The EqMD Insider
RECENT ENTRIES:
- Tuesday, September 30, 2008: My First Campaign
- Wednesday, September 24, 2008: Activating the Activist
- Wednesday, September 17, 2008: An Ode to Maryland
- Wednesday, September 10, 2008: Victory in Court
- Monday, September 8, 2008: Why I stand up for the transgender community
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
My First Campaign
Shaneequa Brooks was a field organizer on the Basic Rights Montgomery Campaign. She came to us from North Carolina via HRC’s Campaign College program. Before she moved on to a state legislative race in New York, we asked her to share some of her experiences in Montgomery County.
When I learned of the Campaign College program run by HRC I knew it would be a great opportunity for me to become politically involved. Civil rights have always been a passion of mine and I saw this as a perfect opportunity to act on that passion.
Working on the Basic Rights Montgomery campaign was one of the most intense and rewarding experiences of my life. The pressure of having to help organize a county with over 500,000 registered voters and getting them to vote to uphold the civil rights of their fellow citizens was extraordinary, and I loved every minute of it. Fighting for an issue that would guarantee the basic civil rights we should all have but many don't was more than enough motivation to do everything I could to achieve our goal.
In working to ensure that gender identity remained in the Montgomery County anti-discrimination law I became part of a campaign that connected me to so many amazing people. Above and beyond the staff of the Basic Rights Campaign and Equality Maryland, the many people who supported the campaign and shared our passion for this issue was nothing less than inspirational. The urgency of the campaign created a familial connection among the staff. As I worked closely with other Basic Rights Montgomery staff and the Equality Maryland personnel, those who were strangers when I first arrived soon became friends.
Working on this campaign, and especially on such an important issue as basic civil rights has strengthened my resolve in civic participation. This experience gave me insight to all the effort and work that goes into organizing and running a campaign. I look forward to continuing campaign work as well as further participation in the democratic process far beyond voting. I encourage others to do the same!
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Activating the Activist
Keshav Khanijow is a senior Neuroscience/Anthropology double major at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. He also serves as the director of the University’s Diverse Sexuality and Gender Alliance (DSAGA). Keshav is active in LGBT South Asian affairs serving on the boards of both Khush D.C. and Khush Baltimore, as well as the Asian Pacific Islander Representative on Equality Maryland’s Marylanders of Color Collective (MOCC). He plans to attend medical school after graduating from JHU.
I was instilled with a sense of urgency to get politically active in the LGBT community almost immediately after I came out. When I finally got to that stage of the “coming out process” where I felt comfortable enough about my sexuality, I decided to attend a DSAGA meeting on my campus (DSAGA is a LGBT organization at JHU that caters to undergraduates). A representative from Equality Maryland was at my first DSAGA meeting speaking about political activism, internships, volunteer opportunities, etc. (they got me early!) Now being the eager fresh-out-of-the-closet boy I was, I wanted to carve out my niche in the LGBT community…lo and behold Equality Maryland was there.
So…I guess my initial reasons for getting involved with this wonderful organization weren’t exactly the most honorable reasons of having a “passion for equality,” or a “gusto for politics.” Rather I simply wanted to make friends (and honestly, you meet such sweethearts when working with this fun group of people that “wanting to make more friends” could be reason enough to be active in Equality Maryland!). Nevertheless, I soon realized that it is my equality that I am fighting for too. College provided me with a “social bubble”— I had to assert a degree of independence, but I’m not exactly living in the “real world” just yet. As such, I never really thought about hospital visitation, guardianship of children, or even marriage. However, hearing the stories of Lisa and Gita, and meeting couples such as Pam and Carrie, and Azam and Fred, I began to realize that these issues will eventually affect me and I need to take action now!
Let’s take marriage for instance: in college, no one’s really thinking about getting married…we’re all too busy dealing with studying (or partying) and trying to figure out this thing called life that we’ll be going through after we graduate. But what happens when I finally do meet Prince Charming and I want to share a life with him? Then what? Is that when I’ll finally decide “oh now would be a good time to talk to my elected officials.” I know I’m a notorious procrastinator, but my civil rights aren’t something I’m willing to play games with. I want to act now.
Nevertheless, in some ways, I have that luxury of being “out” in a generally accepting city like Baltimore— this allows me to go out and wear my pride t-shirt, canvass door-to-door, and attend lobby day without worrying about concealing my sexuality. I remember when I was back home in California this past summer, I met a lot of LGBT-identified South Asian friends (LGBT issues in the South Asian community are still very taboo- personally, I was the first gay South Asian person I had met) that were closeted as they would have had to face serious repercussions from their families otherwise. For my friends, being out and volunteering weren’t exactly things they could do without risking disownment. Still- they are brave, and though closeted, they tell people when they are out of line with their “gay jokes,” and some of them even write to their elected officials without coming out as gay.
Being out in college probably deserves its own blog, but it definitely has its own set of ups and downs- a down being that it risks withdrawal of financial support from your family for one’s education; an up being that it creates visibility for the LGBT community and opens up people’s minds to look past the stereotypes that sometimes exist within the community. Even this past semester, when one of my friends found out that I’m vegetarian on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays for traditional/religious reasons, she was surprised that I was both gay and spiritual. In any case, being out of the closet is a very personal decision that should be made after evaluating one’s individual situation. However, even if one is closeted, just remember that you can still make a difference by influencing a progressive social environment around one’s self.
Being politically active in the LGBT community is crucial, whether it be when one is in college, working, retired, etc. We aren’t afforded the same civil rights as other people in the nation, and the hope for this change lies within us. That’s the beautiful thing about the American political process- we can make the change if we work together and support each other.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
An Ode to Maryland
Dan Furmansky is Equality Maryland's Executive Director. Click here for his full bio.
I am about to let you in on something quite personal. I guess you could call it an addiction, or an obsession. Perhaps a fetish? If you're being generous, you could say it's a hobby. I beg you to be gentle with this information. Here goes:
I simply can't...get enough...of Maryland. I’m serious. I loves me some Maryland. Big time.
I suppose my Maryland adoration is a good thing. After all, I live in Maryland, and people should love where they live. I also lead an organization with Maryland in the title. And if I’m going to work to make this a better state by creating a more hospitable environment for those of us who fit outside of the hetero-gender norm, I damn well better have some serious affection for, and commitment to it. Still, as I prepare to step down from Equality Maryland, disappointed that states like California, New York and Massachusetts are leaping far ahead of us in treatment of LGBT people, it's bittersweet to literally be in love with a state that has so much growing up to do.
Let me explain about this love thing, which is what Mary Zicari, our field organizer, requested I blog about. (Surely she wants to make sure my freak flag flies for the whole world to see). My Maryland-love, you should understand, has a lot to do with the love of the outdoors. Maryland has some of the most amazing landscapes I have seen in the United States, and I love to discover them. Unlike a normal person, however, who might go on little day trips, enjoy himself and be satisfied, I take it to a whole new level. I’ve read books about Maryland, learning that “muskrat is a joyous winter’s delight” from “Maryland’s Eastern Shore: A Journey in Time and Place.” (Note: if any of you have ever eaten muskrat, I absolutely must hear about it). I’ve been known to take my book, “The 100 Best Places to Hike with Your Dog in the Free State,” a birthday present from friends, into the bathtub with me. I have made playlists of music entitled “I Love Maryland Mix,” designed for a good country drive (Note: there are three volumes; volume I is the best). Of course the Maryland map holds a special place in my heart, and I can spend a half an hour at a time poring over it. You can even find me quoted in a Metro Weekly article entitled “Making the Most of Maryland.” Catch this cheesy quote:
“I hear crickets outside my bedroom window at night, there are rabbits in my yard, and yet I'm a half-mile walk to the American Film Institute and Burmese and Peruvian restaurants,'' crows Furmansky, who has lived in Silver Spring for seven years.
“Crows?” Ladies and gentlemen – I’m a dork. But I am a dork in earnest and in love.
Let’s take yesterday. It was a beautiful sunny Sunday, and I craved a day trip with mountains, fresh water, sunroof and tunes, and country roads. I did some research, presented my travel buddy for the day with options, and my friend and I hopped in the car and drove north of Frederick up Rte. 15 towards Thurmont. Our destination was Cunningham Falls, in the Catoctin Mountains, apparently the oldest mountains above sea level in the world. We stopped for gas near Lewistown and ran in for a bottle of water. I paused to look at the front of the Frederick News-Post Sunday edition, only to discover that the 4-H King and Queen had been crowned two days before at the Frederick County Fair. “Their many years in 4-H paid off royally Friday night for Brighid Heneghan and Jacob Roop,” read the headline, next to the photo of the young man in a tuxedo and a young woman with a prom dress and tiara. The article noted that Brighid, 4H Queen, is from Knoxville, Md., home to my very favorite diner, Cindy Dee’s – with the stellar fried catfish and a jukebox that plays “God Bless the USA”. I felt instantly connected to Brighid, despite the fact that the article noted she is home-schooled (for which I confess prejudice), and for no other reason than she lives in the town with my favorite diner. I also felt a bit sad that I had missed the Frederick County fair. After all, the cashier at the gas station told me there had been baby goats there. And who doesn’t like baby goats?
Click here to read the rest of Dan's Ode to Maryland.
[Editor's Note: Someone should have given this guy a word limit!]
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Victory in Court
Maryanne Arnow is a professionally trained chef, writer, and consultant from Germantown, Maryland. She’s married to her best friend and wife of almost 15 years. Maryanne is a native resident of Maryland and has lived in Montgomery County for 38 years. She is now the Interim Office Manager for Equality Maryland. She is an openly transgender woman, that has taken an active role with the local media for the last 2-3 years, testifying at the initial public hearings held by the Montgomery County Council on the non-discrimination bill 23-07 in October of last year. Within this time, she has also been highly proactive in addressing all continued discriminations against the LGBT community in every aspect of her public life, including marriage equality, on the federal, state, and local levels, in many interviews, public hearings, and in internet forums.
As a Montgomery County resident who has personally experienced exactly the types of discrimination addressed by the legislation prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity, I found it critically necessary to staunchly support the unanimously passed law and confront the harmful and damaging stereotypical misrepresentations being made about people like me perpetrated by the opponents of this law.
As one of the initial volunteer coordinators for the signature review process earlier this year, I was surprised by two things – how many signatures were potentially falsified by the opponents, and that many signatures, even illegible scrawls with no name or address, were approved by the county board of elections.
Reviewing more than 30,000 signatures was a brutal and exhausting process that took many weeks of concentrated effort from over 100 volunteers and allies from every segment and demographic of our local communities.
As well, the court hearings, which were fascinating, yet very stressful to observe from my own point of view, required immense preparation by the lawyers and all the support staff. This was also weeks of day and night exhausting work, in preparing files and documents for the judges' review.
Our lead counsel, Jonathan Shurberg, provided excellent, thoughtful, and very concise arguments to the judges of the court of appeals, some of which called into question the processes used by the board of elections.
I am very happy we can say this issue is resolved for Montgomery County and my most basic rights are not put up for a public vote. We must now focus our efforts on adding protections for transgender people to the state laws prohibiting discrimination.
My deepest thanks to our County Council and every fair-minded person that provided assistance to us on this matter.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Why I stand up for the transgender community
Duchy Trachtenberg serves on the Montgomery County Council. She sponsored Bill 23-07 adding gender identity and expression to the Montgomery County anti-discrimination law. Councilmember Trachtenberg has been a tireless advocate for LGBT communities and received Equality Maryland’s Ally for Equality award this year.
In my years as an advocate for equal rights, women’s rights, social justice and democracy, I have seldom seen such distortion, vitriol and manipulation as is being practiced by opponents of Montgomery County’s new transgender rights law. These practitioners of the politics of fear succeeded in putting a referendum on November’s ballot to halt the bill’s implementation.
As the Washington Blade reported this week, ”Equality Maryland challenged that referendum, noting that a number of the petition signatures were improperly obtained, but Montgomery County Circuit Judge Robert Greenberg ruled that Equality Maryland missed the deadline to challenge. The Court of Appeals is poised to determine whether that ruling will stand.
Dana Beyer, an Equality Maryland board member who is transgender, said next week’s hearing will not consider the “content of this law,” but rather “the process by which the referendum was certified.”
“This court vote is not about whether we should have civil rights in Maryland and not about whether trans people are entitled to the same rights,” she said. “This is about process and about the fairness and reliability of the process."
Dr. Beyer helped me draft this legislation in her capacity as my senior policy advisor; she is also my friend from years of activism and community involvement. When I introduced this measure in the County Council, I was thinking about her and all the other transgender citizens of our county and state and how much they deserve this most basic human rights. Transgender people face serious discrimination, not only in the workplace, but also in housing, business and banking transactions, and in public accommodations.
My colleagues on the County Council understood this was not radical legislation and I am proud that my initiative passed with a unanimous 8-0 vote. With our action, Montgomery County joined more 100 local jurisdictions and 13 states that have already passed similar legislation, covering 39% of this country’s population.
Unfortunately, the story didn’t end with this action. What should have been a commonly-shared step forward has become an attack on the LGBT community and their supporters. I have received death threats, threatening letters and e-mails both at my office and at home. When I arrived at Equality Maryland’s gala this spring to receive an award, anti-LGBT demonstrators were outside the building chanting and holding signs attacking all of us who are fighting for this basic human right. With the financial support of national right-wing websites and ultra-conservative groups, opponents of transgender rights seek to make this a debate about ridiculous non-issues such as bathrooms and public showers. What an insult to all of us!
Everyone deserves to live and work with equality and dignity. No one should lose their job, or be denied a place to live, because of their gender identity or expression. I am confident the voters of Montgomery County will uphold this law. However, it will take organizing, fund-raising and hard work by all of us to ensure that fairness prevails. I urge you to get involved, visit Basic Rights Montomgery.