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AMY CAVANAUGH
Friday, September 05, 2008
The
Maryland
Court
of
Appeals
will
consider
Sept.
8
whether
Montgomery
County’s
transgender
discrimination
measure
will
go
to
a
public
vote.
County
officials
last
year
passed
legislation
that
prohibits
“discrimination
in
housing,
employment,
public
accommodations,
cable
television
service
and
taxicab
service
on
the
basis
of
gender
identity.”
The
law
was
set
to
take
effect
in
February,
but
the
conservative
Maryland
Citizens
for
a
Responsible
Government
halted
the
law’s
implementation
by
placing
it
on
November’s
ballot.
Equality
Maryland
challenged
that
referendum,
noting
that
a
number
of
the
petition
signatures
were
improperly
obtained,
but
Montgomery
County
Circuit
Judge
Robert
Greenberg
ruled
that
Equality
Maryland
missed
the
deadline
to
challenge.
The
Court
of
Appeals
is
poised
to
determine
whether
that
ruling
will
stand.
Dana
Beyer,
an
Equality
Maryland
board
member
who
is
transgender,
said
next
week’s
hearing
will
not
consider
the
“content
of
this
law,”
but
rather
“the
process
by
which
the
referendum
was
certified.”
“This
court
vote
is
not
about
whether
we
should
have
civil
rights
in
Maryland
and
not
about
whether
trans
people
are
entitled
to
the
same
rights,”
she
said.
“This
is
about
process
and
about
the
fairness
and
reliability
of
the
process.
We
believe
the
petitioners
who
filed
against
the
board
of
elections
did
so
in
a
prompt
and
efficient
and
effective
manner,
and
we
believe
the
Court
of
Appeals
will
agree
with
us."
If
the
ruling
after
Monday's
hearing
is
in
favor
of
the
petitioners,
which
includes
Equality
Maryland,
then
it
will
not
go
to
ballot
in
November.
“While
we
hope
the
court
will
be
rigorous
in
its
analysis
of
whether
the
process
of
putting
this
issue
to
the
ballot
met
the
required
standards,
we
will
continue
our
campaign
to
talk
to
the
voters
of
Montgomery
County
about
why
they
should
vote
yes
in
November,”
said
Carrie
Evans,
policy
director
at
Equality
Maryland.
Should
the
issue
come
to
a
public
vote,
Beyer
said,
“Basic
Rights
Montgomery
has
a
great
campaign
team,
and
outreach
has
begun.”
“We
have
people
who
are
qualified
here
and
we
will
be
ready,”
she
said.
“But
the
bottom
line
is
that
I
know
the
voters
of
Montgomery
County
are
decent
people
who
do
not
give
into
bigotry
and
will
support
the
law
as
they
supported
the
Council
members
who
voted
unanimously
for
it.”
Basic
Rights
Montgomery,
a
coalition
of
community
leaders
and
organizations
that
are
fighting
attempts
to
repeal
the
transgender
anti-discrimination
law,
will
lead
any
public
campaign
to
counter
the
referendum.
Heading
up
the
effort
is
Eric
Anthony,
who
on
Wednesday
replaced
Opel
Simmons
III
as
campaign
manager
for
Basic
Rights
Montgomery.
Dan
Furmansky,
executive
director
of
Equality
Maryland,
said
Simmons
left
for
“personal
reasons.”
Furmansky
noted
that
Basic
Rights
Montgomery,
which
is
funded
in
part
by
Equality
Maryland,
would
work
to
“flesh
out
the
structure”
of
the
campaign
in
the
weeks
ahead.
“We’re
looking
to
expand
the
field
staff,
but
we’ve
always
planned
to
do
that,”
he
said.
“Eric
has
done
a
phenomenal
job
with
fundraising
and
media
outreach,
and
we’re
looking
at
where
we
might
find
pro
bono
and
consultancy
support.”
Anthony,
who
is
gay,
most
recently
worked
in
seven
states
on
Sen.
Hillary
Clinton’s
(D-N.Y.)
presidential
campaign.
He
also
has
managed
campaigns
in
San
Jose,
Calif.,
and
a
ballot
initiative
in
San
Mateo
County,
Calif.
“I
come
to
this
campaign
very
excited
about
the
opportunity
to
protect
civil
rights
and
fight
discrimination,”
Anthony
said.
“It’s
not
acceptable
to
discriminate
against
someone
for
who
they
are,
and
we
need
to
make
sure
that
everyone
votes
‘yes’
on
question
C.”
Simmons,
who
is
straight,
said
that
he
decided
to
work
with
Basic
Rights
Montgomery
because
fighting
transgender
discrimination
is
“a
basic
human
and
civil
rights
issue,
and
it
resonates
beyond
the
transgender
community.”
“I’m
beholden
to
Martin
Luther
King
Jr.’s
statement
that
‘Injustice
anywhere
is
a
threat
to
justice
everywhere,’
since
I’m
a
beneficiary
of
the
civil
rights
movement,”
Simmons
said.
“I
have
a
passion
for
securing
everyone’s
rights,
irrespective
of
how
people
are
received
from
a
mainstream
perspective.”
Also
working
full
time
are
field
organizers
K.T.
Thirion
and
Shaneequa
Brooks.
Thirion,
a
recent
graduate
of
American
University,
led
campus
organizing
efforts
around
LGBT
issues,
and
he
also
worked
as
an
organizing
and
training
fellow
for
the
National
Gay
&
Lesbian
Task
Force.
Brooks,
a
recent
graduate
of
the
University
of
North
Carolina
at
Greensboro,
was
trained
by
the
Human
Rights
Campaign.
Although
Simmons
would
not
release
a
timetable
of
Basic
Rights
Montgomery’s
plans
before
he
left
the
campaign,
he
noted
the
campaign
must
“convince
upwards
of
250,000
voters
in
Montgomery
County”
to
support
the
transgender
rights
question.
“We
have
to
implement
and
utilize
every
tool
available
to
us
in
our
arsenal,”
he
said.
“We
have
an
aggressive
field
program
planned,
and
we
are
going
to
use
these
opportunities
in
the
field
to
speak
with
voters
directly
and
share
our
message
of
nondiscrimination
law.
“We
started
to
build
a
coalition
of
support
for
our
efforts
on
local,
regional
and
national
levels.
The
Human
Rights
Campaign
has
afforded
us
a
staffer,
and
Equality
Maryland
has
been
very
helpful
in
getting
us
up
and
running.
We
opened
an
office
in
Silver
Spring
right
behind
their
offices,
and
we
are
hoping
to
open
additional
offices
throughout
county.
We
are
also
looking
for
and
hiring
additional
staff
as
well
as
volunteers
who
can
share
time,
energy
and
effort
towards
our
goals
and
objectives.
We
have
a
lot
of
momentum
on
out
side,
which
may
not
be
apparent,
but
it
will
become
so.”
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