Thank you to all who came out for Baltimore’s first forum for mayoral candidates on LGBTQ issues. We were honored to be able to provide our community with an opportunity to inform their vote on April 26. Twelve candidates showed up for the forum, which was held at the University of Baltimore on Tuesday, March 8th. Candidates in attendance included Catherine Pugh, Nick Mosby, Elizabeth Embry, Carl Stokes, Nicholas Caminiti, DeRay Mckesson, Joshua Harris, Calvin Young III, Cindy Walsh, Lavern Murray, Patrick Gutierrez, and Andre Powell. Each candidate had an opportunity to respond to questions prepared previous to the forum, as well as to questions from the audience. Several disruptions during the event illustrated our community’s frustration with city government and accountability on LGBTQ issues.
Candidates were able to respond to the following questions:
1) What have you already done to advance LGBTQ rights and issues in Baltimore?
2) What will you do to stop police profiling and violence against LGBTQ people, particularly transgender people of color?
3) What will you do to support homeless and unstably housed LGBTQ youth?
4) What will you do to ensure equal education and employment opportunities for LGBTQ people, particularly LGBTQ youth, LGBTQ seniors, and transgender people of color?
5) What strategies will you employ to address the disproportionate effect of HIV/AIDS on men who have sex with men (MSMs) and transgender women in our city.
Due to time, candidates were only able to answer two questions publicly. All candidates have been instructed to submit written responses to all questions. We will distribute answers as we receive them. We look forward to working with whomever becomes Mayor of Baltimore, and have made the necessary vehicle to hold that person accountable to issues that concern our community.
