A bill that would have prohibited discrimination based on gender identity in Maryland died in the Senate this week.
In a vote of 27-20 Monday, Maryland senators sent the Gender Identity Anti-Discrimination Act back to the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, effectively killing the bill until next year, as the legislative session ended at midnight on Monday.
The Maryland House of Delegates approved the bill last month in a decisive 86-52 vote.
The committee last weekend advanced the measure to the Senate floor in a 7-4 vote.
Equality Maryland singled out six senators who they say pledged to vote in favor of the measure but reneged: Sens. Edward Kasemeyer, Katherine Klausmeier, Nathaniel McFadden, Thomas Middleton, James Robey and Robert Zirkin.
Morgan Meneses-Sheets, executive director of the agency, said Monday that the six “took a walk on justice and fairness today and turned their backs on the most vulnerable members of our community. We are appalled that lawmakers continue to play politics with much-needed protections for the transgender community.”
After it made it out of the House, the bill was unexpectedly assigned to the Rules Committee, where some advocates predicted it would die; however, the committee approved it earlier this month and sent it to the Judicial Proceedings Committee.
“We must not forget all the positive strides we accomplish[ed] as a community this session overcoming significant hurdles, including getting this legislation out of the Senate Rules Committee,” Meneses-Sheets said. “Supporters of this critical legislation made hundreds of phone calls and sent thousands of emails to their legislators. Countless members of the transgender community shared their very personal stories of discrimination. We are grateful to them for their courage and to every supporter who made their voice heard on this important bill.”
Meneses-Sheets said her organization remains committed to fighting back against LGBT discrimination.
“Progress takes time,” she said, adding the recommitment of the bill to committee was “not fair or right, but we will keep up the fight to make the Free State truly free.”
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].