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JOSHUA LYNSEN
Friday, November 16, 2007
Montgomery
County
has
approved
a
law
that
bars
discrimination
against
transgender
residents
and
workers,
overcoming
objections
raised
by
several
conservative
groups.
Council
members
voted
8-0
on
Tuesday
to
“prohibit
discrimination
in
housing,
employment,
public
accommodations,
cable
television
service
and
taxicab
service
on
the
basis
of
gender
identity.”
The
law
becomes
effective
90
days
after
being
signed
by
County
Executive
Isiah
Leggett,
which
he’s
expected
to
do
before
month’s
end.
Dana
Beyer,
who
is
transgender
and
works
for
Montgomery
County
Councilmember
Duchy
Trachtenberg,
praised
the
vote.
“I’m
thrilled
that
it
was
unanimous,”
she
told
the
Blade
moments
after
the
measure
passed.
“It’s
very
touching.”
Beyer,
who
is
a
board
member
of
Equality
Maryland,
said
the
measure
also
would
give
new
momentum
to
similar
efforts
elsewhere.
“I
think
it’s
a
day
of
celebration,”
she
said.
“It’s
another
step
toward
getting
these
protections
on
the
state
level
and
on
the
national
level.”
Tuesday’s
vote
puts
Montgomery
County
alongside
Baltimore
as
the
two
Maryland
jurisdictions
to
have
such
laws.
Thirteen
states
have
laws
barring
discrimination
based
on
“gender
identity
or
expression”
in
employment
and
almost
100
cities
have
similar
ordinances.
Collectively,
the
laws
cover
about
37
percent
of
the
U.S.
population,
according
to
estimates
from
trans
rights
groups.
Beyer
said
Montgomery
County
becomes
the
first
jurisdiction
in
suburban
D.C.
to
pass
such
laws.
Efforts
in
Montgomery
County
began
earlier
this
year
after
state
lawmakers
in
Annapolis
failed
to
pass
a
bill
enacting
similar
safeguards
statewide.
By
a
6-5
vote,
the
Senate
Judicial
Proceedings
Committee
rejected
in
March
a
measure
that
sought
to
outlaw
transgender
discrimination
in
the
areas
of
employment,
housing,
credit
and
public
accommodations.
In
the
wake
of
that
decision,
Montgomery
County
officials
drew
up
local
protections.
While
supported
by
groups
such
as
Equality
Maryland,
the
measure
drew
opposition
from
Parents
&
Friends
of
Ex-Gays
&
Gays,
plus
other
conservative
groups.
Efforts
to
derail
the
measure
included
the
distribution
of
fliers
at
area
Metro
stops
and
elsewhere
that
feature
a
door
labeled,
“Locker
room
for
women
&
men
who
think
they
are
women.”
The
flier
asserts
the
measure
would
“allow
males
who
self
identify
themselves
as
females
to
have
open
access
to
all
women’s
and
girls’
restrooms,
locker
rooms,
dressing
rooms
and
showers.”
Trachtenberg,
the
bill’s
sponsor,
told
the
Associated
Press
that
she
removed
the
reference
to
the
use
of
public
restrooms
“after
a
flood
of
e-mails,
phone
calls
and
radio
advertisements
criticized
it.”
But
the
concession
did
little
to
stave
opposition.
Beyer
said
opponents
of
the
measure
“were
acting
out,
showing
signs,
yelling
and
screaming”
before
Tuesday’s
vote.
Regina
Griggs,
director
of
Parents
&
Friends
of
Ex-Gays
&
Gays,
could
not
immediately
be
reached
following
Tuesday’s
vote.
But
an
open
letter
by
Parents
&
Friends
of
Ex-Gays
&
Gays
opposes
the
measure
for
several
reasons,
including
privacy
concerns.
It
says
the
bill
would
“guarantee
the
right
of
a
biological
male
who
identifies
as
female
to
appear
nude
in
women’s
locker
rooms
in
the
presence
of
nude
biological
females.”
The
letter
also
says
the
measure
does
not
include
“reasonable
exemptions”
for
businesses
with
less
than
15
employees
and
religious
organizations,
and
“trivializes
the
significance
of
biological
sex.”
The
role
of
the
county’s
Human
Rights
Commission
also
is
questioned,
with
the
letter
noting
officials
need
not
only
receive
and
adjudicate
complaints
of
discrimination,
but
could
also
“initiate
such
complaints.”
Beyer
said
Tuesday
the
county’s
Human
Rights
Commission
would
only
respond
to
complaints
that
are
filed
by
others.
She
also
said
complaints
that
the
measure
would
allow
men
to
use
women’s
restrooms
or
locker
rooms
were
false
claims
intended
to
stir
“bathroom
hysteria.”
“No
trans
person
in
the
midst
of
transition,
before
genital
surgery,
goes
and
exposes
himself
or
herself
in
any
public
facility,”
she
said.
“It’s
never
happened.
There’s
never
been
[such]
a
police
report
filed
in
the
United
States.”
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