Maryland
Montgomery County Council approves bill for gender-inclusive, single-use restrooms
Measure passed by 9-0 vote margin on July 26
The Montgomery County Council has approved a bill that will pave the way for gender-inclusive, single-user restrooms in public and county-owned buildings.
The council in a 9-0 vote on July 26 passed Bill 4-22.
The bill requires at least one single-user restroom available for all gender identities in a place of public accommodation or county-owned buildings with signage that designates it as gender-inclusive.
Council member Sidney Katz and Council Vice President Evan Glass, who is the first gay man elected to the Montgomery County Council, co-sponsored the bill.
“This bill is supported by many advocacy groups including those representing the disability community and the LGBTQ+ community,” said Katz in a press news release, following the bill’s approval. “It is well reasoned, will not be burdensome to implement and will help everyone feel more comfortable.”
Beyond increasing accessibility for people of various gender identities and expressions, this bill also means to benefit people with disabilities with caregivers who are of a different gender, and parents with children of a different gender who may require assistance using a public restroom.
“We want everyone in Montgomery County to feel welcome here,” Glass told the Blade on Wednesday in a statement. “Members of our trans, nonbinary and disability communities often feel anxious and ignored by the choices of restrooms in commercial spaces. This legislation will help them and also provide relief for families with young children and caregivers who oftentimes are left waiting outside a restroom.”
Local activists also supported the bill.
“As a person with disabilities that sometimes needs assistance in the bathroom, gendered single occupancy stalls are stressful for both my spouse and I because we are perceived as differently gendered than one another,” said Ezra Towne, a Montgomery County activist, during a public hearing on the bill.
The bill exempts some locations that include private restrooms in a residence; a hospital; inn, hotel, motel, or an establishment that provides lodging for transient guests; or restrooms that are only accessible from a private room or office.
Similar legislation has been implemented in Maryland — Salisbury, Baltimore City and Howard County — and in cities across the country that include Seattle; Philadelphia and Austin, Texas. California has also enacted a similar measure.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore on Tuesday signed a bill that decriminalizes HIV in the state.
State Dels. Kris Fair (D-Frederick County) and Luke Clippinger (D-Baltimore City) are among the lawmakers who sponsored House Bill 39 or the Carlton R. Smith Act, which is named after the long-time activist known as the “mayor” of Baltimore’s Mount Vernon neighborhood who died in May 2024.
Smith was a member of the Coalition to Decriminalize HIV in Maryland that advocated for the bill. FreeState Justice, a statewide LGBTQ rights group, was also part of the coalition.
“At FreeState Justice, we are proud to stand with advocates, health experts, and lawmakers who worked diligently to advance this bill. The bipartisan support for the Carlton R. Smith Act is a testament to the power of education, research, and courageous leadership,” said FreeState Justice Executive Director Phillip Westry in a statement. “It sends a clear message: Maryland is committed to evidence-based policymaking and to ending the criminalization of people living with HIV. We honor the memory of Carlton R. Smith by continuing the work of building a more just, inclusive, and informed society.”
Maryland is the fifth state to decriminalize HIV.
North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong, a Republican, in March signed a bill that decriminalized HIV in his state.
Maryland
A Baltimore theater educator lost jobs at Johns Hopkins and the Kennedy Center
Tavish Forsyth concluded they could not work for Trump
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.
Maryland
Md. schools plan to comply with federal DEI demands
Superintendents opt for cooperation over confrontation
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 York, Colorado, Oregon, 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.
Cuban lawmakers to consider simplifying process for trans people to change IDs
Frank Kameny’s legacy lives on
Wes Moore signs HIV decriminalization bill
Medical groups file lawsuit over Trump deletion of health information
Marjorie Taylor Greene’s bill to criminalize gender affirming care advances
Pete Buttigieg, eyeing a presidential run, holds Iowa town hall
Calendar: May 16-22
Documentary about Blade reporter to premiere this month
Antipathy toward queer workers
