LGBT rights in Maryland
The expansion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights in the U.S. state of Maryland is a recent phenomenon, with most advances in LGBT rights occurring within the past two decades. Maryland has had statewide protections against discrimination based on an individual's sexual orientation since 2001 and gender identity since 2014. Legislation to legalize same-sex marriage in Maryland was approved by voters on November 6, 2012 and went into effect on January 1, 2013. Today, the state of Maryland is regarded as one of the most LGBT-friendly states in the country, with a 2017 Public Religion Research Institute showing that two-thirds of Marylanders supported same-sex marriage. Additionally, a ban on conversion therapy on minors became effective on October 1, 2018.
History and legality of same-sex sexual activity
Same-sex sexual activity was first criminalized in the Province of Maryland by the British. British law mandated the death penalty for buggery. In 1793, after independence, the state adopted a statute punishing sodomy between free men with hard labor, with the possibility of being whipped for any misconduct. The death penalty was proscribed for slaves, though the courts could commute the sentence to 14 years at hard labor. In 1809, the penalty for sodomy was changed to 1-10 years' imprisonment and the distinction between slaves and free men was eliminated. The first recorded sodomy case in Maryland, also the first such case in the entire United States, occurred in 1810. In Davis v. State, the Maryland Court of Appeals upheld, by a vote of 4-1, an indictment that charged Davis with sodomy.During the period before World War I, many cities established so-called vice commissions to investigate reports of "perversion". The state also created a commission which reported in 1915 of cases of fellatio, "heterosexual masochism and sadism" and homosexual activity in several cities, notably Baltimore. In 1916, as a result of the report, the state enacted a new law prohibiting oral sex, whether heterosexual or homosexual, with a penalty of up to 10 years' imprisonment and/or a fine of 1,000 dollars. The second sodomy case in the state occurred in 1941, whereby a heterosexual physician was prosecuted for acts of sodomy, in Berger v. State. Another heterosexual case happened a few years later in 1952; in Haley v. State, the Court of Appeals unanimously sustained the state's rights to prosecute heterosexual "unnatural and perverted practices".
A study published in 1956 showed that over a two-and-a-half-year period 26 "homosexual offenders" went before the courts. 8 of these were charged with sodomy, with two sentenced to mental institutions and the remaining six sentenced to between 1 to 8 years' imprisonment. 13 were sentenced for "unnatural and perverted practices", with all of them involving cases of oral sex or mutual masturbation. Penalty ranched from probation to usually less than a year in prison. Another 4 were charged with "assault", and another was charged for "disturbing the peace", which involved "anal intercourse with adults". All of the offenders were men, and 54% were white and 46% were black. A challenge to the sodomy case was rejected by the Court of Appeals in 1956 in State v. Black. Numerous more sodomy court cases occurred over the following years.
In 1970, a state commission recommended decriminalizing "private homosexual acts of adults", by a vote of 12-2. The commission noted that practices in Maryland included frequent entrapment by "decoy" police, and suicides occasionally occurred from sodomy arrests. The Maryland General Assembly refused to follow the recommendations of the commission. In 1976, the Senate passed a bill to repeal the sodomy law, but it failed to pass the House. Repeal bills subsequently passed the Senate twice, in 1977 and 1987, but were rejected in the House. A legal challenge to the law on the grounds of privacy violations was rejected by the Court of Appeals in 1980 in Kelly v. State.
All laws against non-commercial, private consensual sex were overturned by Maryland state courts. The decision in Schochet v. State invalidated laws against private consensual sex between heterosexual adults. In 1998, the decision in Williams v. Glendening by Judge Richard T. Rombro invalidated laws against private consensual oral sex between persons of the same sex. A subsequent settlement in Williams in 1999 invalidated laws against private consensual anal sex. On February 20, 2020, the House of Delegates approved a bill to repeal the unenforceable and unconstitutional sodomy ban. It was approved by the Senate, with amendments, on March 18. The House of Delegates concurred with the amendments the same day. The law will take effect on October 1, 2020.
Recognition of same-sex relationships
In 1973, Maryland became the first state to ban civil marriage between persons of the same sex, with the passage of legislation amending the family law statute.Same-sex marriage has been legal since January 1, 2013. In 2012, Governor Martin O'Malley introduced a same-sex marriage bill to the Maryland General Assembly. After much debate, the law permitting same-sex marriage, known as the Civil Marriage Protection Act, was approved by the House of Delegates in a 72–67 vote on February 17, 2012, and was approved by the Senate in a 25–22 vote on February 23, 2012. Governor O'Malley signed the law on March 1, 2012. The law took effect on January 1, 2013, after 52.4% of voters approved Maryland Question 6 in a referendum held on November 6, 2012. The vote was hailed as a watershed moment by gay rights activists and marked the first time marriage rights in the United States were extended to same-sex couples by popular vote. Roman Catholic authorities and African-American religious leaders throughout the state had opposed the legislation, saying it would conflict with the best interests of society and threaten religious liberty.
Since 2008, a limited form of domestic partnership has been available to all unmarried couples at least 18 years of age, who can verify their interdependent relationship through documentation. Legal protections for partners include hospital visitation, end-of-life decisions, and joint property rights. Since 2009, Maryland provides employee benefits to the same-sex partners of state employees. The state has recognized valid same-sex marriages performed in other states and jurisdictions since 2010.
Adoption and parenting
State law permits single LGBT adults and married same-sex couples to petition to adopt.Lesbian couples have access to in vitro fertilization. State law recognizes the non-genetic, non-gestational mother as a legal parent to a child born via donor insemination, but only if the parents are married. In 2015, the Maryland General Assembly passed a law requiring health insurers to offer fertility treatments as a benefit, regardless of a person's sexual orientation. Republican Governor Larry Hogan did not sign or veto the bill, and it became law without a signature.
Surrogacy arrangements are legal and recognized in the state. Despite no explicit laws on the matter, in 2007 the Maryland Court of Appeals made a ruling approving of gestational surrogacy arrangements. Traditional surrogacy arrangements on the other hand may result in potential legal complications; in 2000 the Attorney-General issued an opinion stating that "surrogacy contracts that involve the payment of a fee to the birth mother are, in most instances, illegal and unenforceable under Maryland law." The state treats different-sex and same-sex couples equally under the same terms and conditions.
Discrimination protections
State law has protected against unfair discrimination based on sexual orientation since 2001 and gender identity since 2014.On May 15, 2001, Governor Parris Glendening signed into law the Antidiscrimination Act of 2001 passed by the Maryland General Assembly, which added protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation. Opponents of the law collected enough petition signatures to put it to a referendum in the 2002 elections, but the petition was successfully challenged in court, and the Act took effect on November 21, 2001.
Before the state anti-discrimination statute included gender identity, five jurisdictions—Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Howard County, Hyattsville, and Montgomery County—protected against discrimination based on gender identity. Nineteen of the 20 remaining counties without protections lacked the authority to establish them. Legislation to amend the state anti-discrimination law to include gender identity, the Fairness for All Marylanders Act of 2013, was introduced in January 2013. Although the bill had 23 senators as cosponsors, on March 14, 2013, a Senate committee rejected it on a 6–5 vote. Similar bills had been rejected in previous years. The bill was introduced again in 2014, approved 8-3 by the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee on February 20 and passed 32-15 by the Senate on March 4. The House of Delegates passed the bill on an 82–57 vote on March 27, 2014. On May 15, 2014, Governor Martin O'Malley signed the bill, the Fairness for All Marylanders Act of 2014, which took effect on October 1, 2014.
Legislation in Maryland is subject to popular referendum, and conservative activists mounted an effort to put the law's expanded protections to a statewide referendum by collecting the 55,736 signatures of registered voters needed to place the measure on the ballot. They needed to submit 18,579 signatures to the Secretary of State by May 31 and the remaining 37,157 by June 30. The petitioners failed to submit the required number of signatures by those deadlines, and the law took effect as scheduled on October 1, 2014.
Hate crime law
The state's hate crime law provides additional legal penalties for a crime motivated by the victim's perceived or actual sexual orientation or gender identity.Transgender rights
In 2015, the Maryland General Assembly passed a law to make it easier for transgender people to change the gender marker on their birth certificates without undergoing sex reassignment surgery or sterilization. Governor Larry Hogan took no action the bill, and it became law without a signature on October 1, 2015. The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene will issue an updated birth certificate upon receipt of certification from a licensed healthcare provider confirming the applicant's gender identity.In 2019, the General Assembly passed a law allowing for an "X" gender marker on identity documents issued by the Motor Vehicle Administration. The bill also removed the requirement that people changing their gender marker provide legal or medical documentation. Governor Hogan took no action on the bill, and it went into effect on October 1, 2019. The Maryland State Board of Elections also began accepting "X" gender markers on voter registration forms on October 1, 2019.
Conversion therapy
In April 2018, the General Assembly passed a bill to ban conversion therapy on minors. The legislation passed the Senate by 34 votes to 12, and the House 95 votes to 27. In May 2018, the bill was signed into law by Governor Larry Hogan, and went into effect on October 1, 2018.In January 2019, a constitutional challenge against the conversion therapy ban was filed in federal court. In September 2019, District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow dismissed the challenge, stating that " doesn't prevent licensed therapists from expressing their personal views about conversion therapy to minor clients…. The law only prohibits conversion therapy when it is conducted by licensed practitioners on minors and prohibits only speech uttered in the process of conducting conversion therapy".
LGBT education in public schools
In August 2019, the Maryland Department of Education announced it would provide resources on LGBT history and other educational resources sometime by mid-2020 in all Maryland public schools.Public opinion
A 2017 Public Religion Research Institute poll found that 66% of Maryland residents supported same-sex marriage, while 25% were opposed and 9% were unsure. Additionally, 77% supported an anti-discrimination law covering sexual orientation and gender identity. 17% were opposed.| Poll source | Date administered | Sample size | Margin of error | % support | % opposition | % no opinion |
| 967 | ? | 74% | 19% | 7% | ||
| 949 | ? | 70% | 23% | 7% | ||
| 1,220 | ? | 77% | 17% | 6% | ||
| 1,349 | ? | 73% | 22% | 5% |