Link

Approved by a unanimous vote, the lessons mark the first time Montgomery schools will introduce the topics of sexual orientation and homosexuality. The materials, including a new 10th-grade condom-demonstration DVD, will be field-tested in a handful of middle and high schools in spring, barring intervention by the courts.

link

A bill designed to offer anti-discrimination protection to Maryland's transgender population failed in the state's Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, surprising advocates. Introduced by senators Lisa Gladden (D-Baltimore) and Richard Madaleno (D-Montgomery County) Senate Bill 516 would have added "gender identity and expression" to the state's anti-discrimination clauses, protecting transgender citizens in employment, housing, credit, and public accommodations. Sexual orientation was added to the state's anti-discrimination laws in 2001.

"The senators just said that it's OK to discriminate against me," says Wendy, a transwoman who testified in favor of the bill and was profiled last month in a City Paper cover story about transgender people in Baltimore ("In Between Days," Feature, March 14). Wendy, a Baltimore County resident, has been looking for employment since she had sex-reassignment surgery last year. "This bill was not going to instantly get me a job," she says. "But it would have least started to pave the way."

Push comes after Maryland lawmakers kill statewide measure

After searching two months for work as an auto mechanic, Celeste Hall reached an inescapable conclusion.

There were jobs available at shops in Montgomery County, but none that were open to trans applicants.

"I mean, I had one hiring manager say, 'Well, we'd like to hire you, but we're worried about how the other employees will react to you,'" said Hall, a 45-year-old transgender woman who lives in Silver Spring.

Kaiser Network dot Org

Maryland: The Montgomery County, Md., Board of Education on Tuesday voted 6-1 to approve a new sex education curriculum that teaches eighth- and 10th-grade students about sexual and gender identity issues and that includes a condom demonstration video, the Washington Post reports (de Vise, Washington Post, 6/13). The board in January voted 8-0 to approve a pilot program to test the curriculum, which includes two 45-minute classes for eighth-graders and three 45-minute classes for 10th-graders.

State Politics & Policy | Missouri, Pennsylvania, Maryland Take Actions on Abortion, Breast-Feeding, Sex Education-Related Measures
Daily Women's Health Policy
Kaisar Network dot Org

Maryland: The Maryland State Board of Education late last month in a closed session approved a Montgomery County, Md., sex education curriculum that teaches eighth- and 10th-grade students about sexual- and gender-identity issues and that includes a condom demonstration video, school officials said last week, the Washington Post reports (de Vise, Washington Post, 7/4). The Montgomery Board of Education in January voted 8-0 to approve a pilot program to test the curriculum.

LAMBDA LEGAL STANDS ON THE FRONTLINES WITH LOCAL MARYLAND GROUPS IN SUPPORT OF INCLUSIVE SEX EDUCATION
Out In Ocean City
by: LAMBDALEGAL.com, OIA Newswire

In court papers filed recently in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, Maryland Lambda Legal represents Metro DC Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) in a lawsuit over a decision by the Montgomery County School Board to include information about sexual orientation as part of the health education curriculum for 8th and 10th graders.

Washington Blade
JOSHUA LYNSEN
Friday, September 07, 2007

Montgomery County officials plan to introduce a bill next week that would outlaw discrimination against transgender people.

The proposed measure would bar discrimination in the areas of employment, housing and public accommodations. If passed, Montgomery County would join Baltimore as among the few Maryland jurisdictions to have such laws.

Montgomery may ban transgender discrimination

The  Examiner
By Kathleen Miller
Published: September 11, 2007

'Montgomery County - Discrimination against transgender people would be banned in Montgomery County Code under a bill Council Member Duchy Trachtenberg says she will introduce today. Council Members Valerie Ervin and Marc Elrich are co-sponsoring the measure.

The legislation would "prohibit discrimination in housing, employment, public accommodations, cable television service and taxicab service on the basis of gender identity" and amend county laws to add gender identity discrimination to the lists of potential types of prejudice'.

WorldNet Daily {very right wing site}
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=58493
By Bob Unruh

According to the organization, Leventhal's opinion that "we should not worry if a child comes face to face with a nude male stranger (who merely has expressed he feels he is a woman) seems nothing short of condescending."

The bill was sponsored by Council members Duchy Trachtenberg, Valerie Ervin, and Marc Elrich with the support of Equality Maryland, an organization promoting "gay," lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues, PFOX said.

Wow, that certainly opened Pandora's Box, didn't it?  Yes, I can definitely see problems with this bill.

This kind of language was the same language that the City of Eugene wanted in their laws. I thought that it was a little too controversy and wanted the showers out or for trans people to have ID or something to show that they are truely who they say they are. That way the businesses could accommodate them so there would not be any problems.
Sheila

You know, some of these concerns that the parents raised about a pre-op MTF being in a changing room and having a young girl seeing their genitals, I don't see happening.  I know I would find a way to keep all the private.

This is a classic straw argument, what pre-op mtf will really shower openly!!! Not me that's for sure.

As for MTF being at all in the women's dressing room, either its accepted we have a real condition with rights or we do not. In the first case, a simple carry letter from a psychologist would be sufficient to reassure that this in fact a mtf and not a sexual predator.

Also, I've seen single male parents help their daughters in dressing rooms (and that causes a stir also). So, the problem is larger than just that of mtf or ftm.

It funny how we almost never hear anything about female being in the male dressing room... Male are so "hard core" and can protect themselves I suppose...

Quote from: Keira on November 03, 2007, 06:38:12 PM
This is a classic straw argument, what pre-op mtf will really shower openly!!! Not me that's for sure.

Precisely, Keira!

Kristi

This article regurgitates the old "evil presence of a penis" scare tactic to lobbying against a trans inclusive non-discrimination law.  They want people to subconsciously associate the presence of a penis with danger.

Here's a useful exercise:  In the following quote,

Quote". . . So, if I'm in a bathroom all by myself late at night, and a man walks in, I am supposed to be okay with this? If I'm at a pool, in a women's locker room, and a man walks in – I'm supposed to be okay with this? This is truly unbelievable, and I'm embarrassed that Montgomery County is even spending its time on this piece of nonsense,"

Substitute the words, "black person" for the word "man" and you'll see the true motivation behind this kind of attitude.

The false underlying assumption under the whole premise that the radical religious right is pushing here is that it's who a person is rather than their behavior that should be sanctioned and proscribed.  It's a common position with these people and an even more common tactic.

Emelye

Like I said, straw argument.

What if was a butch lesbian walking in, does she feel uncomfortable because she "thinks" its a man.

What if she's not a lesbian at all, just likes to have a short haircut and muscles, does that make her uncomfortable too.

How does she know its a man, does she really think a pre-op walks naked.
A pre-op who's game enough to face a women's locker room is rarely the least passable (though if she was less passable, it would go back to the: how does she know its not just an atypical women!).

In brief, its a load of crap.

Conservatives are uncomfortable by anyone, man or women who doesn't fit their standard dicotomy. They simply can't wrap their brain around it.

A friend of mine is really butch and she has been chased out of bathrooms, changing rooms, etc. Only once did the police actually get involved.

We have come to the point where a little bit of anarchy is needed to really shake things up.

Quote from: LostInTime on November 04, 2007, 08:10:15 AM
A friend of mine is really butch and she has been chased out of bathrooms, changing rooms, etc. Only once did the police actually get involved.

We have come to the point where a little bit of anarchy is needed to really shake things up.

...like chasing straight people out of the bathrooms/changing rooms/locker rooms?   ( >)

Karen

It is really funny how it gets all changed around. First we can start talking about "SHOWERS" then it comes back to dressing rooms and ends up with restrooms. You can have privacy in a dressing room and in restrooms, but what about the showers in a gym or at a pool where you have open showers and you don't have any clothes on. This is where I have the problem. I'm a very private person and I have had the surgery and I would still like to shower in private. Yes a note from a therapist would do wonders, but you have the people who sat no to all ID, even if it will help you.
Sheila

My transition letter was forced on me, my doc was worried after I told her about some of the run ins with the local and state police (all of them in the state are rednecks in the worst way). Never have presented it, never will.

Showers in the gyms I used to work out at had small private stalls. A towel around on the way in and a towel and a clean pair of underwear on the way out. No muss, no fuss.