Maryland
Transgender veteran once again running for Congress in Md.
Mia Mason is seeking Congressman David Trone’s seat
Transgender military veteran Mia Mason announced July 9 that she is running for Maryland’s 6th Congressional District in the 2024 cycle.
This is her third time running for Congress, as she also ran for Maryland’s 1st Congressional District in 2020 and 2022. Mason, if elected, would be Maryland’s first openly LGBTQ member of Congress and the first trans military veteran in Congress.
Delaware state Sen. Sarah McBride, who is also trans, is running for Congress in her state. She and Mason would be the first openly trans women in Congress if they were to win their respective races.
Incumbent Democrat David Trone announced earlier this year that he is running for Maryland’s open U.S. Senate seat, leaving the Democratic primary open. State Del. Joe Vogel (D-Montgomery County), who also hopes to be Maryland’s first openly LGBTQ member of Congress, is one of the five other candidates who are seeking the Democratic nomination.
“I’m a military service member who has served my country and I’ve had to fight for equity and equality,” Mason told the Washington Blade during a recent interview. “I wish to continue that fight in Congress by becoming the first trans military veteran in Congress.”
Mason said that one of the key issues of her campaign is equal access to health care for Marylanders, especially her fellow veterans.
“I used to be able to go to D.C. and Walter Reed, I used to be able to go to the Baltimore VA, but unfortunately, I’m having to go to Martinsburg, W. Va., like many of our other military veterans, so we should expand our health care here in Frederick,” Mason said. “I want to make sure that we’re able to take care of everybody and that includes the folks over in Washington County and Allegany County, that they can get to somewhere when they need affordable health care.”
Mason mentioned the importance of expanding the role of being in Congress to making sure that the voices of constituents are heard, and that action is taken to address them.
“I think speaking about [constituents] personally, hearing their stories and recording that into the House records on the House floor is one of the most impactful things, so that regardless of what happens at the end of the day, their name, their story, their issues are heard and it’s recorded for the Library of Congress that will live longer than all of us,” Mason said. “And it will be on record because I was able to answer their questions and deliver a message and hopefully a passing bill or piece of legislation that will get to the president’s desk that will directly impact that local community.”
Mason also mentioned curbing gun violence in Montgomery County, combatting the effects of climate change in Maryland and expanding green jobs in the state as key parts of her platform as well.
“We want to make sure that the microgrids and solar power and wind power are available to us and that we actually get the credits that the state is providing and provide the federal subsidies to the state to make sure that we can continue to grow these green jobs for our communities,” Mason said.
Her campaign has launched a unique way for constituents to get to know Mason and her team by providing a phone number for voters to call Mason directly. By calling 410-94-MASON voters can talk to Mason about their concerns and ask her any questions.
“I want to be known as the candidate who answers the phone,” Mason said. “By calling the number, voters can talk to me directly.”
Maryland
Supreme Court ruling against conversion therapy bans could affect Md. law
Then-Gov. Larry Hogan signed statute in 2018
By PAMELA WOOD, JOHN-JOHN WILLIAMS IV, and MADELEINE O’NEILL | The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled against a law banning “conversion therapy” for LGBTQ kids in Colorado, a ruling that also could apply to Maryland’s ban on the discredited practice.
An 8-1 high court majority sided with a Christian counselor who argues the law banning talk therapy violates the First Amendment. The justices agreed that the law raises free speech concerns and sent it back to a lower court to decide whether it meets a legal standard that few laws pass.
Justice Neil Gorsuch, writing for the court’s majority, said the law “censors speech based on viewpoint.” The First Amendment, he wrote, “stands as a shield against any effort to enforce orthodoxy in thought or speech in this country.”
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
Maryland’s legislative caucuses outlined their legislative priorities heading into the final weeks of the 2026 General Assembly during a joint press conference on March 24.
The press conference was titled “We are Maryland,” where a representative for each of the legislative caucuses outlined priorities.
State Del. Kris Fair (D-Frederick County) of the LGBTQ+ Caucus opened the press conference with a statement on the unity of Maryland’s caucus.
“Together we can show our state and our community a different world, one where we mutually support one another and through that support uplift every Marylander,” he said.
In a press conference on March 5, the LGBTQ+ Caucus outlined its top legislative priorities. Fair highlighted two of those bills again during the “We are Maryland” press conference.
The first of the two highlighted pieces of legislation was Senate Bill 626 and House Bill 1589.
The bills would simplify the process of updating an individual’s birth certificate and align the Department of Health and DMV systems to reflect those changes. The bill is being led by state Sen. Clarence Lam (D-Anne Arundel and Howard Counties) and state Del. Ashanti Martinez (D-Prince George’s County).
The second piece of legislation is Senate Bill 950 and House Bill 1209, which would update and modernize laws and regulations around so-called conversion therapy. The bills have failed to pass either chamber thus far. They are being led by state Sen. Cheryl Kagan (D-Montgomery County) and state Del. Bonnie Cullison (D-Montgomery County).
(The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled against a Colorado law that bans so-called conversion therapy for minors. Maryland is among the U.S. jurisdictions that prohibit the widely discredited practice for anyone under 18.)
Martinez and Lam have introduced bills in their respective chambers that would expand PrEP access in Maryland. Martinez did not attend the press conference, and Fair did not mention it when he spoke.
State Del. N. Scott Phillips (D-Baltimore County) represented the Black Caucus during the press conference. State Del. Dana Jones (D-Anne Arundel County) spoke on behalf of the Women’s Caucus, State Del. Teresa Woorman (D-Montgomery County) represented the Latino Caucus, and State Del. Lily Qi (D-Montgomery County) represented the Asian-American and Pacific Islander Caucus. State Del. Jared Solomon (D-Montgomery County) represented the Jewish Caucus, and state Del. Sean Stinnett (D-Baltimore County) represented the Muslim Caucus during the press conference.
Solomon ended the press conference by explaining the importance of all the caucuses coming out together.
“We are stronger when we’re together, and many of these issues that we have talked about, again, impact all of us,” said Solomon.
Cameroon
Gay Cameroonian immigrant will be freed from ICE detention — for now
Ludovic Mbock’s homeland criminalizes homosexuality
By ANTONIO PLANAS | An immigration judge on Friday issued a $4,000 bond for a Cameroonian immigrant and regional gaming champion held in federal immigration detention for the past three weeks.
The ruling will allow Ludovic Mbock, of Oxon Hill, to return to Maryland from a Georgia facility this weekend, his family and attorney said.
“Realistically, by tomorrow. Hopefully, by today,” said Mbock’s attorney, Edward Neufville. “We are one step closer to getting Ludovic justice.”
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
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