Two issues central to the LGBTQ community surfaced at a community meeting in Aspen Hill Thursday night — the state’s “name change” law and the “gender certification” law.
The District 19 delegation to the state legislature, including senator-elect Ben Kramer, Del. Bonnie Cullison and delegates-elect Vaughn Stewart and Charlotte Crutchfield, answered questions from the roughly 100 residents who attended the meeting.
Samantha Jones, a member of the LGBTQ Democrats of Montgomery County, noted that the state requires anyone wanting to change their name to fill out a notice that states the reason for the name change, which then must be published in a local newspaper.
Jones asked the delegation to consider changing the publication requirement in order to ensure that transgender and gender non-conforming individuals aren’t “outed” without their consent.
“Even though it’s 2019 and even though we live in deep blue Montgomery County, these issues don’t deflect off of us as though it were Teflon,” she said.
Lee Blinder, the founder of the advocacy group Trans Healthcare MD, asked the delegation to change the state’s law that requires two health professionals to certify a person’s gender when requesting a gender designation change on a driver’s license. The Department of Transportation currently requires a physician and a mental health professional to sign the form, and designate the person’s new gender as male or female.
“I’m sure if anybody here wanted to have their gender certified, it would be strange to have your doctor certify what your gender is,” Blinder said.
Blinder also asked that the delegation consider preventing transgender women from being incarcerated in men’s prisons, which they said has become a large problem in Maryland.
Cullison responded to the gender certification law by saying that it represented a compromise when it was first passed, but thinks it can be changed.
“I want to apologize that trans people have to go to two doctors. It was the only way we could get the bill passed, because it was not gonna happen unless we had that in there,” she said.
Residents also brought ongoing concerns about pedestrian safety in Aspen Hill, along with drunken driving to the attention of the delegation. Kramer, who helped pass a law in 2016 that allows judges to require those convicted of drunken driving to use an ignition interlock device that samples their breath for alcohol, said there is a loophole in the law. DUI recipients can sometimes be granted probation before judgment, and are exempted from the interlock requirement, he said. Kramer said he hopes to close the loophole.
Dan Schere can be reached at Daniel.schere@moco360.media
