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Md. House committee to hold hearing on bill to ban transgender kids from sports teams

State Del. Kathy Szeliga (R-Baltimore County) introduced HB 47

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2 years ago

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(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

A Maryland House of Delegates committee on Wednesday is scheduled to hold a hearing on a bill that would bar transgender children from joining school sports teams consistent with their gender identity.

State Del. Kathy Szeliga (R-Baltimore County) introduced House Bill 47, which is also called the Fairness in Girls’ Sports Act. State Dels. Lauren Arikan (R-Harford County), Brian Chisholm (R-Anne Arundel County), Mark Fisher (R-Calvert County), Robin Grammer, Jr. (R-Baltimore County), Thomas Hutchinson (R-Caroline, Dorchester, Talbot and Wicomico Counties), Nicholaus Kipke (R-Anne Arundel County), Robert Long (R-Baltimore County), Nino Mangione (R-Baltimore County), Susan McComas (R-Harford County), April Miller (R-Frederick County), Matthew Morgan (R-St. Mary’s County), Todd Morgan (R-Calvert and St. Mary’s Counties), Rachel Munoz (R-Anne Arundel County), Ryan Nawrocki (R-Baltimore County), Stuart Michael Schmidt, Jr. (R-Anne Arundel County) and Chris Tomlinson (R-Frederick and Carroll Counties) have co-sponsored the measure. 

The House Ways and Means Committee will consider it.

“Policies with regard to participation in sports are easy to create; there should be no special allowances or rules for gender identity,” said Szeliga in a statement, according to WJLA. “Bodies play sports, not identities.”

“As a society, we can celebrate the differences of individuals but hold bodies accountable in sports,” added the Baltimore County Republican. “The future of every female athlete counts on it.”

The House Ways and Means Committee in 2022 killed the same bill that Szeliga introduced.

Democrats control both houses of the Maryland General Assembly. 

Governor Wes Moore, who is also a Democrat, last May signed the Trans Health Equity Act, which requires Maryland’s Medicaid program to cover gender-affirming treatments. The law took effect on Jan. 1.

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Maryland

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

Trump administration move panicked addiction and mental health programs

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1 week ago

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January 16, 2026

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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.

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Maryland

Steny Hoyer, the longest-serving House Democrat, to retire from Congress

Md. congressman served for years in party leadership

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2 weeks ago

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January 8, 2026

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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.

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Maryland

Joseline Peña-Melnyk elected Md. House speaker

Family immigrated to New York City from the Dominican Republic

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1 month ago

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December 16, 2025

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Maryland House speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk addresses the chamber after being sworn in. (Photo by Jerry Jackson for the Baltimore Banner)

By PAMELA WOOD | Moments after being elected speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates Tuesday, state Del. Joseline Peña-Melnyk stood before the chamber and contemplated her unlikely journey to that moment.

Born in the Dominican Republic, the Peña family lived in a small wooden house with a leaky tin roof and no indoor plumbing. Some days, she said, there was no food to eat.

When she was 8 years old, the family immigrated to New York City, where Peña-Melnyk was dubbed “abogadito” or “little lawyer” for helping her mother and others by translating at social services offices.

The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.

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