NEWS RELEASE
March 24, 2005

EQUALITY MARYLAND
Contact: Dan Furmansky, Executive Director
Phone:    Office 301-587-7500
Cell    301-461-4900
Email:  dan@equalitymaryland.org

INCLUSIVE HATE CRIMES PENALTIES ACT PASSES HOUSE OF DELEGATES

Vigorous Lobbying, Grassroots Action, and Compelling Testimony Ensures Inclusion of Gender Identity in Bill's Language

Annapolis - Years of work in educating legislators about the violence inflicted upon the transgender community have finally encouraged lawmakers to pass the Hate Crimes Penalties Act inclusive of "gender identity" language, along with sexual orientation. Equality Maryland, Maryland's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) advocacy organization, praised the House of Delegates for recognizing this problem and taking action to ensure the safety of all Maryland citizens. House Bill 692, sponsored by Delegate Adrienne Jones (D-Baltimore County), passed by a vote of 93-41. The Senate will now take up the legislation.

"Enacting the Hate Crimes Penalties Act into law is a very important step in improving the daily lives of those who are at risk for hate violence," said Equality Maryland Board Member Dr. Dana Beyer, who chairs the organization's transgender advocacy committee. "This will have a profound ripple effect, educating Maryland's population about who we are, and specifically helping to make the legal and law enforcement communities cognizant of the special risks we face every day."

While Maryland has had a hate crimes statute on the books since 1988, current law only covers crimes motivated by race, religion, and national origin. Twenty-nine states already include the category of sexual orientation in their statutes, and when the Hate Crimes Penalties Act becomes law, Maryland will join eight other states and the District of Columbia that also include the transgender community.

"The passage of this bill means that all of the people that didn't have a voice before will hopefully have one now - and feel safer in their communities," said Owen Smith, who testified before the Judiciary Committee about his personal experiences being attacked because of his sexual orientation and gender expression.

Sexual orientation-based bias crime is now the second highest category of hate crime offenses in the United States, according to FBI statistics from 2003. In Maryland, there were a total of 248 bias-motivated criminal incidents reported for 2003. Sexual orientation bias accounted for 20.