FreeState Equality opposes a coordinated package of legislation that targets LGBTQIA+ people, immigrants, young people, and those seeking reproductive health care, including bills restricting gender-affirming care, banning trans students from sports, expanding immigration enforcement partnerships, censoring school content, and rolling back abortion access. FreeState Equality opposes this package of legislation because it isn't about safety, fairness, or accountability. It's about power. It's about who gets to belong and who is pushed to the margins. It's about using law to regulate bodies, silence identities, and criminalize communities already bearing the weight of political neglect. Throughout this legislative session, we are witnessing a coordinated effort to push bills that target LGBTQIA+ individuals, immigrants, young people, and anyone whose existence challenges strict social norms. These bills are not isolated; together, they create a pathway toward erasure. HB0710 and HB0693 expand and weaponize the definition of obscenity. By broadening what can be labeled harmful to minors, these bills encourage censorship in classrooms, libraries, and online spaces. In practice, this means LGBTQIA+ stories are among the first to be removed. Queer and trans youth are told that seeing themselves is dangerous. Representation becomes suspect. Education becomes conditional. Silence becomes policy. HB0679 and HB0063 exacerbate harm by directly involving the state in healthcare and school settings. These bills deny transgender youth evidence-based healthcare and limit their participation in sports and shared spaces. They ignore medical expertise and lived experience, replacing care with coercion. The message is clear: trans young people are problems to be managed, not children to be protected. At the same time, HB0675 , HB0719 , and HB0725 target immigrant communities under the guise of public safety. These bills push local governments and correctional facilities to work more closely with federal immigration enforcement. They dismantle sanctuary protections and increase detention and transfer practices. LGBTQIA+ immigrants face higher risks of violence, abuse, and separation. These measures increase fear and isolation. They discourage people from seeking help, reporting harm, or accessing services. Communities are not made safer through surveillance and punishment. They are made safer through trust and dignity. Reproductive freedom is also under attack. HB0049 and HB0714 limit access to abortion and increase data sharing, putting patients and providers at risk. Reproductive justice is closely linked to LGBTQIA+ justice. Trans and nonbinary individuals need abortion care, and queer families rely on bodily autonomy. Data collection without proper safeguards invites surveillance in a political climate already hostile to reproductive rights. These bills do not protect health; they restrict choice and build barriers. Other proposals reinforce the same pattern. HB0012 expands access to juvenile sex offender registries in ways that risk misuse and stigma, particularly for marginalized youth. HB0024 introduces chaplains into public schools without sufficient safeguards, raising serious concerns about religious coercion and exclusion in spaces meant to serve all students. Taken together, these bills expose a governing philosophy that views civil rights as optional and equality as negotiable. They depend on fear of difference and the false promise of control. FreeState Equality rejects that vision. We oppose this legislation because civil rights are nonpartisan. Health care decisions should be made by patients and providers, not politicians. Immigration policy ought to be based on humanity and due process. Young people deserve education that reflects reality, not ideology. Bodily autonomy is essential to freedom. This legislative session, we are watching closely. We are tracking hearings, votes, and amendments. We are documenting who chooses fear and who chooses justice. At the end of the session, FreeState Equality will release a legislative scorecard so Marylanders can see exactly how their elected officials responded when our communities were at stake. We will keep educating the public. We will keep organizing. We will keep holding power accountable. Our call to action is clear. Pay attention. Testify. Contact your legislators. Ask direct questions. Demand transparency. Demand courage. Democracy is active, not passive. It demands engagement and remembrance. We pay attention. We keep track of the record. And we will not let these decisions go unanswered.
MARYLAND — FreeState Equality strongly condemns the ongoing violence carried out by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Minnesota and across the country. The organization stands in full solidarity with protestors demanding safety, dignity, and justice for their communities. ICE’s presence in Minnesota has once again resulted in deadly consequences. The killings of Renee Good — a member of the LGBTQ+ community — and Alex Pretti are not isolated tragedies. Their deaths are only two of the ones inflicted by ICE agents in recent months, with others being Keith Porter , Parady La , and Heber Sanchez Dominguez , to name just a few. These tragedies are the predictable outcomes of a federal agency that operates with impunity intent on terrorizing and harming marginalized people. Their deaths underscore why ICE cannot be reformed and must be abolished. “ICE has repeatedly proven it cannot operate without violence,” said Phillip Westry, Esq., Executive Director of FreeState Equality . “The murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti are devastating reminders that this agency does not protect communities — it terrorizes them. We refuse to accept a system where immigrants and people of color are treated as disposable.” As thousands gather to protest ICE’s actions, FreeState Equality affirms that this public dissent is both justified and necessary. “Protestors in Minnesota are doing what our leaders have failed to do — demanding accountability,” said Ronnie L. Taylor, Community Impact Director at FreeState Equality . “Our communities are tired of watching our neighbors die at the hands of an agency that apparently answers to no one. Standing against ICE is about protecting lives, especially those most impacted by discrimination.” FreeState Equality advances LGBTQ+ rights and civic participation across Maryland while standing in solidarity with impacted communities nationwide. The organization calls on elected officials to stop funding ICE, reject the normalization of state violence, and listen to those demanding change.
Join us for an evening of community as we launch FreeState Equality — Maryland’s new 501(c)4 advocacy organization, created to push back against rising discrimination and fight for Maryland’s LGBTQ+ community! During a time when LGBTQ+ discrimination is rising nationwide, come out and hear how FreeState Equality is ready to fight for inclusive policy through legislative scorecards, building community power, mobilizing marginalized voters, and more! The FreeState Equality Launch Fundraiser takes place on Wednesday, December 10th, 2025, from 5-7pm at The Brass Tap (1205 W Mt Royal Ave, Baltimore, MD 21217). There will be a $25 donation at the door — with your first drink on us!
Partner organization to FreeState Justice will center communities of color, transgender and gender diverse Marylanders, and those most impacted by discrimination.