Monday, November 23, 2009
Dana and Duchy Take on the KGB (Updated)

http://maryland-politics.blogspot.com/2009/11/dana-and-duchy-take-on-kgb.html

District 18 Delegate candidate and County Council staffer Dana Beyer has accused the county's Ethics Commission of discriminating against her because of her transgender status and attempting to harm her political career. Her employer, Duchy Trachtenberg, has even compared the commission to the KGB. Are the heirs to the infamous Soviet spy empire really out to get them?

This issue goes back to late 2007, when the County Council unanimously passed a bill banning discrimination against transgender individuals that was authored by Duchy Trachtenberg, who is Beyer's employer. The bill's opponents, most of whom were organized in a group called Citizens for a Responsible Government (CRG), launched a campaign to gather signatures for a referendum to overturn the bill. The Montgomery County Board of Elections originally ruled that CRG gathered enough signatures to justify a referendum, but their finding was overturned by the courts. The transgender protection law is in effect today.