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AMY CAVANAUGH
Friday, October 10, 2008
Weeks
after
Maryland’s
high
court
ruled
that
Montgomery
County’s
transgender
rights
law
need
not
face
public
referendum,
a
conservative
legal
group
has
mounted
another
challenge.
The
Alliance
Defense
Fund
filed
suit
Sept.
29
against
the
Montgomery
County
Board
of
Elections,
alleging
that
voters
were
unconstitutionally
denied
the
right
to
vote
on
a
law
extending
new
rights
to
transgender
residents
and
workers.
The
legal
group
filed
the
lawsuit
on
behalf
of
Montgomery
County
voters.
Named
as
plaintiffs
are
Montgomery
County
residents
Fred
Bloem,
Elaine
McDermott,
Lisa
Gundling,
Joyce
Pratt,
Mian
Siddique
and
Maryland
Citizens
for
a
Responsible
Government.
The
case
says
the
election
board
did
not
have
the
authority
to
remove
the
referendum
from
the
Nov.
4
ballot,
as
allowed
by
the
high
court’s
ruling,
and
notes
that
the
plaintiffs
are
seeking
a
restraining
order
to
suspend
the
transgender
rights
law.
This
lawsuit
comes
after
a
Sept.
9
decision
by
the
Maryland
Court
of
Appeals
to
let
Montgomery
County’s
transgender
anti-discrimination
measure
go
into
effect.
The
court
noted
in
its
decision
that
the
law
need
not
face
public
referendum.
Nonetheless,
Alliance
Defense
Fund
Litigation
Counsel
Amy
Smith
said
the
organization
would
press
ahead
with
its
case.
“A
democratic
government
should
not
silence
its
people,”
she
said
in
an
Oct.
1
statement.
“The
board
has
no
legal
authority
to
shut
out
900,000
Montgomery
County
voters
who
should
have
their
say
on
this
new
law.
We
hope
the
court
will
recognize
the
constitutional
rights
of
Maryland
voters
and
allow
their
valid
signatures
to
count.”
Local
transgender
rights
advocates
told
the
Blade
they
did
not
see
the
lawsuit
as
a
threat
to
the
law
and
called
the
Alliance
Defense
Fund
lawsuit
frivolous.
“Clearly,
the
Citizens
for
a
Responsible
Government
is
obsessed
with
preventing
transgender
people
from
having
these
basic
anti-discrimination
protections
and
will
stop
at
nothing
to
overturn
them,”
said
Dan
Furmansky,
Equality
Maryland’s
executive
director.
“For
them,
this
is
a
frivolous
case
that
won’t
withstand
more
than
a
minute
of
scrutiny
from
the
circuit
court.”
Dana
Beyer,
an
Equality
Maryland
board
member
and
transgender
woman,
said
the
ADF
lawsuit
was
filed
to
“play
to
the
base
and
show
they’re
not
giving
up,”
adding
that
she
believes
“this
lawsuit
is
just
grandstanding.”
“While
the
[Citizens
for
a
Responsible
Government]
lied
and
misrepresented
the
facts,
they
went
out
and
did
what
they
were
permitted
to
do
under
the
law,
as
did
we,”
she
said.
“And
we
were
willing
to
abide
by
the
decision.
I
can
empathize
with
the
distress
over
having
to
deal
with
the
Board
of
Elections
that
didn’t
get
it
right,
since
we
feel
the
same,
because
they
didn’t
manage
our
side
well
either,
but
that’s
just
the
way
it
is.”
Furmansky
and
Beyer
agreed
that
transgender
people
who
live
and
work
in
Montgomery
County
should
not
be
concerned
about
the
lawsuit
overturning
the
new
rights.
“This
is
a
law,
and
I
see
that
they’re
calling
it
[Montgomery
Council]
Bill
Number
23-07
on
various
web
sites,
but
it’s
not
a
bill
anymore,
it’s
a
law,”
Beyer
said.
“And
it’s
as
valid
a
law
as
the
laws
prohibiting
discrimination
on
race
or
sexual
orientation.
It’s
over
and
done
with.
The
only
recourse
is
to
get
a
County
Council
elected
in
2010
that
would
change
the
law,
but
they
currently
don’t
have
any
paths
through
which
they
can
do
it.”
Furmansky
said
it
was
unlikely
that
the
lawsuit
would
affect
the
Nov.
4
ballot
in
any
way.
“Equality
Maryland
is
taking
this
seriously,
and
Lambda
Legal
and
our
attorney
are
more
than
willing
to
intervene
in
this
case
should
some
unforeseen
threat
arise,”
he
said.
“However,
there’s
almost
unanimous
agreement
from
the
county
and
our
attorneys
that
the
Court
of
Appeals
has
ruled
that
the
referendum
shouldn’t
go
to
the
ballot
and
won’t.
“The
ballot
has
been
certified
and
the
election
is
soon
and
this
lawsuit
hasn’t
even
been
heard
in
circuit
court.”
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