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MARYLAND HATE CRIMES BILL FAILS TO PASS MUSTER LEGISLATION TO INCLUDE GENDER IDENTITY IN NEXT YEAR'S SESSION

As Maryland's 2003 legislative session wound to a close, the Hate Crimes Bill covering sexual orientation died in a Senate committee. The bill, roundly criticized by the transgender community, also drew criticism from the state senator who cast the deciding vote. After the Senate defeat, Free State Justice (FSJ) promised to improve the language and expand the categories covered to include gender identity for the 2004 session.

Senator John A. Giannetti (D-Prince George's) commented that it "personally disturbed" him to cast the deciding vote against the bill, according to a report in the Washington Blade. The Judicial Proceedings Committee voted 6-5 against the bill. The senator added that he felt his vote to kill the measure was necessary after the House of Delegates wrote a "pretty crappy bill," in order to stave off a senate floor filibuster.

The senator also criticized FSJ for not sitting down and discussing the merits of the bill with him. "This was my first real education in politics," said FSJ Executive Director Jon Kaplan in an interview with the Blade. Other Maryland gay and lesbian activists criticized the group for lack of focus, alluding to political inexperience.

The board of Free State Justice confirmed that Kaplan was recruited primarily for his fundraising skills. Kaplan has taken the organization, which earlier has reduced it's annual budget by 11%, has been actively working on building both funding and membership. One source of funding is a $5,000 annual grant from the Human Rights Campaign, which supports the Maryland group in part because it is a statewide gay advocacy organization.

Fundraising expertise aside, Kaplan defended his political decisions. "Politics can be very disturbing at times because one would think that elected officials are looking out for our best interest."

Sen. Giannetti believed that had the hate crimes measure - which was stripped of other protected classes by the House of Delegates - made it to the Senate floor that the subsequent debate would have doomed the bill next year in the Senate.

During the committee hearing, Senator Nancy Jacobs (R-Cecil/Harford Counties) questioned why the House stripped the bill of the original language protecting ancestry, disabilities, gender and age, noting that many states Hate Crimes Laws cover them. A lobbyist for FSJ replied that the bill was pared down because they felt if the state expanded the bill too broadly, it would make a mockery of hate crimes.

Meanwhile, the Transgender Community was upset at being left out of the bill from the onset. Despite ongoing violence targeting the transgender community and a very public discord from transgenders after the passage of the state's nondiscrimination bill in 2001, this year's Hate Crimes measure went forward without coverage for gender identity and expression.

Immediately following the close of the session, a number of transgender activists attended a wrap-up session with Jon Kaplan and the FSJ staff.

Those attending the meeting as FSJ, included Julie Maverick of the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition (NTAC), Donna Cartwright of Gender Rights Advocacy Assn. of New Jersey (GRAANJ), Gender Education & Advocacy (GEA) board member, Gwyneth Rhian Morgan, who is also a member of the Washington Area Transgender Activist Community (WATAC) and Tammi Lippert, formerly of FSJ and Marylanders Advocating Towards Transgender Equal Rights (MATTER).

During the meeting, the transgender contingent responded "rather negatively" to how the Hate Crimes bill was approached, according to NTAC Vice Chair, Julie Maverick. As a result of the meeting, an agreement was struck with FSJ to ensure additional coverage for gender identity and expression.

When asked by NTAC of future plans for the Hate Crimes measure, Kaplan responded, "for the record, we plan to include gender identity in the wording of the [Hate Crimes] bill next year."

"We take the FSJ at its word to ensure that future legislation is not diluted in its protections, but rather carries gender identity and expression protections forward in all new hate crimes legislation," said Maverick of NTAC.

"[Maryland's 2001] Anti-Discrimination Act was a big victory for the state but it didn't include gender identity," Kaplan said. "We look at it as not a complete victory. There are a lot of areas that we need to win and bills that we need to pass so that we have equality."

"We are delighted that Jon and Free State take the concerns of the TG community in Maryland seriously," Maverick added. "I certainly look forward to working with MATTER and Free State in this effort.