From Baltimore Outloud
September 1, 2006

National Black Justice Coalition and Equality Maryland Team up to Register lgbt Voters

By Meredith Moise

On September 11, 14 and 15, the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) and Equality Maryland will team up to hold voter registration drives at the Gay and Lesbian Center of Baltimore (GLCCB) and the Portal, Baltimore's Black lgbt resource center. The drives come at a time when the lgbt vote will play a pivotal role in defining the future of gay rights in Maryland and beyond.

The National Black Justice Coalition, which is the national civil rights organization of Black lgbt activists and allies, has a Maryland based coalition effort to mobilize Black gays and lesbians as well as their allies in the struggle to win equal marriage rights, raise HIV/AIDS awareness in the Black community and increase awareness about critical issues concerning Maryland's Black electorate.

The expanding coalition currently includes Baltimore Black Pride, the Portal, Unity Fellowship Church of Baltimore and Equality Maryland's Marylanders of Color Collective. Dr. Sylvia Rhue, the group's director of religious affairs and constituency development, highlights NBJC's voter mobilization. "We are doing voter registration because the vote is the voice and the power of the people. We are the government and an informed active voter base creates a healthy democracy," she notes. In terms of the importance of the lgbt vote in upcoming elections, Rhue concludes voter mobilization is essential. "Our rights depend on it. The vote is sacred and people died to get it. We cannot let our voices go silent," she concludes.

Lea Gilmore, Equality Maryland's political director, quipped that her organization recognizes that voter turnout will be key in upcoming elections. "Equality Maryland recognizes this as the right thing to do," Gilmore affirmed. "We believe that proactively collaborating with NBJC to ensure that as many members of our community are registered to vote helps to further leverage our political power in Annapolis and beyond," she asserted.

Voters should be aware that Maryland has a significant court case involving same-sex marriage. Maryland's highest court will hear arguments in December challenging a state statue which defines marriage as union of one man and one woman. Many political observers have noted that if the court decided in favor of the gay and lesbian plaintiffs suing for equal access to marriage rights, Maryland could see a ballot initiative to ban same sex marriage.

Equality Maryland's Gilmore commented, "This election is an exceptionally important one for the lgbt community. Because we are so close to realizing gender-neutral marriage here in Maryland, it is crucial that all equality focused Marylanders vote so their voices can be heard in Annapolis. If you choose not to vote, your opinion has no effect on how your state or your country is run."

Dr. Rhue noted the historical significance of casting the ballot: "We should vote in honor and memory of Fannie Lou Hamer who was severely beaten for trying to vote. We should vote for every lgbt person who has been wounded, injured or killed for being him or herself." Invoking the memory of Dr. King, Rhue says, "We should vote because Martin Luther King died for the sins of America and for the rights for all to have access to the vote. It is our voice, our power, and our privilege." Gilmore reminds the lgbt public that it cannot rest on the laurels of past victories. Voter turnout will be key to the future of equal marriage rights in Maryland. "It is imperative that we vote. Apathy is a dangerous thing," she warned. "I love what Marian Wright-Edelman so accurate conveys in this quote: 'People who don't vote have no line of credit with people who are elected and thus pose no threat to those who act against our interests.'"