Governor vows to fight for transgender protections
In the wake of the videotaped beating of a transgendered woman in a Rosedale McDonald's over bathroom rights, Gov. Martin O'Malley is pledging to provide "even greater protections." This comes just a few days after Baltimore County's chief prosecutor charged a woman in the attack with a hate crime.
The Sun's Julie Bykowicz reports:
Lawmakers who fought unsuccessfully this year for legislation to prohibit employment and housing discrimination against transgender people welcomed the support of the Democratic governor. State Sen. Richard S. Madaleno Jr., who plans to sponsor another transgender protection bill next in a future legislative session, said it "could be critical to the success of the legislation."
Meanwhile, a Baltimore Sun editorial today stresses the importance of enhanced hate crime laws:
But it is worth reaffirming the importance of hate crime statutes and the legal basis for them. Maryland law prescribes greater penalties for crimes motivated by the victim's race, color, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, gender, disability, national origin or (in a recent addition to state law) because that person is homeless. It does so not because members of some groups deserve more protection than others but because crimes perpetrated as a result of such biases pose a danger to society that goes far beyond the individual victim.
Comments
It's nice to see a governor who cares about the transgender community. Nobody should have to live in fear for being who they are.
Posted by: Kristy Hardin | May 18, 2011 9:16 AM
We you also fight for the right for Christians to pray in school, or just for sodomites to not be attacked?
Posted by: MichaelK | May 18, 2011 9:42 AM
In related news, the Governor's office announced that they are going to study the problem of barn doors being left open after reports of cows leaving the barn have surfaced. Way to be out in front of the problem, Marty! That's some mighty fine leadership.
Posted by: Julio | May 18, 2011 10:42 AM
I live among you and you don't know what I am but everyday I live in fear... Pass the bill. I am a productive tax paying citizen and I, as well as my brothers and sisters, deserve to live in peace. Marylanders, stop thinking of us as 6ft 7" drag queens because we are not. We are normal men and women to you.... Your neighbor perhaps. :-)
Posted by: Anonymous | May 18, 2011 11:08 AM
No, MichaelK, because that is a separate issue. Christians are already protected against religious discrimination in their places of work, play, worship, fast food, etc., and have been for a long time. Why aren't transgendered individuals - individuals born with differing physical and psychological gender identities who are on the path to reconciling them?
I may be oversimplifying (in fact, I know I am, but I'm also trying to make a point) - it's like attacking a left-handed person who was born without a left hand, for getting surgery to have a left-hand attached. Some may learn to write with their right hands, but it never quite feels right.
Posted by: Chris | May 19, 2011 9:47 AM