Dec 26, 2008  |  By: AMY CAVANAUGH  | COMMENTS     

When Dan Furmansky accepted the executive director job at Equality Maryland in November 2003, he was the only person on staff and the organization’s budget was less than $100,000.

Five years later, he’s helped the organization grow to include several more full-time staff members and the budget has grown to $850,000.

“We had a movement already from the Free State Justice years and the great work the people did to pass the anti-discrimination act of 2001,” Furmansky said. “But organizationally, the past few years have seen major infrastructure and capacity building that have created a deeper reach for our work in Annapolis and across the state, as well as a more unified movement.”

And strengthening the movement is what Furmansky, whose last day at Equality Maryland was Dec. 19, considers his greatest victory from his time as executive director.

“To me, the greatest victory is building an organization that could serve as the heart of our movement in Maryland and provide a platform for people to use their voices to seek the changes they would like to see in the world,” he said. “I have always said and I believe that Equality Maryland is a movement, and I know it will continue to be an even stronger and more vibrant organization moving forward than it has been the past five years.”

Furmansky’s tenure nonetheless included some setbacks. He said not attaining marriage equality in the lawsuit Equality Maryland filed in 2007 was a blow.

He said that Equality Maryland sought to win marriage rights for same-sex couples via the lawsuit because the “most expedient route to marriage equality” is through the courts, using arguments that “spoke for themselves.”
“We thought the court possibly would punt the issue to the legislature for remedy, but I didn’t anticipate an outright loss in court,” Furmansky said. “Quite honestly, it was heartbreaking and it was very difficult to rise to leadership when my own faith had been slapped around.”

But the organization moved forward. Furmansky’s successor, Kate Runyon, has been working with him for several weeks to ease into the role. He describes her as “incredibly intelligent, talented, capable and a very fast learner” and has offered some suggestions for her tenure.

“We need an incredibly strong, financially powerful political action committee in the 2010 election, and we need to see the numbers of people who got involved in the Proposition 8 protests showing up in Annapolis,” he said. “Those are our decision makers on transgender equality, domestic partnership benefits and marriage rights, and if we had the numbers that we’ve seen around the California initiative showing up in Annapolis, we’d be moving much further forward.”

Furmansky noted that 73 percent of the Maryland General Assembly is Democratic and that gay issues should be moving forward in the legislature more quickly than they are.

“Transgender civil rights haven’t moved forward, marriage equality hasn’t moved forward, and no
comprehensive domestic partnership benefits have moved forward,” he said.

Furmansky said part of the problem can be traced to the state’s Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley, who has not strongly advocated for gay issues.

“Plainly said, I want so much more out of my governor,” he said. “I want a governor who cares personally about LGBT civil rights and is willing to act as a real leader on the issues.”

Furmansky said that O’Malley has “so far chosen not to be a part in moving our social justice movement forward.”

“Clearly he doesn’t feel a moral imperative, despite protestations from people close to him who tell me otherwise,” Furmansky said. “I’m waiting, I’m hopeful, and I’m asking, as I hope all Marylanders will join me for wanting more from our governor.”

Furmansky noted that gay Marylanders are not, however, without their allies.

“We’ve had champions for years,” he said. “I’m not even going to name names, since I’d be afraid I would leave someone out. There are so many leaders in the Maryland General Assembly who own the LGBT civil rights movement as their own, and obviously some are gay or lesbian.”

Sen. Rich Madaleno, the State Assembly’s lone openly gay senator, in turn commended Furmansky for devoting “his heart and soul to Equality Maryland” and gay Marylanders.

“I think Dan has been incredibly effective in Annapolis and in building the organization,” he said.
“When you look at the size of that organization and, I think, its annual budget, which was little more than just his salary when he started, and what the organization has become as a result of his leadership, what our community has been able to achieve over the last few years has been unparalleled.”

Furmansky ...