The fallout continued today for Republican Larry Hogan after Maryland’s Legislative LGBTQ+ Caucus strongly condemned Mitch McConnell’s handpicked recruit for his well-documented record opposing LGBTQ+ rights. Hogan’s record has come under fire in recent days after he dismissed the concerns of an LGBTQ+ Marylander during a recent town hall.
See for yourself.
The Hill: Maryland LGBTQ Caucus Criticizes Hogan’s LGBTQ Record
September 3, 2024
By Brooke Migdon
- Maryland’s Legislative LGBTQ+ Caucus, a coalition of nine openly LGBTQ members of the state House and Senate, on Friday accused former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan of failing to support LGBTQ people in his former post.
- First reported by the Washington Blade, the statement criticizes Hogan’s refusal to sign several pieces of pro-LGBTQ legislation during his nearly 10 years as governor.
- “As a governor, Larry Hogan made it clear that he is not an ally for the LGBTQ+ community,” the caucus said in a written statement. “He spent his time as governor refusing to sign legislation that would shore up protections for LGTBQ+ Marylanders from discrimination.”
- Hogan, who served as Maryland’s governor from 2015 to 2023, declined to approve legislation passed by the state’s Democratic-controlled Legislature to protect victims of hate crimes based on their gender identity and outlaw the LGBTQ “panic” defense, a legal strategy that allows individuals accused of violent crimes to receive lesser sentences by arguing that the victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity caused them to panic.
- The caucus’s statement, led by Democratic state Delegates Kris Fair, Anne Kaiser, Joe Vogel, Ashanti Martinez and Bonnie Cullison, also criticizes Hogan’s dismissal of concerns voiced by a gay Maryland resident during a recent virtual town hall.
- “I am a gay Marylander, and I’m very aware that as an ex-governor, there were many LGBTQ rights bills that passed without your signature,” the resident said in a recording of the town hall, which was first reported by the Advocate. “Your decision to not sign these bills is concerning to me, because I’m aware that in the Senate, many bills pass or fail by a single vote. So as a gay Marylander, how can I count on you to protect me and my peers?”
- The state’s LGBTQ caucus in its statement said Hogan’s response downplayed “his record of opposing protections for our community,” which they called “shameful and a slap in the face to our community.”
- “It is sad that Larry Hogan thinks that we would accept such an overt over-simplification of the meaning behind refusing to sign legislation,” the caucus said in its statement. “The fact of the matter is, if Larry Hogan was proud of those bills he would have put his name on them. His refusal to sign them speaks volumes.”
- “This is why it is critical that we protect the Democratic majority in the Senate by electing Angela Alsobrooks this November,” the caucus said.
- Maryland state Delegate Ashanti Martinez, a Democrat and member of the state’s Legislative LGBTQ+ Caucus, said Hogan’s willingness to omit his signature on legislation advancing LGBTQ rights “is a stain on his record” that suggests he’ll likely remain on the sidelines if he is elected to Congress.
- “Larry Hogan’s active absence from LGBTQ+ bills during his tenure as governor shows us he’ll be silent in the U.S. Senate when it comes to defending and protecting LGBTQ+ rights,” he said.
See also: ICYMI: MD Legislative LGBTQ+ Caucus slams Hogan’s LGBTQ rights record [Washington Blade] & Hogan is “No Friend to the LGBTQ+ Community” and Could be the 51st Seat Republicans Need to Attack LGBTQ+ Rights [The Advocate]