At its Feb. 11 board meeting, the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center of Baltimore and Central Maryland (GLCCB) elected Mike McCarthy as its new board president. McCarthy has served on the board for more than a year, most recently as its vice president.

The Baltimore NOW chapter, in conjunction with United for Equality and more than 50 other organizations, is actively working to secure the elimination of the deadline placed on the 1972 Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).

Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz signed the gender anti-discrimination bill into law on February 28. Earlier this month, the Baltimore County Council passed the legislation, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity and expression, and sexual orientation, in the areas of housing, employment, public accommodations, and financing on February 21, according to a joint press release from Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians & Gays (PFLAG) Baltimore County and Gender Rights Maryland (GRMD), an organization dedicated to enacting similar statewide protections—the two groups that initiated the bill. The measure passed on a 5-2 vote.