Maryland introducing gender identity anti-discrimination and marriage equality bills
by: Lurleen
http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/18488/maryland-introducing-gender-identity-antidiscrimination-and-marriage-equality-bills (http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/18488/maryland-introducing-gender-identity-antidiscrimination-and-marriage-equality-bills)
1/21/11
Lead Sponsors of the Gender Identity Anti-Discrimination Act are Del. Joseline Pena-Melnyk and Del. Ariana Kelly. The bill would prohibit discrimination in the areas of employment, housing, and credit. Lead sponsors of the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act include Senate Majority Leader Rob Garagiola, Sen. Jamie Raskin and Del. Kumar Barve.
This morning Morgan Meneses-Sheets, Executive Director of Equality Maryland, explained the smart strategy behind how the two bills are being introduced. "We purposely had each bill start and move first in a different chamber. We want to be able to tell the important story of each bill. That's why the marriage bill is first in the Senate, the gender identity bill is first in the House where we have such an amazing champion and a very, very favorable committee composition. So they each have their moment in the sun, then move over to the other chamber with the momentum of an initial passage."