Maryland

Anne Arundel County school board rejects Pride flag ban

Vote was 4-3 against proposed policy

Published

3 years ago

July 12, 2023

(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Anne Arundel County Board of Education members on Wednesday rejected a proposed ban on non-government flags on school property.

The policy would have banned flags, such as the Pride flag, Black Lives Matter flag and others from being hung or flown on school properties.

The board voted four to three, with one abstaining, against the proposed policy. The votes were as follows:

Board President Joanna Bache Tobin, District 6: No

Board VP Robert Silkworth, District 2: No

Eric Lin, Student Member: No

Gloria Dent, District 1: Abstain

Corine Frank, District 3: Yes

Melissa Ellis, District 4: Yes

Dana Schallheim, District 5: No

Michelle Corkadel, District 7: Yes

The ban, which Frank proposed, would have encouraged the display of the U.S. flag, Maryland flag and other local flags to fly at schools in the district. Any other flags displayed would have only been accepted for a “bona-fide educational purpose,” determined by the schools’ principals.

Along with banning the Pride and Black Lives Matter flags, the policy would have required school staff to get permission to hang military, college and sports team flags and pennants.

Advocates for the policy argued that the display of Pride and Black Lives Matter flags harm students whose religious beliefs do not support LGBTQ or Black Lives Matter communities. Others argued the flags themselves were political symbols, and their presence would influence students’ political beliefs.

The Anne Arundel chapter of Moms for Liberty, a far-right extremist group, was a strong supporter of the policy.

Opponents to the proposal argued a ban on flags would be one more step toward excluding LGBTQ studetns and students of color.

Lin, a senior at Severna Park High School and the only student representative on the board, was met with applause from his colleagues and those in the audience when he expressed concern over the labeling of flags as political.

“The Pride flag, for example, is not a political or social issue,” Lin said. “LGBTQ people exist in our society and their fight for continued equality is represented by the Pride flag. It is a human rights issue … in a public school system, the goal is to teach students that there are people who are different than them that exist, and teachers don’t teach students to be queer. They teach students that queer people exist and to treat them like human beings.”

Related Topics:Anne Arundel County Board of Education featured Maryland

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Maryland

Expanded PrEP access among FreeState Justice’s 2026 legislative priorities

Maryland General Assembly opened on Jan. 14

Published

4 days ago

January 28, 2026

Sam Epner

Maryland State House (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

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.

Maryland

Layoffs and confusion at Pride Center of Maryland after federal grants cut, reinstated

Trump administration move panicked addiction and mental health programs

Published

2 weeks ago

January 16, 2026

Baltimore Banner

Merrick Moses, a violence prevention coordinator, works at the Pride Center of Maryland in Baltimore. (Photo by Ulysses Muñoz for the Baltimore Banner)

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

Published

3 weeks ago

January 8, 2026

Baltimore Banner

At 86, Steny Hoyer is the latest in a generation of senior-most leaders stepping aside, making way for a new era of lawmakers eager to take on governing. (Photo by KT Kanazawich for the Baltimore Banner)

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.