Earlier this week, one of our loyal readers drew my attention to this article — something I completely missed last month when Governor O’Malley was signing legislation into law. And since this weekend is Pride, today seems like a good day to discuss it.

In May, O’Malley signed a new anti-bullying law, which bars the harassment of students based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. Honestly, I had no idea that this wasn’t illegal in the first place. But Maryland is one of the few states to protect students in this manner under the law — the new legislation makes us only the seventh in the nation to protect on the basis of gender identity and the eleventh to do so based on sexual orientation.

The director of Equity Maryland spoke on the new law: “[B]ullying obviously doesn’t just affect the LGBT community, but of course LGBT-questioning youth can be disproportionately victims of harassment in our schools… Far too many of us grew up in a culture where our time in school was like navigating a minefield of hostility, simply because we were perceived to be gay, maybe before we even knew it ourselves. The ways in which this sort of toxic environment informs the rest of our lives constantly unfolds, and this culture of violence, forced conformity and intimidation flies in the face of a civilized society.”

O’Malley also signed a few measures in May that granted some rights to domestic partners. Whether gay marriage or even civil union become a reality in Maryland remains to be seen; both have been heavily debated among officials in our state’s government. Perhaps California will pave the way.

So Maryland has made some positive steps in supporting gay rights, but are they enough? What would you like to see lawmakers in Annapolis add to next year’s agenda?

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