgender surgery than whether you fund a missile system to counter the Chinese hypersonic threat. There is more interest on the other side about whether we are going to use preferred pronouns in the Pentagon than whether or not our men and women in uniform have the backing of their higher ups and the investments in military weapon systems to protect their lives.”
Harris in his opening statement noted “the stripping of parental rights; whether that’s school curriculum, promote (a) transgender agenda in schools, keeping secrets from parents.”
“We’ve got to go down a different track,” he said.
Cecil Public Media hosted the debate that took place at the Milburn Stone Theater at Cecil College in North East.
Harris has represented Maryland’s 1st Congressional District — which currently encompasses the entire Eastern Shore and portions of Baltimore, Carroll and Harford Counties — since 2011.
Mizeur served on the Takoma Park City Council before she served in the Maryland House of Delegates from 2007-2015.
She ran for governor in 2014. Mizeur, who now lives on the Eastern Shore with her wife, announced her run against Harris less than a month after the Jan. 6 insurrection.
The district is Maryland’s only Republican-leaning congressional district.
Maryland
Layoffs and confusion at Pride Center of Maryland after federal grants cut, reinstated
Trump administration move panicked addiction and mental health programs
By ALISSA ZHU | After learning it had abruptly lost $2 million in federal funding, the Pride Center of Maryland moved to lay off a dozen employees, or about a third of its workforce, the Baltimore nonprofit’s leader said Thursday.
The group is one of thousands nationwide that reportedly received letters late Tuesday from the Trump administration. Their mental health and addiction grants had been terminated, effective immediately, the letters said.
By Wednesday night, federal officials moved to reverse the funding cuts by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, estimated to total $2 billion, according to national media reports. But the Pride Center of Maryland’s CEO Cleo Manago said as of Thursday morning he had not heard anything from the federal government confirming those reports.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
Maryland
Steny Hoyer, the longest-serving House Democrat, to retire from Congress
Md. congressman served for years in party leadership
By ASSOCIATED PRESS and LISA MASCARO | Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the longest-serving Democrat in Congress and once a rival to become House speaker, will announce Thursday he is set to retire at the end of his term.
Hoyer, who served for years in party leadership and helped steer Democrats through some of their most significant legislative victories, is set to deliver a House floor speech about his decision, according to a person familiar with the situation and granted anonymity to discuss it.
“Tune in,” Hoyer said on social media. He confirmed his retirement plans in an interview with the Washington Post.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
Maryland
Joseline Peña-Melnyk elected Md. House speaker
Family immigrated to New York City from the Dominican Republic
By PAMELA WOOD | Moments after being elected speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates Tuesday, state Del. Joseline Peña-Melnyk stood before the chamber and contemplated her unlikely journey to that moment.
Born in the Dominican Republic, the Peña family lived in a small wooden house with a leaky tin roof and no indoor plumbing. Some days, she said, there was no food to eat.
When she was 8 years old, the family immigrated to New York City, where Peña-Melnyk was dubbed “abogadito” or “little lawyer” for helping her mother and others by translating at social services offices.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
Top Democrats reintroduce bill to investigate discrimination against LGBTQ military members
From the Pentagon to politics, Bree Fram fighting for LGBTQ rights
Task Force urges renewed organizing amid growing political threats
Gay men, ketamine, and trauma. A therapy or a trap?
Russia designates ILGA World an ‘undesirable’ group
Judge denies D.C. request to dismiss gay police captain’s anti-bias lawsuit
Lawyer representing Renee Good’s family speaks out
Comings & Goings
Calendar: January 23-29
