Morgan Meneses-Sheets, executive
director of Equality Maryland, announced her last day with the group
was Friday, gay
weekly the Washington
Blade
reported.
According to the paper, the group's
board on Sunday agreed to fire Meneses-Sheets.
The action comes just weeks after two
high-profile gay rights bills went down in defeat.
A measure that sought to make Maryland
the sixth state to legalize gay marriage sailed rather effortlessly
through the Senate only to be shot down in the House. And a bill
that would have outlawed discrimination based on gender identity
(transgender protections) in the areas of housing and employment
squeaked out a win in the House but died just days later in the
Senate.
Equality Maryland's decision to support
the transgender protections bill after its main sponsor dropped its
accommodations clause was criticized by some transgender activists,
several of whom testified in committee against the bill.
Meneses-Sheets announced her departure
on her Facebook page.
“It is with heavy heart that I share
that today will be my last day as the executive director of Equality
Maryland. While it is not my choice to leave, it is my choice to
make my voice heard as I exit,” she wrote.