ANNAPOLIS,
Md.
—
Legislators
heard
testimony
this
week
on
a
bill
that
would
add
sexual
orientation
and
gender
identity
as
protected
categories
in
Maryland’s
hate
crimes
statute,
and
a
vote
on
a
bill
that
would
offer
same-sex
couples
some
medical
decision
making
rights
was
set
for
the
end
of
this
week.
The
Senate
Judicial
Proceedings
Committee
heard
testimony
on
the
Hate
Crimes
Penalties
Act
(SB
698)
on
Wednesday.
Last
month,
a
House
committee
heard
testimony
on
the
bill
but
it
has
yet
to
vote
on
the
measure.
Attempts
last
year
to
add
sexual
orientation
to
the
state’s
1988
hate
crimes
statute
passed
in
the
House
but
failed
in
the
Senate
by
one
vote.
Sheila
Savaliski,
a
retired
police
officer
from
Baltimore
City,
said
she
testified
in
favor
of
the
new
hate
crimes
language
for
personal
and
professional
reasons.
Prior
to
becoming
a
member
of
the
Baltimore
police
force
21
years
ago,
she
said
she
was
attacked
outside
a
Baltimore
bar.
She
said
the
perpetrators
were
never
prosecuted.
During
her
tenure,
Savaliski
actively
investigated
such
hate
crimes
from
1991-2003.
She
was
also
the
unofficial
liaison
to
the
gay
community
working
to
get
victims
to
report
such
crimes.
Dan
Furmansky,
executive
director
of
Equality
Maryland,
a
gay
rights
group,
suggested
that
House
leaders
might
be
waiting
for
the
Senate
to
act
on
the
legislation
in
committee
before
they
tackle
it.
Furmansky
said
the
Health
&
Government
Operations
Committee
will
vote
this
week
on
the
Medical
Decisions
Making
Act
of
2004
(HB
1284),
sponsored
by
Del.
John
A
Hurson
(D-Montgomery
County).
HB
1284,
which
has
more
than
40
co-sponsors,
would
set
up
a
domestic
partnership
program
for
same-sex
couples
and
allow
them
to
visit
one
another
in
the
hospital
and
make
medical
decisions
for
each
other.
Furmansky
said
the
legislation
would
add
provisions
to
the
current
Maryland
health
code.
It
would
“establish
a
mechanism
for
same-sex
partners,
or
opposite-sex
partners
over
the
age
of
62,
to
register
with
the
Secretary
of
Health
and
Mental
Hygiene
in
order
to
enter
into
a
registered
domestic
partnership.
Partners
would
have
the
right
to
visit
a
partner
or
partner’s
child
in
a
hospital
or
other
health
care
facility,
have
access
to
a
partner
in
a
medical
emergency,
and
have
authorization
for
a
partner
to
make
health
care
decisions.”
Gay
rights
activists
scored
a
big
victory
last
week
after
House
legislators
defeated
two
Defense
of
Marriage
bills
that
would
have
strengthened
the
state’s
current
ban
on
gay
marriage.
And
before
debate
was
to
begin
on
the
senate’s
versions
of
the
DOMA
bills,
the
sponsors
pulled
them
from
consideration.
Furmansky
said
Sen.
Brian
Frosh
(D-Montgomery
County),
chair
of
the
Senate
Judicial
Proceedings
Committee,
said
they
would
go
nowhere
because
both
bills
were
killed
in
the
House
Judiciary
Committee.
But
Furmansky
said
gays
must
remain
“vigilant”
about
attempts
to
bring
the
DOMA
legislation
to
the
Senate
floor.
That
was
the
case
last
week
in
the
House
when
Del.
Gail
Bates
(R-Howard
County)
attached
a
DOMA
bill
to
H.B.
746,
a
bill
that
clarified
which
judges
are
authorized
to
perform
marriage
ceremonies
and
the
fees
they
may
charge.
It
was
voted
down
52-82,
with
seven
delegates
abstaining.
“By
pulling
the
Senate
version
of
the
DOMA
bill
just
before
the
committee
could
consider
it,
the
bill’s
Senate
sponsors
may
hope
to
avoid
an
unfavorable
committee
vote
on
the
legislation
and
increase
the
bill’s
chances
of
being
seriously
considered
as
an
amendment
on
the
floor
of
the
Senate,”
Furmansky
said.
