ABOVE: Washington Blade photo by Michael Key.
The Maryland General Assembly adjourned its 2021 session Monday by passing landmark pandemic, policing and criminal justice-related legislation that includes a bill to ban the so-called LGBTQ panic defense.
“The Maryland General Assembly did important work this session to ensure the safety and equitable treatment of the LGBTQ+ community,” state Sen. Shelly Hettleman (D-Baltimore County), sponsor of two bills now awaiting Gov. Larry Hogan’s signature, told the Washington Blade on Wednesday.
Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) told the Washington Post on Tuesday one of the questions the legislature faced this session was “Where do we go as a society?”
This guiding question led legislators to repeal the police officers’ bill of rights and to end life without parole sentences for juvenile offenders in the state, partly in response to ongoing protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police officers.
“I’m incredibly proud of the work of the Maryland General Assembly this year,” state Del. Julie Palakovich Carr (D-Montgomery County) told the Blade. “From day one, Speaker Adrienne Jones made clear that we would be tackling long-standing and systemic inequalities. From the passage of substantive police reform to addressing inequities in public health to removing barriers for minority-owned businesses, the legislature has acted to make Maryland a fairer and more just place.”
During this session, the General Assembly also passed LGBTQ-related bills that updated gender expression in the state’s hate crimes law, waived the publication requirement for name change requests, and joined D.C. and Virginia in banning the LGBTQ panic defense.
“Passage of SB 220/HB 128 clarifies the definition of gender identity in our hate crimes statute,” Hettleman explained in an email. “We also helped to protect the safety of the (LGBTQ) community by eliminating an antiquated provision in law that required publication of name changes.”
In the House of Delegates, the hate crimes update was sponsored by state Del. Vaughn M. Stewart, III, and the name change bill was sponsored by state Del. Emily Shetty. Both lawmakers are Democrats who represent Montgomery County.
State Sen. Clarence Lam (D-Baltimore and Howard Counties) and Palakovich Carr sponsored the bill to ban the LGBTQ panic defense, which successfully passed the General Assembly this session and also waits to be signed into law.
“Finally, we got rid of the so-called ‘panic defense’ that may no longer be used to mitigate a crime or be used as a defense in assault cases,” Hettleman said in praise of her colleagues’ work.
Palakovich Carr said banning this defense is part of the “broader agenda of social change” legislators considered this session, which included policing and other reforms.
“I’m delighted that the legislature delivered on this and so many other important issues this session,” she added.
FreeState Justice and the National LGBT Bar Association released a joint statement on April 8 that also praised Lam and Palakovich Carr for “their strong and effective advocacy in support of this measure.”
“For over a decade, the National LGBT Bar Association has worked to ban this defense throughout the United States,” National LGBT Bar Association Director D’Arcy Kemnitz said in the statement. “And we are extremely pleased that Maryland will soon become the 14th jurisdiction to speak out against this relic from the darkest of ages. We look forward to the legislation becoming law with Gov. Larry Hogan’s signature.”
The joint statement also recognized state Sen. William C. Smith, Jr. (D-Montgomery County), chair of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, for holding the vote on the Transgender Day of Visibility where the bill passed committee unanimously. Other LGBTQ nondiscrimination measures, however, faced scheduling and other challenges in their committees this session, some of which prevented them from coming up for a vote.
The Youth and Families Protection Act sponsored by state Del. Gabriel Acevero (D-Montgomery County) and state Sen. Mary Washington (D-Baltimore City), the Senior Bill of Rights sponsored by Acevero, the Birth and Marriage Certificate Modernization bill sponsored by state Del. Lisa Belcastro (D-Baltimore County), the Automatic Expungement bill sponsored by state Del. Melissa Wells (D-Baltimore City), and the Inclusive Schools Act sponsored by state Del. Jheanelle Wilkins (D-Montgomery County) and state Sen. Cory McCray (D-Baltimore City) all failed to advance despite heavy lobbying efforts by FreeState Justice and partner organizations.
Washington and state Del. Regina Boyce (D-Baltimore City) also sponsored the Imari’s Business Pride Act that did not pass. It was named for a transgender person who launched a gender-affirming clothing line for trans men and died in 2020.
State Del. Lily Qi’s (D-Montgomery County)’s bill that would have created a statewide commission on LGBTQ affairs did pass the General Assembly this session and joins the others awaiting Hogan’s signature.
Hogan’s office sent out a press release Tuesday announcing he had signed 66 bills into law, including measures expanding access to telehealth and high-speed internet services.
None of the bills listed included LGBTQ-related legislation, still the release stated “with today’s signings, the governor has now signed all the bills that have been presented to him.”
Hettleman and other lawmakers remain optimistic.
“I am cautiously hopeful that the governor will sign these important protections for the LGBTQ+ community,” she told the Blade. “Or permit them to become law without his signature.”
