Washington Blade Online:
"Maryland legislators have voted down an effort to bar discrimination against the state’s transgender residents and workers.
By a 6-5 vote, the Senate judicial proceedings committee on Friday rejected a measure that sought to outlaw discrimination in the areas of employment, housing, credit and public accommodations." The article quotes advocates from Equality Maryland stating that they had enough votes to pass the legislation, and that they will try again for next year.
According to HRC, Maryland law protects against discrimination based on sexual orientation but not gender identity. However, State law covers hate crimes based on gender identity and sexual orientation. Maryland also permits post-operative transsexuals to amend their sex on their birth certificates.
The City of Baltimore has prohibited job discrimination based on gender identity in both public and private employment since 2002.
The following employers in Maryland have policies stating that they will not discriminate based on gender identity:
Goucher College
Sodexho Inc.
University of Baltimore
Marriott International
Johns Hopkins University
As suggested by the Florida Thesis (no relation to recent events in Florida), new laws of this sort signal that a community is favorable to a high tech economy. There are 12 Fortune 1000 employers in Maryland that would benefit from the positive labor pool implications of a new law, including Lockheed Martin, Constellation Energy, Marriott International, Coventry Health Care, Black & Decker, Host Marriott, McCormick, W.R. Grace, Legg Mason, Vertis, USEC, and T. Rowe Price
