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Compiled By GayToday
The poll, conducted for the Human Rights Campaign by Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates, also showed that Maryland voters are twice as likely to vote for a state senator who supports the bill which would ban discrimination in housing, employment and public accomidations. "Voting for this bill is not only the right thing to do, but it is clearly what the voters want," said Free State Justice Campaign Executive Director Liz Seaton. "If the state senators listen to their constituents, Maryland will become the eleventh state to prohibit discrimination against gay and lesbian Americans."
The Maryland House of Delegates voted 80 to 56 last week in favor of House Bill 315, which prohibits discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations based on sexual orientation. The nondiscrimination legislation now faces a tough battle in the state Senate where the measure is before the conservative Judicial Proceedings Committee.
If the anti-discrimination legislation becomes law, the Maryland Commission on Human Relations will be able to investigate complaints about housing, employment, and public discrimination based on sexual orientation. The fight to pass a nondiscrimination law in Maryland is led by the Free State Justice Campaign and its Executive Director Liz Seaton. The Human Rights Campaign assisted with a $5,000 grant, mailings to HRC's action network in Maryland, E-mail information alerts and the printing of thousands of action materials for Maryland residents to send to their state representatives in support of passing this legislation. The Maryland counties of Prince George's, Howard, and Montgomery, already have nondiscrimination ordinances, as does the city of Baltimore. Together, they cover nearly half of all Maryland residents. If Maryland passes a law prohibiting discrimination, it would join Hawaii, California, Vermont, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Minnesota, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut. |