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Md. man guilty of hate crimes targeting same-sex couple

Frederick County jury convicts on trespassing, harassment outside victims’ house

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Michael David Burns, 53, a resident of Thurmont, Md., was found guilty of 10 charges.

A Frederick County, Md., Circuit Court jury on Jan. 25 found Michael David Burns, 53, a resident of Thurmont, Md., guilty of 10 charges, including three hate crimes, harassment, and trespassing related to his targeting a same-sex couple who are his neighbors.

A statement released by the Office of the Frederick County State’s Attorney says the conviction came after a three-day trial. The statement does not disclose the names or gender of the victims.

“The victims, a same-sex couple who are neighbors of the defendant, reported the trespassing and harassment last year directly to the State’s Attorney’s Office,” the statement says. “Beginning in March 2023, Assistant State’s Attorney, Carly Gibson, investigated the case by visiting the home of the victims and reviewing the evidence thoroughly,” it says.

“ASA Gibson’s findings warranted numerous charges, including the defendant’s continually trespassing onto the victims’ property while in possession of a rifle, verbally harassing the victims with hate-based threats, throwing large rocks on the victims’ driveway to prevent them from accessing their property, and physically blocking the entrance to the property,” the statement states.  

It says defendant Burns has been placed on home detention, to be monitored by a monitoring device, until his sentencing, which is scheduled to take place on April 4, 2024.

“Everyone deserves to feel safe in their communities, regardless of race, sexual orientation, faith, or other status,” Frederick County State’s Attorney Charlie Smith said in the statement. “When hateful words turn into hateful actions, the State’s Attorney’s Office will work diligently to protect the public and secure a just outcome,” he said. “Hopefully, these convictions send a strong message that hate will not be tolerated in Frederick County.”

Frederick County Public Defender Service attorneys Meghana Vodela and Linda Beth Ziet, who court records show served as Burns’s defense attorneys, could not immediately be reached for comment.

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Maryland

A Baltimore theater educator lost jobs at Johns Hopkins and the Kennedy Center

Tavish Forsyth concluded they could not work for Trump

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Tavish Forsyth, a queer artist and educator, posted a nude video on YouTube in protest of the Trump administration’s takeover of the Kennedy Center earlier this year. (Photo by Jessica Gallagher for the Baltimore Banner)

BY WESLEY CASE | Tavish Forsyth had come to a conclusion: They could not work for President Donald Trump.

So the 32-year-old Baltimore resident stripped down, turned on their camera, and lit their career on fire.

“F—— Donald Trump and f—— the Kennedy Center,” a naked Forsyth, an associate artistic lead at the Washington National Opera’s Opera Institute, which is run by the Kennedy Center, said in a video that went viral. The board of the nation’s leading cultural institution had elected Trump just weeks prior as its chairman after he gutted the board of members appointed by his predecessor, President Joe Biden.

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

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Maryland

Md. schools plan to comply with federal DEI demands

Superintendents opt for cooperation over confrontation

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(Bigstock photo)

By LIZ BOWIE | Deciding not to pick a fight with the Trump administration, Maryland school leaders plan to sign a letter to the U.S. Department of Education that says their school districts are complying with all civil rights laws.

The two-paragraph letter could deflect a confrontation over whether the state’s public schools run diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that the Trump administration has called illegal. The Baltimore Banner reviewed the letter, which was shared by a school administrator who declined to be identified because the letter has not yet been sent.

Maryland school leaders are taking a more conciliatory approach than those in some other states. Education leaders in Minnesota, New YorkColoradoOregon, Vermont, and Wisconsin said they will not comply with the federal education department’s order, the demands of which, they say, are based on a warped interpretation of civil rights law.

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

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Maryland

FreeState Justice: Transgender activist ‘hijacked’ Moore’s Transgender Day of Visibility event

Maryland Commission on LGBTQIA+ Affairs describes Lee Blinder’s comments as ‘call to action’

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Lee Blinder, founding executive director of Trans Maryland, speaks to Maryland Gov. Wes Moore during a ceremony for the International Day for Transgender Visibility. Blinder called out the governor for not backing up his words with action. (Photo by Jessica Gallagher for the Baltimore Banner)

FreeState Justice on April 11 released a statement criticizing the way that Trans Maryland Executive Director Lee Blinder treated Gov. Wes Moore during a Transgender Day of Visibility event.

FreeState Justice was extremely disappointed with the criticisms of Moore on the Transgender Day of Visibility, saying it was “hijacked by public hostility” by Blinder. The Baltimore Banner reported how Blinder “laid out how the Democratic governor has let down transgender Marylanders by not putting money in the budget and not backing needed policy changes.”

The Washington Blade interviewed Blinder after the March 31 event.

“The intention of what I shared is to show to the governor that this is a community in distress. You know, we are in a real state of emergency for the trans community and there are very few opportunities that the community has to share this directly with the governor.” Blinder told the Blade. “We’re really grateful to the governor for everything that he’s done in the past for this community, but the circumstances have changed and we really need to see very specific actions taken in order to ensure this community has the ability to exist in public space.”

FreeState Justice said Moore did not deserve such criticisms during the event and added in a Blade oped it is “time for new leadership on the Maryland LGBTQIA+ Commission. Leadership that values and prioritizes coalition over conflict. Leadership that invites feedback and shares power. Leadership that understands how Annapolis operates, how budgets are constructed, and how community victories are won.”

“We’re not saying don’t challenge power. We’re saying do it with purpose. Do it with facts. Do it with a strategy. If you’re going to call yourself a leader in this movement, show us the policy platform. Show us the data. Show us the budget line. Show us the work,” wrote FreeState Justice.

The Maryland Commission on LGBTQIA+ Affairs has met to address FreeState Justice’s statements. 

“During the Transgender Day of Visibility ceremony at the State House, the commission’s chair offered remarks reflecting the real fears, concerns, and hopes of the trans community. These remarks were not a call-out, but a call to action,” the commission said in their call to action statement it sent to the Blade. “The chair’s words echoed the thousands of voices we’ve heard across the state through phone calls, emails, and messages on social media to our staff, commissioners, and their affiliated organizations.”

The statement outlines what the call to action entails, addressing what the commission found to be the most pressing issues for transgender Marylanders. They include a lack of dedicated funding, barriers to affirming healthcare, housing insecurity and homelessness, discrimination in education and employment, and escalating violence, harassment, and hate.

“We remain deeply committed to working in partnership with the Moore-Miller administration, the General Assembly, state agencies, nonprofit organizations, and community partners to ensure LGBTQIA+ Marylanders are seen, protected, and supported in policy, budget, and in practice,” reads the statement.

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