Equality Maryland is Maryland's largest LGBT civil rights group, with thousands of members across the entire state. Equality Maryland includes:

• a 501(c)(4) advocacy organization that lobbies in Annapolis and across the state to create equal protection under the law for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Marylanders and their families;
• a 501(c)(3) educational foundation that works to eliminate prejudice and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity through outreach, education, research, community organizing, training and coalition building; and
• Equality Maryland PAC, which exists to influence elections.

What We Do

Equality Maryland works to secure and protect the rights of LGBT Marylanders by promoting legislative initiatives on the state, county and municipal levels. Our professional lobbyists and legislative team work with our allies in the General Assembly to shape and pass positive legislation in Annapolis and to beat back discriminatory legislation.

Equality Maryland's sister arm, the Equality Maryland Foundation, works to eliminate prejudice and discrimination against LGBT Marylanders through outreach, education, research, community organizing, training and coalition building.

• We act as an advocate for LGBT Marylanders.
• We aim to empower ordinary citizens to become extraordinary activists.
• We work to provide a strong and unified voice for LGBT concerns in the media.
• We will tirelessly toil until equal protection under the law has been achieved for all members of our diverse community.

Our Successes

Begun in 1990 under the name Free State Justice, Equality Maryland (renamed in 2004) has fought diligently in the state capital and other counties and cities to win equal rights.

• In 2001, the organization was responsible for passage of the Anti-Discrimination Act, which bans sexual orientation-motivated discrimination in housing, public accommodations, lending, and employment statewide. Today, fewer than half of states in the country have such a law.
• In 2002, we worked to ban transgender-motivated discrimination in Baltimore City.
• In 2003, our work resulted in stronger safe-schools regulations.
• In 2005, Equality Maryland expanded our state's hate crimes statute to include crimes motivated by a victim's sexual orientation and gender identity, thus making it a more effective law enforcement and prosecutorial tool.

 

A few years ago, Equality Maryland joined with the ACLU on a campaign for equal marriage rights in the state of Maryland. While the divided high court ruled against us 4-3, the lawsuit provided unparalleled educational opportunities and helped show Marylanders why families headed by same-sex couples deserve the rights and protections of marriage. Now, we are taking our case to the legislature! At the same time, Equality Maryland has successfully led efforts, year after year, to thwart attempts to amend the state constitution to ban protections for LGBT families.

Meanwhile, Equality Maryland continues to make gains for same-sex couples. Over the years, Equality Maryland has worked to pass domestic partner benefits for employees of several jurisdictions in the state, as well as private businesses.

• In 2006, the organization advanced protections for same-sex couples by broadening the legal scope of advanced medical directives. The new law allows same-sex couples to designate a partner as their "health care agent" and specifically gives them the right to visit them in the hospital; ride with them in an ambulance; and take possession of their remains after death, including making arrangements for funeral or cremation.
• In 2007, Equality Maryland spearheaded passage of the Family Coverage Expansion Act, which requires health insurance companies to write policies inclusive of domestic partners at the request of an employer, as well as children up to the age of 25. That same year another bill passed authorizing insurers that issue policies of group life insurance to extend coverage to the domestic partner of the employee or member who is covered under a policy of group life insurance.

 

RECENT GAINS:

• In 2009, we worked with the General Assembly to enact to key pieces of legislation – a bill to allow domestic partners to inherit jointly owned primary residences without incurring tax penalties and a law to allow domestic partners to remove a deceased family member’s remains from a burial site and reinter them elsewhere.
• In December of 2009, we were successful in halting the implementation of a dangerous new policy that would have required transgender Marylanders to have an amended birth certificate in order to update the gender marker on their driver’s license.
• In February of 2010 with our help the Montgomery County Council passed a county ordinance requiring contractors who do business with the county to offer domestic partner benefits.

Equality Maryland Foundation's educational and coalition-building work has included formation of:

• The Maryland Black Family Alliance, in conjunction with the ACLU. The MBFA brings together straight African American leaders who are supportive of LGBT marriage equality and other legal protections.
• The LGBT Marylanders of Color Collective, a committee of people of color dedicated to engaging in heart-to-heart dialogue about LGBT people of color.

The Equality Maryland Foundation received positive international press for facilitating the public coming-out of Maya Marcel-Keyes, daughter of ultra-conservative Alan Keyes.

Equality Maryland has produced groundbreaking publications like Jumping the Broom: A Black Perspective on Same-Gender Marriage, which is now used across the United States;What's In a Word? A Religious Perspective on Civil Marriage Equality; Marriage Inequality In the State of Maryland, and the video Heart of the Matter: Maryland's Same-Sex Couples Seek Justice for their Families.

Most importantly, Equality Maryland has built a strong network of citizen voices and a solid coalition of organizations who are tireless in their commitment to fairness and justice.

Honors and Awards

Equality Maryland and its staff have received a number of honors and awards:

• Named "Best Non-Profit Organization" in the Washington Blade's 2005 "Best of DC" Issue
• Honored with a Peace & Justice Award by the Washington Peace Center
• Received the Founders Award from Brother Help Thyself
• Harvey Milk Chesed Award, from the Congregation Bet Mishpachah, given to Executive Director Dan Furmansky
• Washington, D.C. Capitol Pride Hero Award given to Executive Director Dan Furmansky
• EQMD's Executive Director Morgan Meneses-Sheets was chosen "Ally of the Year" by the Youth Pride Alliance in 2010.
• Baltimore OutLoud named Meneses-Sheets as the top leader of an LGBT organization in 2010

Our Board & Staff

The Equality Maryland board is a diverse group of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and heterosexual individuals from all walks of life. Equality Maryland strives to create an organization that truly represents and serves the interests of all its constituents.

Our Political Philosophy

As a non-partisan organization, Equality Maryland believes that equal protection under the law for LGBT Marylanders and families headed by same-sex couples is not and should not be a partisan issue. LGBT Marylanders are Democrats and Republicans, as well as Independents and members of third parties, and vote in virtually every county in Maryland. While few of us under the LGBT umbrella are single-issue voters, most of us do attach significant weight to the rhetoric and votes that surround the question of our civil rights. Therefore, it is vital to reach out to all fair-minded elected officials to seek understanding and advocacy on behalf of our civil rights.