Maryland
Md. student faces disciplinary action over ‘homophobic’ club
Montgomery County middle school principal calls proposal ‘hate/bias incident’
The principal at a Montgomery County, Md. middle school on Feb. 10 sent a letter to parents disclosing that a teacher found on a student’s laptop computer a proposal to form a “Homophobic Club Hub” at the school.
“Our investigation found that the student shared the documents with at least two additional students prior to deleting them,” according to the letter written by Heidi L. Statcoff, the principal at Earle B. Wood Middle School in Rockville, Md.
“We found no evidence that any other students participated in generating the documents, and no evidence that a club was formed,” Statcoff said in her letter. “This is clearly a hate/bias incident, and I must say that discrimination in any form cannot be tolerated,” the letter continues.
“While students who commit this unacceptable act will receive consequences as per Montgomery County Public Schools Student Code of Conduct, it is important that we continue our work with our students to help them understand the impact of hateful and hurtful words,” Statcoff wrote.
She said in the coming week counselors would be going into classes to “conduct lessons on topics of bias and discrimination” and administrators and counselors would continue to “reinforce and reiterate our expectations around bullying and harassment.”
Jessica Baxter, a spokesperson for Montgomery County Schools, declined a request by the Washington Blade for the specific disciplinary action that school officials would take against the student or students involved in the “Homophobic Club Hub” proposal, saying the school system’s privacy policy prevents the release of that information.
Baxter said the school system itself released this statement in response to the “Homophobic” club matter:
“MCPS remains steadfast in its commitment to cultivate an inclusive and welcoming learning environment that celebrates the diversity of our global community and all cultural backgrounds, including our LGBTQ community. This hurtful behavior, along with any acts of discrimination, have no place in our school system and will not be tolerated.”
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore on Tuesday signed a bill that decriminalizes HIV in the state.
State Dels. Kris Fair (D-Frederick County) and Luke Clippinger (D-Baltimore City) are among the lawmakers who sponsored House Bill 39 or the Carlton R. Smith Act, which is named after the long-time activist known as the “mayor” of Baltimore’s Mount Vernon neighborhood who died in May 2024.
Smith was a member of the Coalition to Decriminalize HIV in Maryland that advocated for the bill. FreeState Justice, a statewide LGBTQ rights group, was also part of the coalition.
“At FreeState Justice, we are proud to stand with advocates, health experts, and lawmakers who worked diligently to advance this bill. The bipartisan support for the Carlton R. Smith Act is a testament to the power of education, research, and courageous leadership,” said FreeState Justice Executive Director Phillip Westry in a statement. “It sends a clear message: Maryland is committed to evidence-based policymaking and to ending the criminalization of people living with HIV. We honor the memory of Carlton R. Smith by continuing the work of building a more just, inclusive, and informed society.”
Maryland is the fifth state to decriminalize HIV.
North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong, a Republican, in March signed a bill that decriminalized HIV in his state.
Maryland
A Baltimore theater educator lost jobs at Johns Hopkins and the Kennedy Center
Tavish Forsyth concluded they could not work for Trump
BY WESLEY CASE | Tavish Forsyth had come to a conclusion: They could not work for President Donald Trump.
So the 32-year-old Baltimore resident stripped down, turned on their camera, and lit their career on fire.
“F—— Donald Trump and f—— the Kennedy Center,” a naked Forsyth, an associate artistic lead at the Washington National Opera’s Opera Institute, which is run by the Kennedy Center, said in a video that went viral. The board of the nation’s leading cultural institution had elected Trump just weeks prior as its chairman after he gutted the board of members appointed by his predecessor, President Joe Biden.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
Maryland
Md. schools plan to comply with federal DEI demands
Superintendents opt for cooperation over confrontation
By LIZ BOWIE | Deciding not to pick a fight with the Trump administration, Maryland school leaders plan to sign a letter to the U.S. Department of Education that says their school districts are complying with all civil rights laws.
The two-paragraph letter could deflect a confrontation over whether the state’s public schools run diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that the Trump administration has called illegal. The Baltimore Banner reviewed the letter, which was shared by a school administrator who declined to be identified because the letter has not yet been sent.
Maryland school leaders are taking a more conciliatory approach than those in some other states. Education leaders in Minnesota, New York, Colorado, Oregon, Vermont, and Wisconsin said they will not comply with the federal education department’s order, the demands of which, they say, are based on a warped interpretation of civil rights law.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
PHOTOS: Helen Hayes Awards
Laverne Cox, Reneé Rapp, Deacon Maccubbin named WorldPride grand marshals
House passes reconciliation with gender-affirming care funding ban
PHOTOS: D.C. Trans Pride
Men convicted of murdering two men in NYC gay bar drugging scheme sentenced
Looking back at 50 years of Pride in D.C
WorldPride events round-up
Pope Leo XIV: Family based on ‘stable union between a man and a woman’
Wes Moore signs HIV decriminalization bill
