Maryland
Pride flags pulled down, burned in Silver Spring
Montgomery County police seek help from public in identifying suspect
Montgomery County, Md., police announced they are investigating as many as 10 incidents of hate related vandalism of LGBTQ Pride flags as well as Ukrainian flags on residential streets in Silver Spring that occurred over a two-day period this week.
“The preliminary investigation has revealed that during the overnight hours of Tuesday, June 27, 2023, to Wednesday, June 28, 2023, several Pride and Ukrainian flags had been burned in the Mansfield Road, Wayne Place, Ellsworth Place, Greenbrier Drive, Pershing Drive and Deerfield Avenue neighborhoods,” according to a police statement.
“Investigators are asking for victims and/or homeowners with surveillance videos of possible suspects to call the police non-emergency number at 301-279-8000,” the statement says.
D.C.’s NBC 4 News reports that two men it identified as a couple, Mark Heare and Chris Middleton, said their home security video “shows someone covering his face while lighting the couple’s Pride flag on fire before running away laughing.”
NBC 4 News reported that burn marks were visible on the door frame where the couple’s flag was attached.
It also reported that at another home several blocks away one or more vandals attempted to burn a Pride flag on a pole before taking it down and etching the letters “USSR” on the flag.
The Montgomery County Council released a statement on June 28 denouncing the flag vandalism, which said a Black Trans Lives Matter flag was among the flags vandalized in Silver Spring during the past week.
“We are outraged by the numerous incidents of hate and anti-LGBTQ+ vandalism that occurred early this morning,” the statement says. “In Montgomery County, we believe in inclusion, compassion and diversity,” the statement continues.
“We stand together in forcefully denouncing acts of hate and violence in all forms, and we remain committed to protecting our LGBTQ+ neighbors and all those impacted from these awful acts,” the statement says, adding, “We must ensure everyone – including our LGBTQ+ community – is safe, seen and supported everywhere in Montgomery County.
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 “that 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.”
Moore on Thursday also signed House Bill 1386, which GLSEN notes will “develop guidelines for an anti-bias training program for school employees.”
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 — 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. — 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.
“We 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,” Vogel told the Washington Blade last month during an interview in D.C.
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