Gays And Lesbians

Meet Keith. He comes from a good, Christian home. His parents were strict about dating. But he didn't care -- their fears of sexual immorality kept him from exploring some funny feelings.Until he went to college."I didn't think I fit the image my church had planted," said Keith, now a junior at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, recalling his biases toward gay men. "I imagined a guy walking down the street in flaming pink with swaying hips and a high voice, having sex for money and dying in despair."

Gov. Martin O'Malley, who continues to campaign for same-sex marriage in advance of a likely referendum aimed at overturning the law he signed this month, will speak Friday at a conference in Baltimore for gay and lesbian Catholics. Also scheduled to appear at the conference organized by the Maryland-based New Ways Ministry are Barbara Johnson, who was denied Communion at her mother's funeral Mass in Gaithersburg last month because she is a lesbian; former Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, who has written a book critical of church involvement in politics; and Geoffery Robinson, a retired Catholic bishop from Australia.

Thousands of lesbians and gay men gathered beneath the sunshine in Wyman Park yesterday to proclaim pride in their homosexuality and enjoy a colorful festival including performances by flamboyant female impersonators, carnival games and music by gay bands from throughout the East Coast.But many admitted that once they left the park, their sexual preferences would remain secret -- for the sake of relatives, careers or out of fear of being attacked. Some shied away from television cameras. Others asked that their identities be withheld.

In the Laurel Leader letters of Feb. 2, there were comments made by Virginia W. Staniak concerning bag charges, and Thomas M. Crawford concerning the right to marry. Using re-usable bags for the past five years has led me to the belief that charging for bags at the market is a good way in which to help to treat our ecology, and possibly save damage to our planet. In addition, I have earned a 5 cent credit for every bag that was used to package my groceries. It is my belief that my bags have helped to rescue our earth in some small way, and in addition, I will do the bulk of my grocery shopping at one store if for nothing else than to save on the use of fossil fluids.

One day after a decisive Senate vote, a House of Delegates committee swiftly approved yesterday a proposal to ban discrimination against gays and lesbians in Maryland. The House Judiciary Committee voted 13-8 to send the measure to the full House, where it is expected to be easily approved. The committee amended the bill to exactly match the version that cleared the Senate 34-12 Tuesday. "The fact is, if there is one case of discrimination that can be prevented or one case of discrimination that needs to be adjudicated, then we need to have the law in place," said Del. Kenneth C. Montague Jr., a Baltimore Democrat.

A diverse group of witnesses that included Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley sought yesterday to dispel "myths" about a bill they are promoting to outlaw discrimination in Maryland against gays and lesbians. O'Malley joined other advocates of the bill - including legislators and a statewide Realtors' association - in asking the House Judiciary Committee to approve the measure and send it to the House of Delegates. "Baltimore has prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation since 1988, and the sky has not fallen," O'Malley said.

When they watch TV broadcasts of gay marriage ceremonies being performed in San Francisco, Chris Pulido and Craig Martinez look for their friends among the throngs of grooms. And then they wonder, "If we were there, would we be among them?" The question, to wed one's lover or not, is one that the couple, who recently relocated to Baltimore from San Francisco, said should be open for the pondering to anyone - gay or straight. President Bush's call yesterday for a constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage made the men shudder.

Gays and lesbians have experienced a drastic rise in acceptance over the past two decades, according to a new Los Angeles Times poll. Almost seven in 10 Americans know someone who is gay or lesbian and say they would not be troubled if their elementary school-age child had a homosexual teacher. Six in 10 say they are sympathetic to the gay community, displaying an increasing inclination to view same-sex issues through a prism of societal accommodation rather than moral condemnation. On questions ranging from job discrimination to adoption to whether homosexuality is morally wrong, responses indicate that as gays and lesbians have become more open, heterosexuals in return have become more open toward them.

More than 11,000 Maryland households were headed by same-sex couples last year, according to new data released today from the 2000 census. The count of same-sex "unmarried partners" constitutes barely a half-percent of the state's nearly 2 million households. Members of the gay and lesbian community believe the figure falls well short of a true count of their numbers. But it also represents the Census Bureau's first deliberate effort to recognize and include long-term gay and lesbian relationships in its decennial portrait of American households.

THE MATTER is one of fairness and justice: Everyone should be treated equally, regardless of race, age, gender -- or sexual orientation.Everyone should have the same right to apply for a job or to rent an apartment without fear of discrimination. Yet gays and lesbians do not have that right under Maryland law.A bill seeking to ban prejudicial treatment on the basis of sexual orientation is one of Gov. Parris N. Glendening's prime objectives in the legislative session.He has devoted more effort to passing this bill than any other.

One day in the fall of 2010, Scott Marder, a partner at the law firm of Duane Morris in Baltimore, received a cold call from a young lawyer in Maryland seeking advice. The lawyer had found Marder's name in a directory maintained by the National LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) Bar Association. "He had all these questions to ask and nobody to answer them," Marder recalled. "Should you be out at work? Do your clients care? What about co-workers? Does it affect your career progression?

For years, Akil Patterson wouldn't tell the world who he really was: a gay man playing Division I college football. His secret weighed on him, frightened him, confused him, taking on a life all its own. In lonely periods, the former University of Maryland player would go online and type in "gay," "athlete" and other keywords. And Patterson, an offensive and defensive lineman on former coach Ralph Friedgen's teams of 2001-03, would wonder: how many other Division I athletes are gay — and black — and feeling as isolated as he was?

Kinera Royster wants to be known more for her talents than her appearance. "There is more to me than being a man who wears heels and a wig," she said as she sifted through a clothing rack containing 11 garments she designed. Royster, a self-taught designer, showcased her collection of clothes Thursday night at Red Maple in Fashion Alley, an event that featured gay, lesbian, transgender and gay-friendly models and designers. The first ever event in Baltimore served as a kick-off to this weekend's annual Gay Pride celebration.

After reading former NAACP chairman Julian Bond's comments on same-sex marriage ("Julian Bond: Md. must end marriage discrimination," Feb. 18), I have come to the conclusion that many of the people whom I once held in high regard have lost their way. If you ask the smallest child about marriage, they will answer marriage is between a man and a woman. All logic not to mention the Bible prove this. The attempt to link same-sex marriage with civil rights is demeaning to the civil rights movement.

It would be easy for Marylanders to look at Wednesday's federal court ruling in favor of gay marriage as being a bit like an earthquake — the kind of thing that happens all the time in California but doesn't matter much here. Although the ruling was made based on constitutional principles, it only affects California, and, at least for the moment, it won't even result in the resumption of same-sex marriages there, as the judge stayed his order pending more arguments. Many believe the case will eventually make it to the Supreme Court, where a decision would affect the entire nation, but that may not be for years.

Most people would never question the right of a parent to visit a sick child in the hospital or the appropriateness of a spouse making medical decisions for a critically ill partner. Such emergency interventions are a normal part of life, something expected of loving caretakers — unless they happen to be gay or lesbian. Then hospitals, nursing homes and ambulance companies can routinely deny patients the comfort of a loved one's presence, even when issues of life and death hang in the balance.

As midshipmen, they led double lives, quietly endured anti-gay slurs, and feared discovery and expulsion. But yesterday, 31 gay and lesbian graduates of the Naval Academy asked to be recognized, filing a formal application with the college's alumni organization to start a national chapter for homosexual graduates. The request, delivered pointedly on Veterans Day, appears to be a first for a U.S. military academy. Although a West Point graduate has run an unofficial group for gay and lesbian service academy alumni for 12 years, never before have homosexuals sought official recognition from an academy alumni association, experts said.

Sandra Suarez and her partner Aleksandra Wierzbicki had just a few requirements when selecting a destination for a romantic weekend getaway. They wanted a beach destination with great restaurants, a small town in which they could get to most places on foot, and they wanted to stay at a bed and breakfast -- preferably one "where they don't give you a hard time if you hold hands." And so, on a recent sunny weekend, the couple from Garfield, N.J., found themselves relaxing on the cozy porch of the Lord & Hamilton Seaside Inn in Rehoboth Beach, Del., sipping iced tea and looking out onto the nearby Atlantic Ocean.

Tristan Rhodes spent less than three years studying piano and conducting at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University during the late 1960s, but the experience left such a positive mark on him that he has prepared a $2 million bequest to the conservatory. Other life experiences influenced the way the New York-born Rhodes has directed the money to be used. The bequest, among the largest future commitments made to Peabody, will create the Tristan W. Rhodes Scholarship Fund "for the benefit of students who are gay or lesbian and have been disenfranchised by their families and therefore have lost support for education expenses," the agreement reads.

In the recent past, lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender issues were only part of the National Football League landscape when a player held a news conference to assure fans that, despite the rumors, he was not gay. But as a direct result of the movement for marriage equality, there are green shoots for social justice becoming visible in the locker room. Baltimore Ravens three-time Pro Bowl linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo came out for full marriage equality, writing in the Huffington Post: "Looking at the former restrictions on human rights in our country starting with slavery, women not being able to vote, blacks being counted as two-thirds of a human, segregation ... all have gone by the wayside.