July 20, 2018 | Volume XVI, Issue 6 By BIll reDmOnD-palmer Last month, computer engineer and busi- First Trans Candidate vention floor vote to nominate and then ness executive Sharon Brackett became elect the first black governor of Boys State the first trans woman to be elected to an New York. Since then I was hooked. Elec- official office in a contested election in to Win Contested MD Race Reflects tion night with my kids was always like a Maryland. Brackett prevailed in a prima- tween Buffalo and Rochester. I had a good since 1990! This is home. I can’t think of holiday. We would color in maps, ry against 14 other candidates. She was middle-class childhood. Mom was a nurse, another place to be. á la Tim Russert, in front of elected to the District 46 Democratic Cen- and dad was a haberdasher. We did not how did you get interested the TV for presidential tral Committee, representing the Baltimore have a lot but we never really “wanted” for in politics? elections. Later when neighborhoods of Canton, Locust Point, anything either. I went to college In 1978, while it came time to get Federal Hill, Brooklyn, Curtis Bay, and at Syracuse University where I still in high school, some non-discrim- Cherry Hill. She placed third out of 15 can- studied computer engineering. Af- An I attended the ination legislation didates in her very first run for office. ter college I had a number of jobs interview American Le- passed in Mary- I’ve known and respected Sharon for in various companies but almost gion’s Boys State land my interest many years and appreciated the opportu- always found myself in charge of with Sharon of New York. We was renewed. nity to ask her questions about her election the project or department at each had a mock gov- you’ve just victory. within six months. Eventually I Brackett ernment complete been elected to the Bill redmond-palmer: have you started forming my own compa- with political parties, Democratic Central been in the Baltimore area all your life? nies and building businesses. We moved conventions, elections, and then Committee for Dis- Tell me a little about your life growing to Maryland in 1989 and raised a family we governed (for a week). I was the trict 46. What are some Sharon Brackett up. here but have always been Baltimore cen- party chair for my county and was credit: Tom Hausman / of your goals and priorities? Sharon Brackett: My mom was born in tric. I mean, I’ve had O’s season tickets wheeling and dealing on the con- Washington Blade —continued on page 3 Baltimore in 1937 but later moved away. I like to think Baltimore is in the blood. I grew up in Batavia, New York – a small town be- five. I was hoping to get the al- Addiction & His Muse bum all done before I got to By Gregg ShapIrO less, Grand knows his fan-base well enough Provincetown (in the summer of 2017). I was When it comes to al- to also include the kinds of songs his devot- going to do a shorter version of an album. bum titles, gay singer / ed followers will appreciate, as in the case But it’s such a time commitment being out songwriter Steve Grand of “You or the Music.” We here and promoting the show. I came up with a good spoke about the new album Gay singer / was flying out on the weekends, one for his second al- and his newfound clarity in so I didn’t have any time to record. bum. Not the End of Me July 2018, while Grand was songwriter One of the first things I no- (Stevegrand.com), on doing his Provincetown res- ticed about the songs on Not which Grand deals with idency. Steve Grand on The End of Me is that you are his pre-sobriety down- Gregg Shapiro: When his whole new doing different things with your ward spiral, is definitely we spoke in late spring voice, for example the gor- fitting. Facing his de- 2017, I asked you about beginning geous vulnerability of “Can’t mons head on, Grand being “laser-focused” on Go Back.” Can you please say has written some of his your second album and you mentioned something about that? most visceral songs for having just written and recorded a cho- I wanted the sentiment of the song to this album (check out rus, as well as the production work you be reflected in the way I was singing it. With “Disciple”). Neverthe- were doing. how much of what you were this album I was more focused on being truly creating at that time ended up on what is honest and vulnerable instead of just mak- Steve Grand – Touring now Not The End of Me? ing something that was as mass-appealing with the release of his Steve Grand: At that time I think I was as possible. I allowed my voice to do what second album really refining my song “Safe and Sound” it was going to do. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve credit: William Dick which is on the new record, track number —continued on page 17 Co-Publishers Jim Becker • Jim Williams [email protected] Executive Editor Jim Becker [email protected] [email protected] Associate Editor & Director of Marketing & Production Mary Taylor [email protected] Arts and Entertainment Editor Frankie Kujawa [email protected] Leather Editor Rodney Burger [email protected] Contributing Writers for Baltimore OUTloud Ava Barron-Shasho • Janan Broadbent, Ph. D. Josh Buchbinder • Anthony Calo • Lee Carpenter Jeffrey Clagett • Wayne Curtis • Woody Derricks Chuck Duncan • John Redmond-Palmer • Dr. Eva Hersh Mark S. King • Brother Merrick Moses Frankie Kujawa • Sage Piper • David Placher Mark Segal • Gregg Shapiro • Bill Redmond-Palmer David Egan • Elyse Buchbinder • Dr. Loren Olson Alex “Bear” Conley • Brynn Deveraux Contributing Writers for OUT in the VALLEY Laura Anderson • Rev. Kelly Crenshaw Rev. Dr. Robert Apgar-Taylor • Brian George Hose Elizabeth Thompson Contributing Writers OUT in Asbury Park, NJ Rai Guerra-Nelson • Christy Girlington Graphics Ramon Montiel Web Editor Adam Romanic Computer Solutions for Less Photographers Corey Brent Eric Randolph National Advertising Rep Rivendell Media 908-232-2021 Founders Jim Becker • Joe Berg • Mike Chase • Lee Mooney (1959-2007) • Jim Williams Baltimore OUTloud PO Box 4887 Baltimore, MD 21211 410-802-1310 Baltimoreoutloud.com Additional Information Baltimore OUTloud is published every other Friday by Pride Media, Ltd. in Baltimore, Maryland. Readers comments and unsolicited materials are welcomed and may be sent to: [email protected]. All materials appearing in this newspaper are the property of Pride Media, Ltd. and may not be reproduced without the written permission of the editor. The opinions expressed in Baltimore OUTloud are solely those of the writers unless otherwise indicated and do not necessarily reflect the views of Pride Media, Ltd., and the staff. © 2018 – All rights reserved Chair of the Board of Trustees – Jim Becker President – Jim Williams Secretary and Treasurer – Mike Chase 2 t BalTImOre OUTlOUD JUly 20, 2018 • BALTIMOREOUTLOUD.COM neWS // local First Trans Candidate to Win Contested MD Race Reflects ● Elder Law —continued from page 1 pretty quickly in matters of interest. ● Estate Planning At the time of this interview I am run- What are some of the achievements ning to be the first vice chair of the citywide or work you have done in the communi- ● Family Law delegation. Who knows if I will win that ty that you are most proud of? ● Guardianship or not – I guess we will know by the time I founded Gender Rights Maryland and this is published. My key goals are get the have served as its board chair since 2011. ● Mediation committee’s communications up to stan- We were a driving organization in the pas- ● Medicaid Planning & dards to get voters engaged. This includes sage of gender-identity protections in How- Qualification a reworked website and social media pres- ard (2011) and Baltimore (2012) counties ence. Being a “techie” I can bring my engi- and Maryland’s Gender Identity Bill (2014). ● Personal Injury neer expertise to bear there. Beyond that In 2009, I co-founded TransParent Day, held ● Probate we need to make some structural changes on the first Sunday in November, as a hol- to the by-laws on the committee – things iday for trans parents and parents of trans ● Veteran's Benefits like not holding two offices at once and kids as an alternative to Mother’s Day or Fa- ● LGBTQIA Matters voting for yourself when applying to fill a ther’s Day. In 2012 I was one of the four co- vacancy. Between now and November, I chairs of the Creating Change Conference Call ERA Law Group Today am hoping we make the governor a private Host Committee held in Baltimore. In 2014 (410) 919-1790, or visit us at citizen and say the same in 2020 for the I was named Baltimore Pride Activist of the occupant of the White House. Democrats Year. Since 2013 I have served on the board 1997 Annapolis Exchange Pkwy, need to show up to vote and we need to of the Point Foundation, the national LGBTQ Suite 300, Annapolis, MD 21401 get them excited about doing so! scholarship organization. I also serve on the you are the first transgender person OutServe-SLDN board of directors, the lead- Valerie E. Anias, Esq. to be elected to an official office in the ing national advocacy and legal organization [email protected] state in a contested election. how will for LGBTQ servicemembers, veterans, and this impact your work? Or the political their families, the group currently suing Don- landscape in maryland? ald Trump related to his actions against trans I’d like to believe that being trans is people in the military.