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May 22, 2009 | Volume VII, Issue 10 | LGBT Life in Maryland on the Transgender Forum is a ‘Call to Action’ side In the aftermath of the very disap- pointing 2009 General Assembly’s An Interview failure to enact protections based on gender identity and expression, with Equality Maryland (EQMD), the state’s principal lgbt civil rights orga- nization, is asking the lgbt communi- Jake Nodar ty to rise and take action. To amplify this message, EQMD is organizing a By Josh Aterovis Transgender Forum in Baltimore to be held on Friday, May 29 at 6:00 Believe it or not, until very recently, the p.m. at the Cork Factory at 1601 Discovery Channel never had an openly Guilford Avenue in Baltimore. gay man on any of its programming. That The Transgender Forum is a all changed with their new reality show, call for the lgbt community and allies Out of the Wild: The Alaska Experiment. to get involved and do everything in The concept behind the eight-part series their power to protect transgender is equal parts Survivor and Man vs. Wild. individuals from discrimination in Instead of a sunny beach or tropical jun- employment, housing and public gle, though, nine strangers were dropped accommodations. Accordingly, the off in the middle of the Alaskan interior passage of statewide legislation that — or as the press release put it: “one of adds gender identity to the already- the most inhospitable terrains on Earth.” existing anti-discrimination laws is The group of amateur hikers, camp- urgent. ers, and outdoor enthusiasts were left Kate Runyon, EQMD Executive in the middle of nowhere and given the Director, said that EQMD is holding first piece of a rudimentary map, a com- this forum, as well as one in Prince pass, and a few basic tools, then told to George’s County, because trans- hike to civilization before the harsh win- gendered Marylanders do not enjoy ter weather set in. Their only lifeline was the same protection from discrimi- a GPS locator they could activate if they nation in housing, employment and were in danger or needed to be evacu- public accommodations as gays and ated — which some chose to do. lesbians, except in Baltimore City One of those brave volunteers was and Montgomery County. Jake Nodar, a horse trainer originally “They need protection under the from Baltimore, who now lives and works law,” Runyon states. “The Forum is a in Darnestown, Maryland. There was no call to action to the lgbt community, million dollar prize waiting for him at the allies, and elected representatives. end, so what did Jake get out of the ex- We have a moral imperative to fight perience? And how did he end up in the together for change!” Alaskan wilderness to begin with? I had The main purpose of this forum the chance to talk to him recently and ask is to create a groundswell of support him those very questions. I also found out for transgender anti-discrimination why being the first openly gay man on the in Maryland. Participants will update Discovery Channel was so important to the community on recent legisla- him, how his costars surprised him, and tive efforts and develop a concrete about a certain young stallion in his life. -- continued on page 38 -- continued on page 24 Photo: Sherry Scheaffer 2 q BALTIMORE OUTLOUD May 22, 2009 | baltimoreoutloud.com OUTSPOKEN Publisher Party Poopers Mike Chase [email protected] More Dems must get on board if we are to achieve progress. Executive Editor Jim Becker By Steve Charing A number of Democratic African- [email protected] American lawmakers are either ministers Sales It’s not that often in themselves or have strong ties to black Mary Taylor, Director recent history that preachers. Virtually every poll indicates [email protected] the Democratic Party that African-Americans oppose same- Managing Editor would have so much sex marriage at a significantly higher rate Steve Charing dominance at both than the rest of the population. They tend Leather Editor the Federal and state to be religious and socially conservative, Rodney Burger levels. And they achieved that status and their ministers denounce homosexu- Writers mainly by default. ality from the pulpits using the very same Jeffrey Clagett Josh Aterovis The Republicans of late have been in Bible that at one time was used to justify Chuck Duncan Rickie Green a free-fall with no signs of reversal in the slavery and racial segregation. Eva Hersh MD Marty Hoegg near future. The incompetence and hard- This is not helpful. Senator Anthony Doug Ireland Jay Loane line dogma of the Bush-Cheney years C. Muse (D-Prince George’s) and a pas- P.S. Lorio Jim Lucio Meredith Moise Sandy Rawls have exacerbated the dwindling popular- tor in his own right, has been seen by Ben Ryland MIA - Alexander St. John ity of the GOP especially since the time lgbt activists as an impediment to push- Nate Sweeney Larry Walker they chose to invade Iraq without any ing the Religious Freedom and Civil Mar- Del. Emmett C. Burns is a Democrat but no friend to lgbt folks Graphics provocation. riage Protection Act out of the Judicial Hannah-Love Shibley, Director Then the economy faltered big time Proceedings Committee in addition to Despite Barry’s pronouncement, this [email protected] and the GOP response was the knee- his apparent opposition to transgender is not to suggest that Democrats oppos- Carol Baker jerk demand for tax cuts—their panacea protections. ing our rights are all African-Americans or Bryan Sullivan for all of our economic ills. Throw into the Delegate Emmett C. Burns (D-10, that all blacks are against us. Sen. Bri- Photographers mix the religious conservatives’ require- Baltimore County), also a pastor, has an Frosh (D-Montgomery), for example, Skip Koritzer ment imposed on Republican elected of- been a vocal, unapologetic opponent of was the chair of the Judicial Proceedings Harry Lowinger ficials that they maintain rigid opposition lgbt rights. He doesn’t want to see gays Committee this session that bottled up National Advertising to choice and same-sex marriage despite “sashay” to the alter. Accordingly, he the Transgender Anti-Discrimination Bill Rivendell Media 908-232-2021 the public’s evolving mood on these. earned a fat 0 out of 100 from Equality by not allowing an up and down vote in Only a quarter of Americans now Maryland’s legislative lgbt-rights scoring committee where it died. Web Services identify as Republicans, and that number system. On the other hand, African-American Drew Saine [email protected] is about to get worse as more African- Delegate Frank Conaway, Jr., a Senator Nathaniel J. McFadden (D-Dis- Americans, Latinos and younger people Democrat, whose district 30 includes trict 45 in Northeast Baltimore) was once Distribution/Circulation Jay Loane become eligible to vote and replace the such lgbt- populous areas as Hampden, an opponent of gay rights when he was a [email protected] older, more conservative voters down the Remington, Mount Vernon and Charles member of Baltimore’s City Council. Late- road. The GOP will continue to be es- Village incredibly said that allowing civil ly, he had stated that the issue of same- Baltimore OUTloud sentially a white, Southern, evangelical marriage for gays and lesbians will open sex marriage should not be tied directly to P.O. Box 3640, Baltimore, MD 21214 party. the floodgates to the state having to rec- the religious aspects of marriage. Raised 410-244-6780 Will this shift from a strong two-party ognize polygamy. After some letters and as a Southern Baptist, Sen. McFadden www.baltimoreoutloud.com system help us to achieve lgbt rights? phone calls from angry lgbt constituents explained his position “evolved” and had On the surface one would think it could. and allies, he apologized. heard the same arguments before in plac- Additional Information Democrats have always been more sensi- Nonetheless, during the 2009 Gen- es where blacks could not marry whites. Baltimore OUTloud is published every other Friday by Pride tive to our issues and the last bastion of eral Assembly, Del. Conaway slowed up “Discrimination in any form is unaccept- Media, Ltd. in Baltimore, Maryland. Readers’ comments moderate Republicans tends to be sup- passage of the inheritance tax bill benefit- able,” he said. and unsolicited materials are welcomed and may be sent to: [email protected]. | Pride Media offices portive. But we have problems within the ing same-sex couples by introducing an Clearly we must reach out to our op- are located at 1120 N. Charles Street, 4R, Baltimore, 21201. Democratic Party, and that’s problems amendment—later defeated—that would ponents to achieve success. And many of | All materials appearing in this newspaper are the property with a “P” and that stands for “Pastor.” have defined domestic partner as “an in- them are Democrats. Governor O’Malley of Pride Media, Ltd. and may not be reproduced without To be sure, there are conservative dividual of the opposite sex with whom an- and others must display the courage to the written permission of the editor. Democrats such as Maryland Senate other individual has a child in common.” help lead the fight. African-American President Thomas V. Mike Miller who op- Even in Washington, D.C., former preachers need to stop spewing anti-gay pose civil unions, much less same-sex mayor Marion Barry who was one of the venom from the pulpits, recognizing that marriage, and skittish Democrats like early gay rights supporters did an about discrimination at any level is wrong. And Governor Martin O’Malley.