A bill that would outlaw transgender
discrimination in Maryland appears to be in trouble.
After
its 86 to 52 weekend win in the House, the measure, which would
ban discrimination based on gender identity in the areas of
employment, housing and credit, moved to the Senate, where it
deviated from the norm on Monday.
The bill was assigned to the Rules
Committee instead of the Judicial Proceedings Committee, where
similar versions of the bill were previously considered.
Transgender activist Dana Beyer told
gay weekly Metro Weekly that the change wasn't good news:
“Bills don't go to Rules Committee unless there's a problem with
them. This is not the normal process. There really is no reason for
it. I would say this doesn't look good, and there's no excuse for
it.”
Senate President Thomas V. “Mike”
Miller confirmed Beyer's fears, saying the effort looked destined to
fail.
“At this point in time I'd say the
chances of passage of that bill are next to none,” Miller
told the Baltimore Sun.
Supporters say they're not ready to
give up.
“We are already working with allies
to keep this important bill moving,” said Morgan Meneses-Sheets,
executive director of Equality Maryland.
Earlier in the session, an Equality
Maryland sponsored gay marriage bill died in the House after winning
approval in the Senate.