Equality Maryland

Why I fell in love with Equality Maryland and have made it my primary commitment.

MY PERSONAL JOURNEY TO EQUALITY MARYLAND
 
I’d like to tell you a story about my involvement with Equality Maryland. I look back now from my position as Vice President and it’s very clear to me how I got to this place in this particular time, and why I have spent so much of my advocacy work with this organization.  
 
I transitioned gender five years ago this January. Making the decision to do so was something of a “Hail, Mary” pass (for you Catholic football fans out there) for me, as it is for most transgender persons. There is no way, in our culture, to know how things will turn out, often at the level of life and death. I was blessed with an understanding family and that propelled me forward, and it certainly didn’t hurt that I was just finally being myself.  
 
About ten days after my day of transition, I felt so good that I decided I would shed the rest of my closet and get active. Watching and donating from the sidelines was no longer an option for me, but I had no idea where to turn. Which organization? Especially here in the DC area, there is a plethora of strong and effective advocacy groups.  
 
I decided to join them all. Not because I have difficulty making decisions – I don’t – but because I felt I needed to get to know the organizations from within before I made the commitment. Warren Buffett, the great investor and money manager, has always taught that it is management that makes the business. It certainly works for him, as he’s the second wealthiest person in this country. And I agree with him – we see it on this listserve and website. The money is important, of course, but only in the hands of the right people.  
 
I joined HRC and the Task Force. NCTE – the National Center for Transgender Equality – was just getting started, and I offered Mara Keisling whatever help she needed. And looking a little closer to home, in Maryland, I found Equality Maryland. Or, more accurately, Dan Furmansky, the new Executive Director of Equality Maryland, found me.  
 
A little background. In its previous incarnation EM was called Free State Justice. Its most impressive accomplishment was the passage of a sexual orientation-only state civil rights bill in 2001. Its president, Larry Jacobs, had been a pioneer in Montgomery County for decades, back when “gay rights” was a lonely crusade.  
 
But FSJ was not yet a feared organization in Annapolis. And most relevant to me, I had heard from friends in the trans community that it had been particularly hostile to working for trans rights during the 90’s. So I agreed to have lunch with Dan with that history firmly planted in my mind. 

DAN FURMANSKY, EQUALITY MARYLAND'S NONPAREIL EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
 
Needless to say, he completely disarmed me. The new Equality Maryland was not going to carry its old baggage. Much of the board from the 90’s had turned over. His commitment to trans issues was clear in his invitation to me to join the board, and to push for pro-trans legislation in its own right, and not as a step-child of the larger movement.  
 
Dan was affable, articulate, insightful, knowledgeable, passionate and persuasive, the characteristics that have made him in my mind, one of the best, if not the best, state civil rights advocate in the country today. For me, personally, he was a mentor and teacher, bringing me along slowly, getting me comfortable; helping me find my voice so that running for office became an obvious next step, not a pipe dream. I will never be able to thank him enough.  
 
He has taught me that leadership is not just developing a following and inspiring them to battle. It’s in nurturing the next generation of leaders, who will then generate their own followers from which will spring the next group of leaders in a self-sustaining manner. Of such a dialectic are movements born. It’s happening within the LGBT movement; I daresay that the evolution of “gay” to “gay and lesbian” to “LGB” and now to “LGBT” is evidence of such a sociopolitical process. And I intend to dedicate myself to help make it happen again in the creation of the next great American progressive era.     

THE EQUALITY MARYLAND ORGANIZATION
 
Back to Maryland. Under Dan’s leadership, we have developed an active, passionate, increasingly diverse board. We’ve quadrupled our budget over the past four years, and are now at nearly $1 million. Our books are organized and understandable. We have a C3, C4 and a PAC, which was taken very seriously during the 2006 election cycle. We do not, as is true for some organizations, ground board membership in fund-raising ability. To the contrary – we have built this organization on passion, and not money. But as we’ve become respected in Annapolis, as our effectiveness has increased, so has our need for staff to fuel our outreach. Last year we hired an incredibly committed and effected Policy Advisor, Carrie Evans, and have the best lobbying group in town – Ciekot and Elliott, with Mindy Binderman planning on returning in the near future. Our field and office staff keeps getting better.  
 
Being on the forefront of the marriage wars leading up to our recent high court decision, we’ve engendered interest from all over the country, bringing in funds and support from some of the big guns in the movement. We are out in the streets of urban Baltimore and rural Anne Arundel County canvassing for civil marriage – and that costs money. We are introducing our marriage bill to the state legislature this month – the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act. It is our centerpiece for this session, along with the Transgender Civil Rights bill. The Governor has given us a friendly and encouraging hearing. Keep in mind, that while Maryland is the wealthiest state in the nation, with Democratic supermajorities in both houses and a Democratic Governor, we are not a progressive state – yet. As a result, we don’t expect to succeed with marriage this year, but 2011 for full marriage equality is not at all unreasonable. I look forward to being able to sponsor the bill in 2011 if events transpire as we hope.  
 
I welcome your financial support to keep us moving forward at an accelerating pace, and if any of you live in Maryland and would like to be a part of this historic undertaking, please let me know.