Maryland
Md. congressman helps organize Pride Resource Fair in P.G. County
Glenn Ivey speaks out against anti-LGBTQ bills
U.S. Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.), whose district includes most of Prince Georgeās County, is one of the lead organizers of an LGBTQ Pride Resource Fair scheduled for June 24 at the Oakcrest Community Center in Capitol Heights.
A longtime LGBTQ community ally, Ivey told the Washington Blade he is hopeful that the Pride Resource Fair will provide information about state and local government resources for Prince George’s County’s LGBTQ community in addition to helping celebrate Pride month.
Ivey is organizing the event jointly with openly gay Maryland state Delegate Ashanti Martinez (D-Prince George’s County) and Prince George’s County Council member Krystal Oriadha, who is bisexual.
The event is scheduled to take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Oakcrest Community Center at 1300 Capitol Heights Blvd. in Capitol Heights.
āWe thought it would make sense to do an outreach event in celebration of Pride month,ā Ivey told the Blade in an interview at his Capitol Hill office. āThis is a resource fair, but the idea is to make sure the community is getting what it needs,ā he said.
An announcement of the Pride Resource Fair says state and local officials will be available at the event āto answer questions, provide resources, and more.ā
Ivey said he has been following the many Pride-related events in the D.C. area as well as President Joe Bidenās hosting of the largest ever Pride celebration at the White House last week.
āI want to see us do more in Prince Georgeās County as well,ā he said. āI know weāve been a little behind the curve on these issues to some extent,ā he told the Blade. āAnd I think itās time for us to catch up.ā
Ivy points out that he is a member of the House Equality Caucus, which advocates for LGBTQ rights, including legislation supporting LGBTQ equality. The Equality Caucus is chaired by openly gay U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wisc.) and co-chaired by eight other openly gay and lesbian members of the House.
āThis year, the Equality Caucus is celebrating Pride with our largest membership to date, 194 members ā all of whom are devoted to fighting for equality for our community,ā said Pocan in a statement on the caucusās website.
The website includes the names and photos of each of the 194 members, who consist of Pocan as chair, the other eight out gay and lesbian members who serve as co-chairs, and 185 allied House members, including Ivey and D.C. Congressional Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D).Ā
Missing from the list of Equality Caucus members is U.S. Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.), who pleaded not guilty in May to a 13-count federal indictment accusing him, among other things, of wire fraud, money laundering, and theft of public funds. In his election victory in 2022 from his Long Island district, Santos became the first openly gay Republican to win a seat in Congress as a non-incumbent.
Ivey, an attorney, who also won election to the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time in 2022, served two terms as the elected stateās attorney for Prince George’s County from 2002-2011 in the role of the countyās lead prosecutor. Ivey has also served for many years as a congressional staffer.Ā
He has worked as chief counsel to former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), as counsel to former U.S. Sen. Paul Sarbanes (D-Md.), on the staff of U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), and as chief majority counsel to the U.S. Senate Banking Committee.
With that as a backdrop, Ivey said as a longtime supporter of equal rights for minorities, including LGBTQ people, he is troubled over the large number of anti-LGBTQ bills that have surfaced and passed in state legislatures over the past year.
Although no such legislation has surfaced in Maryland, Ivey said he is committed to working with the House Equality Caucus to oppose the legislation in other states, especially including legislation targeting transgender young people.
āItās sad that theyāre now targeting kids,ā Ivey said. āThe argument is theyāre doing it to protect kids. But clearly, theyāre attacking kids, these trans kids who are vulnerable and have really difficult times socially,ā he said. āSo, I hope we can win this fight. But itās going to be a tough stretch for a lot of these folks, these young people who are going through it now.ā
Added Ivey, āI canāt fix things in Florida or Utah or wherever, but we can make an impact here in Maryland. And thatās what weāre trying to do.ā
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore on Thursday signed a bill that seeks to combat efforts to ban books from state libraries.
House Bill 785, also known as the Freedom to Read Act, would establish a state policy āthat local school systems operate their school library media programs consistent with certain standards; requiring each local school system to develop a policy and procedures to review objections to materials in a school library media program; prohibiting a county board of education from dismissing, demoting, suspending, disciplining, reassigning, transferring, or otherwise retaliating against certain school library media program personnel for performing their job duties consistent with certain standards.ā
Moore on Thursday also signed House Bill 1386, which GLSEN notes will ādevelop guidelines for an anti-bias training program for school employees.ā
Maryland
Health care for Marylanders with HIV is facing huge cuts this summer
Providers poised to lose three-quarters of funding
BY MEREDITH COHN | By the end of June, health care providers in Maryland will lose nearly three-quarters of the funding they use to find and treat thousands of people with HIV.
Advocates and providers say they had been warned there would be less money by the Maryland Department of Health, but were stunned at the size of the drop ā from about $17.9 million this fiscal year to $5.3 million the next. The deep cuts are less than three months away.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
GAITHERSBURG, Md. ā Maryland state Del. Joe Vogel (D-Montgomery County) on Friday held a “Big Gay Canvass Kickoff” event at his congressional campaign’s headquarters.
LGBTQ+ Victory Fund Vice President of Outreach and Engagement Marty Rouse and John Klenert, a member of the DC Vote and Victory Fund Campaign board of directors, are among those who participated alongside members of Equality PAC. Vogel spoke before Rouse, Klenert and others canvassed for votes in the area.
“Joe brings a fresh new perspective to politics,” said Gabri Kurtzer-Ellenbogen, deputy field director for Vogel’s campaign.
Vogel, 27, is among the Democrats running for Congressman David Trone’s seat.
Trone last May announced his bid to succeed retiring U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) in the U.S. Senate.
The Democratic primary is on May 14. Vogel would be the first Latino, the first gay man and first Gen Zer elected to Congress from Maryland if he were to win in November.
āWe need a new generation of leadership with new perspectives, new ideas, and the courage to actually deliver for our communities if we want things to get better in this country,ā Vogel told the Washington Blade last month during an interview in D.C.
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