Delegate Mary Washington Testifies

for the Gender Identity Anti-Discrimination Bill

Del. Washington's statement below the fold.

My name is Mary Washington, and I represent the 43rd Legislative District in Baltimore City. My district includes some of the best neighborhoods in Baltimore City, including Abell, Cedarcroft, Coldstream-Homestead-Montebello, Ednor Gardens, Guilford, Homeland, Lauraville, Northwood, Radnor-Winston, Tuscany-Canterbury, Waverly, and Woodbourne Heights. Our communities are vibrant and diverse, and truly represent a cross-section of who we are as Marylanders. The 43rd district is home to a large population of individuals who would benefit from the protections afforded by House Bill 235. House Bill 235 would, among other things, ban discrimination in employment and housing based on a person's gender identity. The bill also bans discrimination based on gender identity by entities regulated by the Maryland Office of the Commissioner of Financial Regulation, which effectively bans discrimination in the extension of credit, including mortgages and car loans. These protections would afford some of the most vulnerable members of our society to obtain a measure of much-needed protection, protections that can sometimes mean the difference between employment and poverty, or shelter and homelessness.

Maryland's laws against discrimination are intended to promote the fundamental values that underlie our political system - including personal liberty, tolerance of diverse backgrounds and points of view, and respect for privacy. Above all else, our anti-discrimination laws should serve to protect members of minority groups most marginalized in our society. We should extend that protection to individuals whether the defining factors of the minority group are race, ethnicity, national origin, disability, religious or political beliefs, sexual orientation, or gender identity. It's way past time for Maryland to extend these protections to transgendered Marylanders.

Discrimination against transgender and gender non-conforming individuals persists, and the necessity for explicit legal protection is imperative. Promisingly, lawyers and advocates for civil rights have argued that a broad interpretation of existing federal and state laws prohibits discrimination based on gender identity - and the courts have ruled favorably in some cases. Indeed, Title VII - the federal law that bans workplace discrimination - already prohibits some forms of sex-stereotyping against gender non-conforming individuals. However, bad actors seeking to defend discriminatory acts repeatedly challenge these holdings in court. The court rulings protecting transgender and gender non-conforming individuals from insidious discrimination are not certain or guaranteed, and Marylanders should not have to rely on a gamble in the courts as their only recourse in the face of discrimination. For this reason, we must make the law clearly state that Maryland bans discrimination based on gender identity.

I cannot understate the real-life implications for Marylanders. Every year, qualified, hard-working Marylanders lose job opportunities, face termination, or experience on-the-job discrimination merely because of their gender identity. Like all Marylanders, transgender people need to work to support themselves and their families. Discrimination based on gender identity occurs across a range of types of workplaces, all over Maryland. Workplace discrimination threatens the well-being and economic survival of these workers and their families. Like other workers, transgender workers deserve to be judged on their skills and qualifications, and on their work and its merit, not on their gender identity, which is wholly unrelated to job performance.

In addition to guaranteeing a level playing field in employment, House Bill 235 would ensure that housing opportunities are made available to all, based solely on the ability to pay and other nondiscriminatory factors. Others will testify about the difficulties faced by transgender individuals in their quest to secure adequate housing. It is well-documented that transgender individuals are shown less desirable properties when they attempt to rent or buy, are quoted higher prices than non-transgendered individuals, receive less favorable customer service, or encounter outright refusal to sell or rent properties. We have heard many anecdotes in which people suffered verbal harassment from landlords, realtors, and lenders based solely on their gender identity. This is not the Maryland way, and it needs to end.

Finally, House Bill 235 would require mortgage lenders and other originators of credit licensed by the Maryland Office of the Commissioner of Financial Regulation to not discriminate in the extension of credit based on gender identity. This is a significant protection for transgendered Marylanders, as often they will have varying forms of identification that will include different gender markers, depending on how they might identify. House Bill 235 would require lenders to work through these issues and extend credit on the basis of characteristics relating solely to the borrower's creditworthiness, not related to their gender identity.

I know that some members of our community are not happy that this legislation does not include protections against discrimination in the accessing of public accommodations. I share this displeasure. However, I commit to working in future sessions to advance legislation to ban gender identity discrimination in public accommodations.

Every single day, transgender people are fired for being who they are, even when they have excellent work records and skills. As a result, their families struggle and often fail to make ends meet, people lose their homes, and careers end, all because someone's supervisor decided that it was okay to discriminate. People are denied housing or access to credit, based solely on their gender identity. That is not the Maryland way. This legislation is absolutely needed to make it clear that discrimination is never acceptable. Please vote in favor of House Bill 235.

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Anti-Gas Tax Protestors Outside the Statehouse

Outside the Statehouse shortly after the House adjourned for the day

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Owen Smith's Testimony for the Gender Identity Anti-Discrimination Bill

My name is Owen Smith and I currently live in Baltimore, Maryland.

I want to share a staggering statistic for you - according to a recent study from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, 1 in 5 transgender people are fired from their jobs because of their gender identity and presentation, not because of their ability to perform on the job. Of those that lost their jobs, 12 percent became homeless.

Those numbers are hard to grasp, until you realize that I fulfill both number. I am the one that was fired. I am the one that became homeless. How did I get there?

As a transgender person I was applying for jobs because I wanted to be an EMT. I was certified and excited about the possibility that I could help people daily. I went to interview after interview without ever getting a call back. I'd send in my resume, and they'd call me to schedule an interview, excited that they had someone of my caliber apply for the position, only to take one look at me and cringe. I didn't fit the person on paper. I was never hired.

As a result of not being able to find a job and be hired because of my gender identity, I was kicked out of my apartment for not being able to afford my monthly rent. Without a job, how was I supposed to be able to afford my rent? I was forced to live out of my car and sometimes I was able to sleep on my friend's couches.

I used to bathe myself out of a bar sink - a job that I eventually found where I was able to work only part-time. Not only was hygiene an issue for my but finding food also became a challenge because I was transgender. Because I lived way below the poverty line, I lived for the generic fast food value menu, finding whatever food I could afford to eat.

This is no way to live.

I finally found full-time employment at a local cafe in Baltimore, but I can't say that all my problems were solved. Discrimination because of my gender identity started right away. One of the owners refused to call me by my name, Owen. He only would refer to me in a horribly as a he/she. When I wasn't being insulted to my face by my boss, the owner would say derogatory statements within ear-shot of me and loud enough for the customers to hear that I wasn't "man enough" for certain tasks, like lifting over 200 pounds. Finally, I worked up enough courage to stand up for myself, he attacked me physically and I was violently pushed up against a refrigerator.

To me, and to many more transgender Marylanders, HB235 does truly mean life or death. Please pass HB235 and save the lives of transgender Marylanders - today.

Thank you.

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Hans Riemer on Political Pulse

At-Large Montgomery County Council Member Hans Riemer will be on the "Political Pulse" TV Show in MoCo on Thurs, March 10th, at 9:00 p.m. and Fri-Sun, March 11th-13th, at 6:00 p.m. Topics include: the County's budget deficit, development and problems with Pepco. Political Pulse is on Channel 16 TV in Montgomery County, MD

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MoCo Takes on Hoarding

ROCKVILLE, Md., March 8, 2011—The Montgomery County Council’s Health and Human Services Committee and its Public Safety Committee will meet jointly at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, March 10, for a worksession with the County’s Task Force of Hoarding Behavior. The task force was established in 2009 to raise public awareness and develop hoarding prevention strategies by assisting county residents who are among the 2 to 5 percent nationally afflicted with this unusual condition.

The Health and Human Services Committee, which is chaired by George Leventhal and includes Councilmembers Nancy Navarro and Craig Rice, and the Public Safety Committee, which is chaired by Councilmember Phil Andrews and includes Councilmembers Roger Berliner and Marc Elrich, will meet in the Seventh Floor Hearing Room of the Council Office Building at 100 Maryland Ave. in Rockville. The meeting will be televised live on Cable County Montgomery (CCM—cable channel 6 on Comcast and RCN, Channel 30 on Verizon).

According to the Task Force of Hoarding Behavior’s report, “Hoarding is the acquisition of, and failure to discard, a large number of possessions in a residence which appear to be useless or of limited value.”

Such behavior has been associated with several psychiatric disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder and various personality disorders. Hoarding also has been differentiated as its own distinct cluster of behaviors. Signs and symptoms of the condition are known to pose serious health and safety risks, especially in the private home, and can lead to a number of violations for walkway blockages, infestations, house damaging and fire hazards.

The report quotes Gail S. Steketee, co-author of the study “Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things,” as saying 2 to 5 percent of the U.S. population suffers “from extensive collecting and clutter.” Based on those figures, the task force report estimates that of Montgomery County’s population of approximately 971,600, about 20,000 to 50,000 residents may potentially be identified as hoarders.

“Hoarding threatens the well-being of entire neighborhoods, as well as the individual hoarder, and we need to develop strategies for helping these persons at the onset of hoarding behaviors,” said Councilmember Leventhal. “Even more important is spreading awareness of hoarding to curtail the behavior before it ever starts, since it largely occurs in private and is often discovered when it is too late.”

Throughout 2009-10, smaller workgroups of the Task Force of Hoarding Behavior developed strategic work tools, some of which the County government currently utilizes. These work tools provide general information to the public and allow for numerous agencies and members of the community to locate points of contact when exposed to hoarding situations.

A subgroup of the task force identified the following major signs of hoarding:

* Blocked access or exit to any door or window due to clutter
* Clutter that impedes or prevents movement in and around residence (narrowing of hallways, portions of rooms blocked off)
* Clutter that prevents any part of the inside or outside of dwelling to be used for its intended purpose
* Trash and garbage inside or outside residence (not in designated receptacles)
* Signs of rodent/insect infestation or factors associated with health concerns that could have an impact on resident or neighbors
* Visible damage to stairs, ceilings, floors or walls
* A large number of animals that are not being cared for and cause a health risk for the occupants, neighbors and/or general public
* Kitchen appliances and/or bathroom fixtures that are not functional and/or accessible
* Combustible materials stored too close to a source that could ignite it i.e. stove, over heater vents, portable electric heaters, furnace, gas cans, fireplaces
* Absence of working smoke detectors
* Gas cans or other noxious materials, stored in a residence, of which the fumes become a potential health hazard
* Absence of running water, heat and/or electricity

The consistently changing demographics of the local community affect the number of mental health issues and the physical and emotional concerns. As the population of 65-and-older increases, the accounts of these issues increase as well.

The main goals of the task force include organizing public/private responses to hoarding cases, raising public awareness, coalition building with other agencies and establishing a four-point Hoarding Awareness/Intervention Program that consists of awareness, identification, proactive assistance and follow-up/monitoring methods.

“Extreme hoarding behavior can also endanger the safety and health of neighbors because of increased risk of fire and rodents,” said Councilmember Andrews. “That is why hoarding could affect more than just the individual with the behavior.”

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House Debating Referendum Amendment

Opponents of marriage equality are saying put it to the people yet many of the same legislators advocating for the amendment proposed by Aisha Braveboy opposed a slots referendum because "we were sent here to decide these issues," as Kirill Reznik just pointed out. In any case, while voters can petition a law to referendum, there is no constitutional provision allowing the General Assembly to put a law up for a vote on the ballot.

Update: Del. Ben Barnes is explaining that this amendment would kill the bill and any opportunity for the people to vote on it as it would send it back to committee and die. Majority Leader Kumar Barve is now saying that he opposes putting up rights to a plebiscite but that he has no doubt that it will end up on the ballot through the normal process.

Update: Amendment fails by 63-72 and that ends debate on marriage equality for the day. Kudos to Speaker Michael Busch for running a tight debate.

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Delegate Comes Out on Eve of Marriage Vote

From the Washington Blade:

Del. Peter Murphy (D-Charles County), a divorced father of two who also has two grandchildren, said his colleagues and family have known for years that he is gay.

“I have never denied [being gay],” Murphy said, “I just presumed people knew.”

Murphy’s announcement brings to eight the total number of openly gay and lesbian members of Maryland’s legislature, the most of any state in the country. There is one openly gay state senator — Rich Madaleno — and now seven members of the House of Delegates.

Murphy said he’s confident the marriage equality bill will pass later this week, possibly in a final vote on Friday.

“As I have said all along, I think it’s a strong civil rights bill,” Murphy said. “I think it’s a fair bill because it also addresses the religious issue and doesn’t require any religious organization to practice something that goes against their teachings.”

Murphy represents a conservative part of the state, but said he’s not concerned about any backlash in making his sexual orientation public in the media.

“I’m not concerned,” he said. “People who know me know that I represent everyone in the district. I work hard to make sure that everyone has a voice and an opportunity to be heard.”

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Koch Brothers Boycott

Local activist Susan Heltemes asked me to pass along the following list of products produced by business entities affiliated with the Koch Brothers--their support for attacks on the rights of works to bargain collectively through union in Wisconsin has inspired a boycott.

Angel Soft toilet paper
Brawny paper towels
Dixie plates, bowls, napkins and cups
Mardi Gras napkins and towels
Quilted Northern toilet paper
Soft 'n Gentle toilet paper
Sparkle napkins
Vanity fair napkins
Zee napkins
Georgia-Pacific paper products and envelopes
All Georgia-Pacific lumber and building products, including:
Dense Armor Drywall and Decking
ToughArmor Gypsum board
Georgia Pacific Plytanium Plywood
Flexrock
Densglass sheathing
G/P Industrial plasters (some products used by a lot of crafters)
FibreStrong Rim board
G/P Lam board
Blue Ribbon OSB Rated Sheathing
Blue Ribbon Sub-floor
DryGuard Enhanced OSB
Nautilus Wall Sheathing
Thermostat OSB Radiant Barrier Sheathing
Broadspan Engineered Wood Products
XJ 85 I-Joists
FireDefender Banded Cores
FireDefender FS
FireDefender Mineral Core
Hardboard and Thin MDF including Auto Hardboard,

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Pepco v. the Post

Pepco and the Washington Post have diametrically opposed views of the independent consultants' report. Pepco's press release characterizes their findings as "Independent Consultants Find Pepco's Electrical Distribution System Well Designed" while the Washington Post declares "Pepco reliability plan 'cobbled together' without detailed study."

More from the Washington Post:

The consultants concluded that Pepco's reliability fell in 2004, after the company failed to increase efforts to improve its distribution system following 2003's Hurricane Isabel.

"Normally one would expect a utility to spend more on preventative maintenance after such an event to counteract the increased risk of outages caused by hurricane damage," the consultants said in their 136-page report, which was filed last week. "Pepco, however, responded with insufficient preventative maintenance. . . . Not surprisingly, conditions on the system continued to deteriorate."

The report said that Pepco's spending on tree trimming and other vegetation management has been "inadequate" and that the company "routinely failed to meet its annual trimming goals." . . .

The consultants' nine-week investigation focused on outages related to four major storms in 2010. The report concluded that the factors that caused storm outages also played a major role in blue-sky outages, which come on days with no severe weather.

The report concluded that Pepco's vegetation management budgets in recent years "were never adequate enough to provide for the required level of [tree] trimming."

The report also said Maryland laws that restricted tree trimming raised the cost of maintenance. It concluded that if Pepco's more aggressive program were adequately funded, it would significantly improve reliability.

During field inspections, the consultants said, they found a number of problems that should have been identified during Pepco's routine examinations, including deteriorating power poles, broken guy wires and loose insulators. Some of the damage appeared to be storm-related.

"This is not surprising, as Pepco does not perform after-storm inspections or patrols to look for, for example, broken branches in overhanging trees that can easily come down in the next storm - faults waiting to happen," the report said.

and Pepco's press release:

Pepco agrees with many of the findings contained in the Report, and says the work that the company has underway is consistent with the findings.

Pepco Holdings Chairman, President, and CEO, Joseph Rigby, noted “Although the Commission’s independent consultants concluded that Pepco's physical storm restoration efforts were 'reasonably good', we recognize that further improvements, including improved communications with our customers will be critical to restoring confidence in the utility."

The Report concludes that Pepco’s distribution system infrastructure is sound, well designed and consistent with good utility practice. However, the Report also makes several key recommendations for system improvements, including increased vegetation management, the addition of advanced technologies that can help detect outages and restore power more quickly, and improved methods of estimating outage durations and communicating with customers.

Consistent with the consultants' recommendations, the Company looks forward to further developing the components of its comprehensive Six Point Reliability Enhancement Plan in order to achieve greater system reliability and customer satisfaction.

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Opposed Not Just to Marriage Equality but to Gays and Lesbians

From the email inbox of a member of the House of Delegates:

Dear Delegates:

Others may be afraid to speak plainly to you, but I am not.

You all have psychological disorders.

Anyone who won't see the innate rightness of heterosexuality as opposed to any other kind of sexuality is, frankly, irrational.

Changing the laws won't change reality. The ex-gay truth, which isn't all that complicated, will prevail in the end. Even if the Supreme Court gets it wrong, as it probably will, the people will get it right.

Gay-egalitarianism is bullshit. Women are made to mate with men and men with women. Period. Feelings to the contrary ought to be dealt with in therapy. See www.narth.com and www.peoplecanchange.com.

Marylanders are especially fortunate to have a quality ex-gay clinic at their disposal, in Bowie, Prince George's County. See www.gaytostraight.org.

Both political parties have been using you. Shame on them. I've taken their leaders to task and will continue to do so.

You really are on a fool's errand. GayScam will go down in history as a dark chapter.

--Sharon Kass
Silver Spring, Maryland
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

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Raskin-Hixon Letter on Military Budget

The following letter has been signed by 40 members of the General Assembly and was the center of the Fund Our Communities, Bring the War Dollars Home coalition's press conference in Annapolis yesterday. Progressives from around the State, including members of Progressive Maryland and Progressive Neighbors, lobbied their legislators on this and other issues.

“ Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children.”
--President Dwight David Eisenhower, 1953

Dear Senators and Representatives:

We, the undersigned members of the Maryland General Assembly, urge you to do whatever you can to move tens of billions of dollars from the bloated Pentagon budget into the urgent national project of rebuilding our crumbling physical and social infrastructure at home.

The economic downturn has drained our state and local treasuries to dangerously low levels and is inflicting immense suffering on our people. In the context of this crisis, the current unprecedented level of military spending constitutes a shocking misallocation of national resources. We ask you as our colleagues and our leaders in Washington to press for a dramatic shift in federal budget priorities.

We can no longer afford the overgrown “military-industrial complex” which is dominating our politics and economics to an extent that would horrify President Eisenhower, the great general who coined the term when he warned 50 years ago this week in his Farewell Address that, “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.”

As we struggle to balance Maryland’s budget and meet the sharp rise in human needs caused by the housing meltdown and stubborn unemployment, we ask you to focus on the following facts:

• The people of Maryland will pay (or go into further debt for) for more than $14.3 billion in 2011 as our contribution to the military budget , an amount matching our entire annual State budget for everything, including k-12 education, higher education, health care, public safety and environmental protection;

• The base Pentagon budget is expected to more than double (in constant dollars) between 1998 and this year when it will hit more than $708 billion, a figure that does not include an additional $25 billion for defense spending outside the Pentagon, such as spending on nuclear weapons in the Department of Energy . Amazingly, only 17% of this fantastic increase in the military budget is attributable to the costs of the trillion-dollar wars in Iraq and Afghanistan;

• Military expenditures can be reduced by at least one trillion dollars over the next decade, with no reduction in security to Americans and no harm to American troops, as shown in a bipartisan 2010 report commissioned by Rep. Barney Frank (between 1998 and 2011 D-MA) and Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) . These reductions can thus take place without diminishing in any way the nation’s unwavering and unified support for our brave servicemen and women in the field of combat, a support that we are proud to emphatically restate.

While we are spending more on the military establishment, giant defense contractors and Beltway Bandits than at any time since World War II, including during the Korean, Vietnam and Cold wars, we are badly neglecting basic needs at home:

• The employment situation remains desperate in many communities. Job creation is essential and urgent, in both the private and public sectors, and yet local and state governments are being forced to cut jobs and furlough workers, exacerbating unemployment;

• Funds are desperately needed for rebuilding our eroding infrastructure, including roads, bridges, water systems, mass transportation and environmental protection, and for developing new technologies for a sustainable future. These are public imperatives that will create jobs as well as restore economic vitality to our suffering communities;

• Big cuts to school budgets all over America undermine the quality of our schools and compromise the education of our children. Maryland needs $3.8 billion just to address deteriorating school facilities, a staggering amount of money that is a mere pittance compared to the $770 billion we have spent on the Iraq War alone since it began;

• A dramatic increase in poverty in the U.S. has accelerated the need for emergency food and shelter services. In Maryland, 133,000 children live in poverty each day;

• The physical and mental health needs of veterans are badly underfunded, and America has a huge unbudgeted liability for taking care of our veterans;

For all these reasons, we ask you to introduce legislation in Congress making major reductions in the Pentagon budget, amounting to at least 25% over the next five years as recommended by Representatives Frank and Paul. Savings can be invested in the crying social needs of the nation.

This should be a matter of bipartisan consensus, national urgency and Congressional mobilization. Please remember President Eisenhower.

We stand ready to help.

Very truly yours,

Senator Jamie Raskin Delegate Sheila Hixson

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LGBT Delegates Make the Case for Marriage Equality

Dear Colleagues,

It will come as no surprise to any of you that this is a crucial week for the six of us. As you know, the House will soon consider the Civil Marriage Protection Act (Senate Bill 116), a bill that will allow same-sex couples to marry in Maryland. Importantly, it will also reaffirm religious communities' constitutional right to solemnize only those unions that fit within their faith traditions. First and foremost, we write to ask you - on behalf of our families and thousands of families headed by same-sex couples in our state - to vote yes on this legislation. Just as important, though, we are writing to refocus this debate back to what this bill will actually do. Quite simply, it will secure for our families the protections that marriage - and only marriage - provides to loving and committed couples who have pledged to spend the rest of their lives together.

The General Assembly will consider many other important bills and initiatives during this legislative session, but few will be as important to a group of Marylanders as the Civil Marriage Protection Act will be for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. The estimated 15,600 families headed by same-sex couples in our state are remarkably similar to all other families. As anyone who attended the House or Senate hearing can attest, we come from all walks of life and reflect the great diversity for which Maryland is known. Same-sex couples live in every single one of Maryland's counties. Fully one-fifth of LGBT families include children under the age of 18. Our households are financially interdependent in ways that any couple in the state would recognize. We are proud to live in Maryland.

Our families need the same protections because we face many of the same challenges. We stretch our paychecks to put food on the table, keep a roof over our children's heads and plan for emergencies. We struggle with the skyrocketing costs of health care, college tuition, and gas for our cars. And though we shoulder many of these same responsibilities, we cannot count on the same kind of safety net should life throw more at us than we can handle.

Marriage is at its best and most effective during some of life's worst moments. The protections it affords to families are especially crucial when one's spouse is in the back of an ambulance, or rushed into emergency surgery, or dies unexpectedly. For us, as for all of Maryland's families, a marriage license will mean far more than the paper on which it is printed. For us, it means the possibility of shared health insurance, more stable homes for our children, and fewer conversations about legal documents with attorneys. We would never want the responsibility of voting on you and your spouse's will, power of attorney, or advanced medical directive, but you've been put in that position this week for our families. We have faith that when faced with the option, you will vote to allow same-sex couples the opportunity to fulfill the commitments of mutual support and shared responsibility that we have already made to one another and to our children.

You will hear arguments during the course of this debate that, in our opinion, distract from what this bill does and what our conversation should be about. On the one hand, some proponents of marriage equality will speak of the recognition and respect that marriage confers on a relationship. Though this is undoubtedly true, we cannot legislate what is, at its core, a matter of the heart. We certainly seek to be thought of as any other family, but what is more important - and what is actually at stake with this bill - is that we are treated as any other family by the state and its laws. And on the other hand, some opponents of marriage equality will change the subject and seek to debate "the definition of marriage." But not only does this bill not affect any couple already married in Maryland, reframing the debate abstractly distracts from the very tangible protections that we seek for our families.

There will also undoubtedly be a debate about whether the state could design some institution other than marriage. We believe that any attempt to create a separate set of rules for our families will be far more complicated than ending the exclusion of our families from marriage and inevitably lead to unequal treatment. In the decade since civil unions were first created, this belief has been borne out by experience. Before Vermont passed marriage equality legislation, their civil union law was explicitly limited to not include all the protections of marriage. And in New Jersey, despite the promise of equal treatment, many private employers have declined to offer health benefits to the civil union partners of their employees. Marriage equality is a far simpler and more powerful solution.

We understand that for many of you this will be a close call and a tough vote - personally, politically, or spiritually. We know that for many of you with LGBT family members and friends, it is an issue as personal as it is for us. For those of you who have committed to supporting the Civil Marriage Protection Act, we thank you and ask you to stand strong with us. For those of you who are not yet sure if you can support us, what we ask you for is the opportunity to talk face-to-face about the challenges our families face and how this legislation will help us meet them. What we ask is for the opportunity to protect our families as you would protect yours. Thousands of families headed by same-sex couples need your vote on this legislation. Colleagues, we need you. Please vote yes on Senate Bill 116, the Civil Marriage Protection Act. Vote yes because you know it is the right thing to do. Vote yes because you want to stand on the right side of history. Vote yes because every family in Maryland needs the protections that marriage provides.

Your colleagues,

Luke Clippinger
Bonnie Cullison
Anne Kaiser
Maggie McIntosh
Heather R. Mizeur
Mary Washington

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Students and Supporters Rally for DREAM Act

Last Night in Annapolis in front of the Statehouse

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LDS Church Already Working to Repeal Marriage in MD

Joe Sudbay reports.

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Reparative Therapy a Mixed Bag

Supporters of reparative therapy, sometimes also called conversion therapy, have claimed some striking successes in recent years.

Sometimes, all it takes is a laying on of hands from the right power. Senate President Tom Grinder has showed an amazing power to heal held in awe by people inside and outside the General Assembly. Former Germantown Senator Q.K. Hoagie arrived in Annapolis as a full-blown, flaming Republican. Yet, after less than one full-term under the positive influence of Grinder, Sen. Hoagie saw the light and became a Democrat.

In over twelve years since, Sen. Hoagie hasn’t looked back or strayed once, despite rumors that he still likes to show up at late-night Republican fundraisers from time to time. “I just stopped by to use the bathroom, I swear,” he said, when queried about the latest incident.

Still others, like Takoma Park residents Elyse and Steven Keaton, report bitter disappointment. As Elyse said, “From a young age, we knew Alex was different. It became more obvious as he grew up. While other teenagers wanted to save the world, he just wanted to play banker and would yell ‘get a job’ a volunteers at the local homeless shelter.”

“We tried everything from vegan meals to yoga classes to new games. Nothing worked.” said Steven. “We even wasted thousands of dollars on reparative therapy. But then just a few months later we’d catch him starting a new swap-derivative scam with one of the other kids. After many years, I’ve come to realize that we just have to accept Alex as special the way he is even if our dream of parenting a Peace Corps volunteer will never come true.”

Hal Sunny agrees and remains an out and proud Republican even after being driven from his home in Frederick. Sunny says that reparative therapy is a fraud and that Republicans will not stop coming out of the closet: “The Lord made me this way. Don’t try and change me.” Sunny now proudly heads a powerful Annapolis lobby to promote the Republican agenda.

Father José Brice doesn’t quite agree. “We love everyone as our religion commands but we cannot condone the behavior. Fortunately, incidences of people acting on Republican impulses have been going down in recent years as more people turn to a normal path.”

Hal Sunny rolls his eyes when he hears such arguments. “Would you want your daughter to marry an ‘ex-Republican?’”

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PEPCO Press Release on PSC Testimony

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Council Update from Marc Elrich

Marc Elrich updates constituents on Pepco and his plan for a countywide rapid transit system.

PEPCO - Monopoly Power, Monopoly Problems

Montgomery County residents continue to suffer from the worst-case scenario of what happens when people are subject to monopoly power. PEPCO has, and has had for some years, the least reliable power service in the region. Last summer, I attended the Public Service Commission hearings on PEPCO's failures during the 2010 blizzards and, although PEPCO was as evasive as possible, a few disturbing facts were extracted from them.

When asked what kind of service PEPCO was striving to provide, they answered that their goal was to be the best. When the commissioners asked where their service performance ranked, it took a long time to get to the bottom of it -- literally, the bottom. It took a couple of questions to discern that they weren't in the first quartile. Then it was established that they weren't in the second quartile either. So they weren't in the top half of utilities. After a few more questions we found out that PEPCO was not in the third quartile. It is in the fourth quartile and then, after this excruciating delay, we found out that they were the worst. For one year? No. For how long? After shuffling some papers they were able to establish that they've been there for four years (that they had paper work on). So striving for the best, but the worst for at least four years.

Two points are worth clarifying. First, being the worst wasn't the result of a couple of storms, it was because of their day-in/day-out performance - "blue sky" performance as it's called. We then found out that despite striving to be the best, they had reduced expenditures over the previous year. So their effort to be the best somehow translated into reducing their maintenance expenditures.

But PEPCO isn't all bad. In fact, as the Washington Post reported on Feb. 12, PEPCO paid investors $240 million last year, saw their stock price increase by 12%, and paid their CEO $3.1 million. And the Post also recently reported that PEPCO underspent its tree- trimming budget in the District by hundreds of thousands of dollars in some recent years, even though they claim that trees are the biggest problem they face. Remember, the Public Service Commission approves PEPCO rates based on PEPCO’s projected expenses, so PEPCO has apparently been able to justify rates based on expenses they never undertook. This works for them.

It doesn't work for us. Monopolies always represent a threat because of the potential that they will abuse their position. Today, PEPCO controls the power lines, not the power generation, and what we pay them for is the use of their lines. They are a "natural" monopoly. No one else can realistically come in and install competing poles and lines because the cost would be daunting and the public would never stand for even more poles and lines in our rights of way. So having one company control the lines makes sense, a lot more sense than having only one company provide power.

But if we're going to have a monopoly over an essential public service, its performance and its allocation of income for reasonable profits must be carefully scrutinized and tightly regulated, which is why we have a Public Service Commission. Unfortunately, just having a regulatory body is not enough – to be effective, it must be actively engaged in regulation. As bad as PEPCO's answers were to the questions I mentioned above, it was distressing that the Public Service commissioners had to ask PEPCO about their performance. I expected the commission to know that answer, to have standards and to hold utilities to those standards. I was mistaken.

So where do we stand now? There's a lot of discussion about new regulations that will establish performance standards and tie future rate increases to achievement of those standards. That's a good thing, if they get implemented with teeth. There's been jaw-boning - everyone from the Governor down has taken note of PEPCO's profits and suggested that the needed investment in infrastructure should come from shareholder dividends, not customers' pockets. But this may be easier said than done. There's no indication that PEPCO believes that their shareholders should take less so more can be reinvested in improving the neglected infrastructure. After all, existing regulations entitle the utilities to a return on investment and a profit on that investment as well. All of this leads to ever increasing rates.

This has me concerned because after years of failing to invest in their infrastructure and putting shareholders above customers, their "punishment" is that they'll be forced to invest now and be paid well for doing it. PEPCO is already eligible for a rate hike to compensate them for the power they COULDN’T sell during the power outages. Yes, the law allows them to get higher rates for reduced energy consumption. I'm still grappling with what the implications might be if, over time, customers buy more efficient appliances and use less electricity. Will PEPCO get rate hikes to compensate them for consumer investment in energy efficient devices?

So we may be facing higher rates in the future, and hopefully improved service. I began investigating if we might have any other choices for electric power delivery and I rediscovered public power utilities. A public power utility is as its name suggests – a utility owned by the public, by the government. The list below shows the top twenty in size; the top thirteen all have more customers than PEPCO has in Montgomery County (~306,000).

Municipality State Number of customers
1 Los Angeles Department of Water & Power CA 1,461,521
2 Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority PR 1,452,946
3 Long Island Power Authority NY 1,111,903
4 Salt River Project AZ 939,579
5 CPS Energy (San Antonio) TX 689,339
6 Sacramento Municipal Utility District CA 590,677
7 JEA (Jacksonville) FL 414,769
8 Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division TN 410,518
9 Austin Energy TX 400,005
10 Seattle City Light WA 387,714
11 Nashville Electric Service TN 357,020
12 Omaha Public Power District NE 339,657
13 Public Utility Dist No. 1, Snohomish County WA 317,612
14 Colorado Springs Utilities CO 208,257
15 Knoxville Utilities Board TN 196,302
16 Orlando Utilities Commission FL 188,569
17 Clark Public Utilities WA 186,021
18 Tacoma Public Utilities WA 166,311
19 Santee Cooper(S Carolina Publ Serv Auth) SC 162,690
20 EPB - Chattanooga Electric Power Board TN 158,845

A spokesperson from the American Public Power Association (APPA) came to our recent Council hearing on PEPCO and gave a brief introduction to public power. I was intrigued by the concept and by her assertion that public power generally costs less. Public power is controlled by and answerable to the public and it has no shareholders who expect $240 million off of the operating income every year - money that could be used to invest in upgrades and, when possible, lower rates.

One frequent comment I've heard is that buying PEPCO to convert it to a public power utility would be expensive and time-consuming. The time-consuming part doesn't bother me, if it's worthwhile. One just has to be patient and work through to the end. Expense is probably the make or break issue. The switch to public power has made sense for a number of other municipalities across the country. According to the American Public Power Association, 16 have made the switch from investor-owned to public power utility. The largest of those was Long Island Power Authority which has more than 3 times as many customers as Pepco has in Montgomery County. I believe we owe it to our community to further explore this option. That is why I joined 7 of my colleagues in signing a memo to County Attorney Marc Hansen asking for clarification on certain legal issues that need to be considered in evaluating the benefits to becoming a public power utility.

Switching from PEPCO to public power is no doubt complicated and not something to be undertaken lightly. There are many questions that I don't know the answers to, but because of the current situation I am interested in exploring alternatives. If public power advocates are right, and the transition would result in more reliability, greater accountability, and maybe even lower costs, there is no harm in exploring this option. Public power exists in blue states and red states. It has nothing to do with politics, and everything to do with service and price. I think all of us can agree that service and price matter to us as well. If we can do better for ourselves, we should. And if we can't, then we need to make sure that #1 job of the Public Service Commission is to ensure that PEPCO's #1 priority is its customers.

If you’re interested in more information about public power utilities, here are some links to relevant pages on the website of the American Public Power Association regarding the benefits of public power and information for communities considering the public power option.

If you have thoughts, insights, or information on PEPCO or public power, I'm interested in learning more.

Sincerely,

Marc Elrich

Councilmember At-Large

Rapid Transit Update

Brookings Institute Panel

I have been invited to participate in a panel discussion at the Brookings Institution regarding rapid transit this coming Tuesday morning, March 8, 2011 at 9:30 am. Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) has positioned itself as one of the most important additions to sustainable transport in the world, significantly improving urban mobility and lowering the cost of public transit. During the last ten years, 97 cities have implemented BRT corridors, many of them located in Latin America. In the region, BRT has become easy to implement, safe, environmentally friendly and efficient. Often regarded as a second-best option vis-à-vis rail alternatives, the successful implementation of BRT requires concerted efforts to enhance its image, funding and planning. Valuable lessons can be extracted from Latin America’s experience with bus rapid transit; lessons that can serve as a point of departure to discuss the applicability of BRT in the United States. I am honored by their invitation to participate on the panel.

The Latin American Initiative at Brookings will host the discussion of lessons learned from Latin America and the applicability of BRT in the United States. In addition to myself, panelists include Darío Hidalgo, director of research and practice at EMBARQ, WRI Center for Sustainable Transport; Sam Zimmerman, urban transport adviser at the World Bank; and Robert Puentes, senior fellow in the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings. Mauricio Cárdenas, senior fellow and director of the Latin America Initiative, will moderate the discussion. After the program, panelists will take audience questions.

If you are interested in attending the event, please RSVP to the staff at Brookings at 202.797.6105 or click here. I hope to see you there.

Latin America’s Bus Rapid Transit Boom–Lessons for U.S. Public Transportation
Tuesday, March 8, 2011, 9:30 am — 11:00 am
The Brookings Institution, Falk Auditorium, 1775 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Washington, DC

Transit Task Force Creation

On February 22, 2011 Montgomery County launched a Transit Task Force, whose mission will be to help make a comprehensive rapid transit system a reality in Montgomery County. I am honored to serve on this Task Force, which was appointed by County Executive Isiah Leggett and will advocate for developing and implementing a system that is consistent with state transportation objectives and complements regional transit operations. Council Vice President Roger Berliner will also serve on the task force, which will be chaired by Mark Winston, a lawyer in private practice who has served on both the Maryland State Transportation Commission and State Roads Commission. Please see the complete press release for a list of Task Force members.

County Tips

Reporting Emergency Power Outages

From severe summer storms to ice storms and even "thundersnow," this past year has been a challenging one for our residents and the hard-working crew members from transportation, maintenance and utilities departments. If you lose power at your own home, it is very important that you call your utility provider right away to make sure they are aware of your service outage. But of course most of us have not memorized our customer service numbers, and if your land line at home is dependent on electricity, you will have to make that call from your cell. Make the process run smoothly by saving the emergency outage numbers for your utility company in your cell phone's address book, along with your account number. That way no matter where you are and what you're doing, you can get the service disruption reported without any delay. Numbers for Montgomery County's three electricity providers are listed below.

Allegheny Power 1-800-255-3443 (Allegheny)
Baltimore Gas and Electric 1-800-685-0123
PEPCO 1-877-737-2662

Let me be your Advocate

Often it may feel that our county government is a large, bureaucratic entity that makes decisions that impact our lives without residents’ involvement. But you are the government, and I am here to be your advocate. County government affects our lives in many ways, from the roads and buses we use each day to our children’s schools, our local parks, and our taxes. If you have an issue, concern or suggestion, please take a moment to let me know, and I will do my best to serve you. My staff and I look forward to hearing from you.

Dale Tibbitts is my Chief of Staff and handles the budget, rapid transit and environmental issues, as well as happenings Up-County; Tiffany Ward focuses on Health and Human Services and Education Committee issues, as well as Mid-County; Mara Parker follows the Public Safety Committee and the East County and also handles my schedule; Debbie Spielberg focuses on transportation and landlord/tenant issues and Western Montgomery County; Claire Iseli handles planning, land use, environmental and zoning issues. Please don’t hesitate to contact our offices at 240.777.7966 or via email at councilmember.elrich@montgomerycountymd.gov.

Thank you!
Marc Elrich

Councilmember At-Large

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Kirill Reznik Report Week 8

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Marriage Equality Passes House Judiciary

The House of Delegates Judiciary Committee just voted 12-10 to give marriage equality a favorable report. This vote occurred after several failed attempts to amend the bill. Chairman Vallario joined Carter, Waldstreicher, Lee, Dumais, Arora, Conaway, Valderrama, Simmons, Mitchell, and Anderson in voting aye.

Del. Hough attempted to amend the bill to name it the "same-sex marriage" bill. This failed by a vote of 11-10. Another amendment to strike the word "protection" from the title of the act--currently called the "Civil Marriage Protection Act"--also failed.

The third proposed amendment tried to strike the word "two" from the phrase "two individuals otherwise prohibited from marrying" as part of the effort to promote the ridiculous notion that this bill would lead to polygamy. This amendment died on a 13-8 vote with Dels. Alston and Valentino-Smith joining the other pro-marriage delegates.

Del. Parrott submitted an amendment to remove the prohibitions on incest (e.g. grandmothers marrying grandsons) from the bill. This amendment was ultimately withdrawn.

Del. Alston submitted a civil unions amendment that appears to have failed on a 10-10 vote. Del. Carter passed on the amendment and did not vote, as was also true of the committee chair. Del. Dwyer announced his intention to do the same but I am uncertain if he actually did so. The delegates voting against the amendment included Clippinger, Waldstreicher, Lee, Dumais, Arora, Conaway, Valderrama, Simmons, Mitchell, and Anderson.

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Funding Our Children's Future

A guest blog by Christopher S. Barclay, president, Montgomery County Board of Education. MPW welcomes guest posts on timely topics.

On February 14, 2011, the Montgomery County Board of Education approved a $2.2 billion FY 2012 operating budget request for Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS). Mindful of the economic climate, the Board adopted the minimum funding level mandated under the state’s Maintenance of Effort (MOE) law, which requires counties to fund education at the same per student level each year. In order for Montgomery County to meet MOE, it must increase local education funding by $82 million to address increased enrollment of more than 3,300 students. If the county fails to meet its minimum funding obligation under MOE, as a penalty, the school district may lose at least $22 million in additional state aid. The Board’s adopted budget request, which includes no new programs, will now be submitted to Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett and the Montgomery County Council for consideration.

As a Board, we have been careful fiscal stewards. When there were federal stimulus dollars available, we were able to assist our county in closing the deficit. In the last two years alone, we have worked hand-in-hand with the county to waive $250 million dollars owed to MCPS. Over the past three years, MCPS has saved more than $300 million through budget cuts and expenditure controls. This has resulted in the loss of hundreds of positions, drastic reductions in central administrative services, and an increase of class size by an average of one student. In fact, MCPS is now spending $1,000 less per student this year (FY 2011) than it did last year.

The superintendent has released a sobering list of non-recommended cuts that amount to approximately $50 million. The Board has not taken action on specific cuts, but it is likely that we will need to make reductions before this budget is finalized. The challenge would be to make reductions that are not so deep that they do lasting damage to our schools. If we have to take the non-recommended cuts as proposed by the superintendent, the effect on direct delivery of instruction will be devastating. Regardless, every student in every school across the county will be affected by the reductions that are coming. We have concerns about the ability of the central office to manage the school system with the cuts being proposed. Some officials believe we can continue to absorb cut after cut without affecting student outcomes. They are wrong. Increases to class size, and cuts to counselors, paraeducators, special education and other teachers, special programs, sports, after-school activities, and other staff and programs will have devastating impacts that will be difficult, if not impossible, to reverse.

The Board’s action on the budget followed the good news that Governor Martin O’Malley has recommended providing the school district with $37.2 million more in state aid than had been anticipated in the FY 2012 operating budget. These recommendations are needs-based and speak eloquently to how much Montgomery County has changed over the past decade; it is no longer the wealthy enclave that people think it is. The governor’s actions signal how much he appreciates the need to keep MCPS a top-functioning school system renowned for its commitment to academic success for all children. The Board thanks Governor O’Malley for standing by the children of Montgomery County at a time of great fiscal anxiety and exploding enrollment. Many more of the students coming to us are living in poverty and bring greater needs into the classroom than ever before.

Some County Council members have suggested that while they support the intent of the MOE law, its requirements should be relaxed in times of fiscal crisis. These suggestions come at a time when the federal stimulus dollars for public education have dried up and the state has signaled its intention to shift the cost of pensions to local school systems. The Board agrees that the MOE law should be amended--for different reasons. As currently written, if the County Council does not fund the school system at the maintenance of effort level, and a waiver is not granted, the penalty hits the schools’ budget directly, and penalizes our students twice. The Board intends to work with all the other school systems in Maryland to effect a change in this law in Annapolis. We salute our County Council and county executive for their past support of our school system. MCPS is a recipient of the 2010 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and was a finalist for the Broad Prize for Urban Education because of our community’s tradition of demanding and funding excellence in education. We ask our leaders to simply obey the law and fund our budget at the minimum MOE floor level. It is the right thing to do.

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Sam Arora Will Vote for Marriage Equality

Sam Arora's public statement from the Washington Post:

I have heard from constituents, friends, and advocates from across the spectrum of views and have thought about the issue of same-sex marriage extensively. I understand their concern--this is a very serious issue, and one that many people feel passionately about. As the vote drew nearer, I wrestled with this issue in a way I never had before, which led me to realize that I had some concerns about the bill. While I personally believe that Maryland should extend civil rights to same-sex couples through civil unions, I have come to the conclusion that this issue has such impact on the people of Maryland that they should have a direct say. I will vote to send the bill to the floor because it deserves an up-or-down vote. On the floor, I will vote to send the bill to the governor so that Marylanders can ultimately decide this issue at the polls. I think that is appropriate.

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Do the Right Thing, Sam

A guest post by Paul Griffin, he is a District 19 resident and ran in the 2006 Democratic House primary

I voted for Sam Arora in the 2010 Democratic Primary in District 19. I hope to vote for him again in the future. Sam is clearly a bright, ambitious, young man who can go on to achieve great things in his career and accomplish many policy goals that will help the people of our district, county, and state.

But the events of recent days have been perplexing. Sam has signaled that – despite his campaign promises to support such legislation and in direct opposition to his own co-sponsorship of the bill – he isn’t sure if he will vote for Marriage Equality on the floor of the House of Delegates.

It isn’t often that one gets to watch such a promising young politician take steps to damage his reputation and political future. Sam has clearly done that by even wavering on this issue, but if – in the end – he votes against Marriage Equality he will have committed a trifecta of bad judgment.

He will have flip flopped on a major campaign promise (thus making himself look like nothing more than a cynical politician); he will have voted against his district (always a risky move for a politician); and he will have voted on the wrong side of history (something I believe he will someday regret).

But those reasons are, for the most part, political reasons to vote for Marriage Equality. The better reason to vote for it is because it is the right thing to do.
When I ran for the House of Delegates from District 19 – Sam's district – during the 2006 Democratic Primary, some voters discovered I am part of an inter-faith marriage (I’m Irish Catholic and my wife is Jewish; our kids are – well, nobody’s business . . .). A few people, and only a few, had a problem with that and expressed so. They felt that it was wrong for two people of different faiths to marry. Some said so politely, some not as politely. I brushed it off and tried to forget about it.

Now, I don’t pretend that my very limited experience here compares to what a gay couple probably experiences every single day. But to this day the idea that someone would question our marriage bothers me. Indeed, the very notion that anyone would question the legitimacy of the love and commitment of another couple who wishes to take the public vow of marriage is simply alien to me.

So it is partly based on my own personal experience that I've come to believe that we are long past the time when we should recognize same-sex marriage. In our country, marriage affords certain rights to and benefits on couples, and far be it for any of us to say that certain people of legal age can’t enjoy those rights and benefits with a person they love and with whom they wish to spend the rest of their life.

That is why I am posting this blog – my first ever on this site – and imploring Sam as one of his constituents who voted for him.

Sam: do the right thing. Support Marriage Equality!

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Sen. Karen Montgomery on Marriage Equality

Having been a new teacher when the schools were first integrated in Baltimore, it saddens me to hear the same arguments being used against this marriage bill as were against school integration.

More importantly, we as a state have already forgotten that there were anti-miscegenation laws-- laws in Maryland --that prohibited blacks and whites or any inter-racial couple, to marry. There were statements that our society would crumble if this abomination were to occur. Today the argument is that only a man and a woman can marry, as only they can produce children. Well, a marriage between a black and white heterosexual couple could produce children--- but that marriage was forbidden by law as destructive to society. Any mixed race couple had to go out of state to marry.

The parallels are there. Let's pass this law.

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Montgomery County Muslim Council Blasts Rep. King

Real security means that we go after our enemies, and don't demonize fellow patriotic Americans.

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Majority Leader Rob Garagiola on Marriage Equality

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Maya Deane-Polyak on Marriage Equality

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Chrysovalantis Kefalas, Gov. Ehrlich's, Deputy Legal Counsel on Marriage Equality

Among the best of a lot of excellent testimony; well worth reading to the end. Can also be found at the Greek Reporter. Chrys, a Republican, also testified at the House Judiciary hearing last Friday.

Mr. Chairman: I appreciate the opportunity to appear here today and testify about a bill that I regard as extremely important. Senate Bill 116 will bring full civil marriage freedom to Maryland and move our state closer to realizing the promises of the Declaration.

As you and many members of the committee will recall, I previously served as Deputy Legal Counsel to Governor Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. In this role, I administered the Governor's Executive Clemency initiative, advised the Governor on more clemency petitions than any other attorney on his staff, lobbied for passage of his anti-witness intimidation reforms, defended the Governor during the legislative investigation into his personnel practices, and, of course, provided counsel on issues of constitutional law and criminal justice. In short, I dealt with some of the most important issues Governor Ehrlich addressed during his tenure: liberty, freedom, and justice. And these are the issues at stake with your consideration of Senate Bill 116.

Governor Ehrlich stated clearly his opposition to civil marriage freedom during his campaign for governor, and I do not purport to speak for him here. While I respect and agree with him on so many issues and respect the religious convictions of those opposed to same-sex marriage, as a conservative Republican, I believe history, law, reason, and experience will discredit opposition to civil marriage freedom. The United States Supreme Court has repeatedly held that marriage is one of the most fundamental civil rights that we have as Americans under our Constitution. As Theodore Olson, former United States Solicitor General under President George W. Bush and Assistant Attorney General in the Reagan Administration, emphasized:

"It is an expression of our desire to create a social partnership, to live and share life's joys and burdens with the person we love, and to form a lasting bond and a social identity. The Supreme Court has said that marriage is a part of the Constitution's protections of liberty, privacy, freedom of association, and spiritual identification. In short, the right to marry helps us to define ourselves and our place in a community. Without it, there can be no true equality under the law."

Denying people a civil right because of the gender of the person they love is inconsistent with the core principles of our Republic and the animating principles — individual liberty, personal freedom, and limited government — that gave rise to a movement and party that I call home. As Barry Goldwater put it, "the Conservative looks upon politics as the art of achieving the maximum amount of freedom for individuals that is consistent with the maintenance of the social order." Allowing all of our citizens to partake in the state benefits and privileges of civil marriage would do just that.

It is time Maryland lived up to her "free state" designation. It is time you, our representative leaders, rededicated our state "to the proposition that all men are created equal." No longer should our state treat gays and lesbians as second-class citizens. No longer should our state permit discrimination on the basis of an immutable characteristic.

No longer should our state treat same-sex relationships as, in Mr. Olson's words, "less worthy, less sanctioned, or less legitimate."

And I offer this plea to you not simply based on the law and political philosophy, or because of a belief that all lawyers should use the law and their skills to do good, but because of a personal reason too.

Robert F. Kennedy once said, "Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality of those who seek to change a world which yields most painfully to change." I frankly do not profess to possess the "moral courage" that Kennedy described.

The battle for civil rights in his time was more violent and more dangerous. But, today, silence is not an option because equal rights and freedom demand the best and the most of each and every one of us. Like Kennedy, I do not just see a world as it is and ask why, but I see and dream of a world that never was, and ask why not. For the first time, I can see that world so close. I can see that there is fullness of life in this country and state for every man and woman. There is healing on the horizon for tired minds and for overburdened spirits. There is courage in this legislative body to support the Constitution and laws of our nation and our state, without partiality or prejudice, if we only listen, if we lift up our eyes.

I am gay. Under the present law, I am considered less of a citizen and less deserving of government's legal recognition. I cannot access the same civil right that an incarcerated felon can benefit from.

It is very difficult to express to you how hard it was coming to terms with who I am. Striving to succeed in business and professionally and be the best son, brother, grandson, godchild, nephew, cousin, and friend for so long enabled me to shield a side of me I wanted to ignore, to fight off, and to deny. Working endlessly on entrepreneurial activities in high school and college (for example, founding a weekly sports magazine once featured alongside ESPN.com in USA Today's Baseball Weekly as one of the premier fantasy baseball websites in America), total commitment to my educational and professional pursuits, and filling my schedule entirely with family or work moments allowed me to go longer than many in denying this part of me. I did not need to date because I had work. I did not need to date because I had family commitments I wanted to keep. And, putting self-realization aside was necessary to protect my family and me from the stigma, stereotypes, and consequences of giving in to something triggered within me.

Because of the stigmatization fostered and unequal treatment imposed, in part, by state law, and adjoining prejudices, stereotypes, and consequences of this reality, I endured a struggle for and of my life. Rendered essentially illegitimate by law, all that mattered to me and all that defined me, including relationships with the people I most admire and love, were (and in some cases remain) at risk.

I had always dreamed of making my family proud, not only by my public service and other professional accomplishments but by marrying; having and raising third generation Greek-Americans to reach farther than their parents and grandparents had; and building an enduring legacy of service that would contribute to improving the lives of people less fortunate than us. I wished to hug my grandparents after the wedding crown was placed on my head, to embrace my godfather after the wedding ceremony, to lead my bride in the first dance, to hold my child on the altar of my beloved St. Nicholas Church. And, through all that, turn to my parents who I wanted to see beaming, because they have sacrificed so much for me, with their ultimate dream for their son fulfilled.

And, these family goals ignored that everything I had worked for, to put myself in a position to contribute more to my country, state, and community, by serving in elective office as a Republican when the time was right, might have been for naught. I tried to do everything I knew to avoid the loss of these moments and dreams. What I confirmed about myself was the result of an emotional, psychological, and spiritual struggle and extensive deliberation. I did not and would not do anything to dishonor my family, my friends, and everyone else who put their trust and confidence in me. Though I felt I was different at least by age fourteen, I committed to never act on my feelings for well over a decade for my concern of what it would do to my family, to all my relationships, and to my dreams. I really wanted to think it was just a phase. For a long while, I hated myself and did not think that the thoughts I felt were part of God's plan. I constantly denied to myself what I knew. I continually put on a facade as if everything was okay but underneath it was not.

Before the darkest hour of my life, I prayed harder; sought the intercession of the great saints of my faith; visited and prayed at some of the holiest places in my faith; went on dates with women (it helped being named one of Baltimore magazine's Top Singles); and sought out professionals for reparative therapy and spent whatever I thought it took, literally tens of thousands of dollars, to try to fight what I looked at as an unnatural state of mind. I also went to spiritual counseling to change. I tried to change what I thought, felt, and knew.

For me, not being able to experience the traditional Greek-American dream, or my take on it, felt for so long like a life lost. My parents measure their success by the life of their children, and I dwelled so long on the thought that I would be in their eyes a failed son despite everything I have done, been, believed. I prayed for so long that I would be diagnosed with a terminal illness, maybe like my grandfather Panagioti, because the thought of telling my family and friends that over what I felt seemed better. I thought it would be better to not be around, to allow them and my sister and family to think of, remember me for who I was, not for who I might come to love. As a result of all these concerns, I thought of and seriously came close to ending my life, with the medications to overdose with and die.

I am here today because the perceived easy path to overcome the challenges, instead of the hard one, was not meant to be. At that moment, when I survived, I believed my life still had a purpose and I still had something to contribute. I never thought the day would come, but what can seem impossible one day can seem inevitable the next. So, over time and after much soul-searching, I arrived at the conclusion that I could not change who I was, that I was gay, and that I wanted to live, hopefully to find someone to spend the rest of my life with. I received information authored by internationally-renowned psychologist Dr. Gregory Herek, concluding that people "have no choice in their sexual orientation" and that "therapeutic efforts to change an individual's sexual orientation have not been effective and instead pose a risk of harm to the individual." I was shown study after study demonstrating that the vast majority of gay men and lesbians have "no choice" about their sexual orientation. I was told by certain respected religious leaders, including from institutions that currently prohibit same-sex marriage, that they believe people have "no choice" as well. And I arrived to the belief that those American ideals enshrined in our founding documents would one day carry the day, and I would be welcomed as a full member of our society, not left as a permanent member of an underclass of Americans.

Mr. Chairman and members of this committee: Acting favorably on Senate Bill 116 will not change all the difficulties about being gay, or end the struggle of identification and for acceptance in so many communities. But your favorable action on this bill will begin to peal away centuries of unjust treatment on the basis of something as essential to our existence as our gender, as our ethnicity, and as our race. And, if you know me well, that statement should carry some weight because, to many, being Greek is all that defines me.

From the beginning, gays and lesbians have served our country and state. On the front lines of war, they have died and they have saved their countrymen and nations. They have served in critical posts in the White House and in state houses across our nation, including our own, like me. They have led political movements. They have run incredibly successfully businesses. They have pioneered groundbreaking scientific developments. We have contributed and continue to contribute to the improvement of our nation and state and to the well being of our families. There is no rational basis to deny us civil marriage and to deny us status as equals in society.

To my conservative friends on this committee, although you relied on my professional judgment when I served as Governor Ehrlich's attorney, you can reject my judgment as to who I am, disapprove of me, gays and same-sex marriage out of religious conviction. Yet, there are still ample reasons to support civil marriage freedom.

First, it is anti-conservative and antithetical to the principles of individual liberty and personal freedom to force government to stop me from partaking in a civil right essential to my place in the community.

Second, this is decidedly a state issue, not a religious one. Marriage, under state law, is after all a civil bond, to provide a privilege and respected status, entitled to the state's support and benefits. Moreover, under this proposed bill, religious institutions and groups can choose to endorse same-sex marriage or not as they see fit.

Third, there is nothing more conservative than supporting freedom and there is nothing less conservative than forbidding the creation of families. So much of what is important about families will be protected, enhanced, and encouraged in allowing all men and women to share in marriage.

And, fourth, history calls you to protect and support equality under the law. You represent a party that was once the nation's unquestioned political movement for and defender of civil rights. Despite fierce Democratic opposition, Republicans passed constitutional amendments banning slavery, extending the Bill of Rights to the states, guaranteeing equal protection of the laws and due process to all citizens, and extending the right to vote to persons of all races and backgrounds. Republicans in Congress enacted the first-ever Civil Rights Act, which extended citizenship and equal rights to people of all races, all colors, and all creeds. In 1875, Republicans led the expansion of these protections to give all citizens the right to access public accommodations. Republicans initially led the fight for women's rights. And, it was a Republican justice, John Marshall Harlan, who in 1896 declared that our Constitution recognizes "no superior, dominant class of citizens. ... In respect of civil rights all citizens are equal before the law." Today, lead as they did, to end invidious discrimination and to bring to all of Maryland's citizens the promise of equality and the fundamental rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

I urge you to vote favorably on Senate Bill 116. As Calvin Coolidge said, "One of the greatest perils to an extensive republic is the disregard of individual rights." Liberty, freedom, and justice should belong to all of Maryland's citizens. It is time.

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Sen. Allan Kittleman on Marriage Equality

Explains why marriage equality is not a Democratic issue or a Republican issue but a civil rights issue--an American issue.

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Councilmember Hans Riemer on Pepco

Dear Friend:

Recently, I wrote to you about the large profits Pepco was earning as its outage performance was declining. With million of dollars per year in after-tax profit, Pepco does not need a rate increase to pay for system improvements.

Many of you asked: “What can be done to improve Pepco?” Pepco is regulated by the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) and Pepco’s status as a private company and its regulation by an appointed commission establish one central fact: no single elected official on the state or county level has the power to control its operations. But if we all work together, we can make a difference.

Here’s what you can do.

1. Contact the Maryland Public Service Commission
The PSC will be considering a set of rule changes to strengthen the company’s accountability and a rate hike requested by Pepco to cover the cost of its improvement program. Since the PSC is Pepco’s direct regulator, please call them at 1-800-492-0474 today to let them know what you think.

2. Contact the Governor and your State Legislators
Pepco is subject to state law. Governor O’Malley and Delegate Brian Feldman are working on legislation to impose reliability standards on Pepco and fine the company for non-compliance. It is vitally important that this legislation pass with real teeth. Please contact your state legislators and ask them to co-sponsor and vote for the bill. To get contact info for your legislator, go to www.mdelect.net.

3. Sign our Petition
Sign our petition stating that Pepco’s reliability and service are intolerable, urging the establishment of standards and fines, advocating that the company not receive any rates increases until it improves service and asking that executive pay be tied to power reliability.

4. Spread the Word!
Pepco will not change its ways easily. We will need a LOT of signatures on this petition to show the company, the PSC and the state government that we are serious about demanding improvement. So please forward our petition to your friends, neighbors, Facebook and Twitter followers, listservs and any other contact media to which you have access.

No one person, including me, can tame Pepco alone. But we can work together to get the power service we all deserve.

Join us.

Hans Riemer

Montgomery County Councilmember

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