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To the Editors:
Re “Trans inclusion dooms Md. hate bill: delegate” (news, Jan. 7):
Where Del. Rich Madaleno gets the idea that including “sexual orientation”
in a hate crimes law will also protect transgender people from hate crimes is
beyond me.
Simply put, when a transgender woman or a drag queen is attacked because she’s
wearing a dress, the attackers probably don’t care that she likes men.
They care about the fact that she’s wearing a dress. A court isn’t
going to be so naïve to think otherwise. In most cases, the attacker might
not even know the victim’s sexual orientation.
Madaleno says that the attorney general “thought” that adding “real
or perceived sexual orientation” to the hate crimes law would cover “gender
identity,” but this opinion has no basis in legal precedent. Courts have
rejected the claim that the term “sexual orientation” includes transgender
people.
Even people who target lesbian, gay, or bisexual people are most likely to
attack the most feminine men or the most masculine women. They attack because
they perceive someone as going against gender norms, and they attack the gay
men, lesbians, and bisexual people who present themselves as most transgender.
Our legislators in Annapolis need to take a bold step by expanding our hate
crime laws to protect all Maryland residents, including transgender people.
Transgender people are on average more likely to face a hate crime than gay,
lesbian, and bisexual people.
If we only fail to add gender identity to our hate crimes laws, we will be
leaving a huge gap that may take years to address.
College Park, Md.
To the Editors:
In response to last week’s article on Maryland’s upcoming legislative
session (“Trans inclusion dooms Md. hate bill: delegate,” news,
Jan. 7), we both were concerned at what seemed like a portrayal of Maryland’s
LGBT civil rights organization at odds with an openly gay legislator over a
key issue.
In fact, Del. Rich Madaleno joins Equality Maryland in strongly supporting
hate crimes legislation that includes gender identity or expression.
The comments to the Blade about many legislators being uncomfortable with transgender-inclusive
language were made so that readers would understand one of the stumbling blocks
to passage of the Hate Crimes Penalties Act.
Notably, the bill never made it for a vote by the full Senate in 2004, despite
the fact that the bill passed Senate committee stripped of transgender-inclusive
language. Sen. Alex Mooney offered a barrage of amendments to the legislation,
and Senate President Mike Miller chose not to spend time debating the issue.
Clearly, overcoming attempts by anti-gay legislators to derail the bill is
key to our efforts, as well as continuing to educate legislators about the violence
and harassment faced by transgender individuals every day.
Both Equality Maryland and Del. Madaleno agree that transgender-inclusive language
in the Hate Crimes Penalties Act will make passage of the bill more difficult.
We also agree that our divergent perspectives — one as a legislator asked
to help lead a bill to enactment, another as an LGBT organization committed
to advocacy, education and progress — in no way hinder our mutual commitment
to passing inclusive legislation.
As always, we will continue our work together in hopes of moving forward transgender
issues in the General Assembly.
Kensington, Md.
Executive Director
Equality Maryland
To the Editors:
I absolutely agree with Chris Crain’s editorial about Susan Sontag (“Don’t
settle like Sontag,” Jan. 7).
Both of the movements and peer groups Sontag fought for — the left and
the feminist movement — were homophobic. At least she took on the left
regarding communism, saying it is fascism with a face.
But even today, many in the feminist movement and on the left are still homophobic.
Otherwise, they would not have blamed gays for losing the presidential election.
I am almost 63, only 7 years younger then Sontag was when she died. We need
not make excuses for the older generation. There is no excuse for not coming
out, especially when you are famous for being a “radical intellectual
challenging mainstream thought.”
The closet is a vertical coffin, no matter if it is totally closed, or ...
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