The clock could start running as early as today or tomorrow on an effort to petition to referendum the transgender anti-discrimination bill passed Tuesday by the Baltimore County Council.
Ann Miller, a Phoenix Republican who opposed the bill, told Patch after the vote that she and other opponents would attempt to place the issue on the 2012 ballot.
"We're focusing on the next phase—petitioning this bill to referendum," said Miller.
If successful, it could be the first time in county history that a county law has been successfully petitioned to the ballot, according to some long-time council observers.
The hurdle for getting the law on the ballot is high.
Opponents will have 45 days from the day the county executive signs the bill to collect the signatures of registered county voters equivalent to 10 percent of the total number of votes cast for governor in the county in the last gubernatorial election—about 28,826 signatures.
Petitioners can buy some extra time if they can collect 9,513 valid signatures in 30 days. The Board of Elections usually recommends that petitioners collect twice the required signatures in order to overcome typical rejection rates.
The balance of the signatures would be due in another 30 days.
Don Mohler, chief of staff and a spokesman for Kevin Kamenetz, said he expects the county executive to sign the bill as soon as the council delivers it to him—perhaps as early as today or Thursday.
Mohler said it "depends on when council staff gets bills down (it's) usually timely."
EARN THEM!!! Want to go out and dress as a man/ woman?, go ahead. Tolerance is earned, not mandated by Government. Act right, and you'll be treated right. Now, if that's bigoted, well that's tough. Live with it!!!
Being that I haven't seen much in the way of substantive commentary in any of your history, I can only assume that you are incapable of anything else but word bombs and insults. Therefore, I view your responses as simple rantings. By the way, congratulations on your productive service. I didn't know there were any WW1 veterans still alive.
You can choose to take an opposing view with anyone but as I have always believed, do with articulation not degradation. I stay out of the discussions on these matters, because I realize you cannot change ones beliefs on these issues. It's hard to override humane nature.
As for your comments about getting a job and insurance, I think you're missing the boat totally here. That's what transgendered people are trying to do! They're being discriminated against. And if you think a transgendered person is just a cross dresser, then you've missed the harbor along with the boat! Do some googling and read up on the subject before you give an opinion. The government wouldn't need to mandate tolerance if people had the compassion to have it naturally.
However, I am starting to tire over this new defensive stance that socially conservative people, mainly those with anti-gay or anti-transgendered attitudes, are using. The stance that makes them the victims simply because we're finally standing up for our equal rights (NOT "special" rights) and more and more people are coming around to understanding the issues and speaking up with us. I guess it's a last ditch effort, as they see the tides turning, and social evolution continuing to happen. Those people, including many religious organizations, need to adapt to how the world changes. And some won't, and I get that. But those attitudes will fizzle out eventually as older generations die out and new generations are born and grow up. History shows that this has always happened. At least I can take comfort in that after I read some of the comments here.
Laws that will never be able to be equally~fairly enforced are a big part of current problems within our court system. The sloppy way by which this proposal was fashioned is a clear example of why there are so many bad laws on the books. Quirk and Almond have done a huge dis-service to the public at large by wasting a lot of time with no possible outcome that will help anyone... transgender human beings will find that this law will never be enforced.....the end result will be similar to the end result of peeing into the wind...
If this law were in full force at the time of the beating....the beating would still have taken place.... the attackers were caught and dealt with by the current system proving that the need for this law is not there.
Adding another layer to laws that are already, perhaps, not being enforced properly will only add insult to injury, and will not achieve the purpose intended. I would suggest that anyone who thinks that this poorly written law will help the situation...read it...and then come back with some answers...or questions..
At what point is a human being considered to be transgender by law? When they start feeling like they might be the opposite sex? When they begin to dress like the opposite sex? When they start to take pills to force the transition to the opposite sex? Or after all of the above has been accomplished and they have had the sex change surgery? The identification of a transgender by law is a huge, yet un answered question that should have been addressed and identified accurately before any law such as this were even considered. Vague interpretation is the springboard of bad, court clogging law.
I would say that far more senior citizens have missed out on employment opportunities because of age than transgenders have because of claiming to be transgender.
Why would Quirk and Almond choose not to provide answers? Even those that post in favor can't give a logical response based on facts.
Why? perhaps if you could respond with some facts and not the normal illusion gab, the differences, or divide here could be narrowed into something positive that would work for all. Please have a shot at a few answers instead of pointless comments that only broaden the difference. You may find it refreshing...
Transgenders will be sorely disappointed when they attempt to use these protections, and they don't, can't work because of the hap hazard way that they were thrown together. If answers could be provided to my concerns, rather than the divide statements, I might better understand the perceived outcome better. Doesn't really matter what I think though, I'm just a guy with simple questions.
Using your interpretation, I could decide that it would be fun to hang out in woman's locker rooms and, if confronted, simply declare myself to be transgendered.