The Issues:
Discrimination
In 2001, with the help of our statewide allies, fair-minded legislators, and former Gov. Parris Glendening, Equality Maryland was able to secure passage of historic legislation to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. In the 2007 legislative session, we hope to enhance these protections by expanding the law to include discrimination on the basis of gender identity.
Antidiscrimination Act of 2001
On May 15, 2001, then-Maryland Governor Parris N. Glendening signed the Antidiscrimination Act of 2001 into law. After a referendum drive to repeal the law failed, the law went into effect. This historic legislation offers Maryland's lesbian, gay and bisexual community protection from discrimination. It bans discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment, housing and public accommodations. If you live, work, or visit a public accommodation in Maryland, and you experience discrimination due to sexual orientation, you can file a claim under this law. The law does not apply to companies with fewer than 15 employees, and religious entities are exempted from the law.
The Maryland Commission on Human Relations is the entity responsible for ensuring that Maryland's nondiscrimination laws are enforced. You can visit the Commission online at http://www.mchr.state.md.us/ or call 1-800-637-6247 for assistance. Click here for more information about filing a claim.
Transgender Discrimination
STATE LAW
In Maryland transgender people are not currently protected under statewide anti-discrimination laws that include coverage for discrimination based on sexual orientation. Only Baltimore City provides such protections for the transgender community. Transgender people experience bias in a number of venues related to employment, housing, healthcare, public accommodations and others.
In employment, discrimination against transgender individuals can occur during the application process, employment, promotion and/or termination. An employee may experience gender identity-based discrimination in many instances such as when coming out, transitioning to a different biological sex, discovery of their birth sex, or even mere suspicion of transgender status.
Transgender people also frequently suffer discrimination when health care professionals deny treatment because of gender identity or expression, ridicule a patient, or refuse to recognize the gender identity of a patient. In other areas of public accommodations, transgender people might be refused service at a restaurant or in a specific gender department at a store, or simply ignored by staff. Transgender individuals also may be denied access to social service like shelters or rape crisis centers. Equality Maryland expects workplace decisions to be based on an individual's qualifications and job skills. We ask other jurisdictions to follow the progressive lead of Baltimore City in outlawing discrimination based on gender identity and expression.
BALTIMORE CITY
On December 6 2002, Mayor Martin O'Malley signed into law Council Bill 02-0857 (PDF, 720 kb), which prohibits discrimination based on gender identity or expression in the areas of employment, housing, and public accommodations. The ordinance provides similar protections to transgender people in Baltimore City as those provided to lesbian, gay and bisexual Marylanders under the statewide Anti-Discrimination Act of 2001.
Click here to learn more about this law. If you are considering filing a complaint, click here for more information.
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