On this past Tuesday Maryland state senators Rich Madaleno (D-Montgomery County), who is openly gay, and Jamie Raskin (D-Montgomery County) introduced the Fairness for All Marylanders Act of 2013, a bill that would ban anti-transgender discrimination in the workplace, housing and public accommodations. The bill has 21 additional co-sponsors, including Allan Kittleman (R-Howard County) and 20 Democrats, mostly from Baltimore City and Montgomery and Prince George’s counties.
A similar bill died in committee last April when Senate President Thomas V. “Mike” Miller (D-Prince George’s and Calvert Counties) blocked a vote by the full senate. Miller has reportedly since backed the proposal. The 2011 bill passed the House of Delagates by a vote of 86-52. Since the bill’s defeat last year, Howard and Baltimore Counties joined Montgomery County and the city of Baltimore in prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity in housing, employment, and credit, so nearly half of the state’s residents live in jurisdictions with transgender protections.