Homosexual activists are trying to stop the residents of one Maryland county from voting on a controversial "gender identity" bill.
After the Montgomery County, Maryland, council enacted the ordinance, local residents began collecting petition signatures to hold a referendum on the issue. Austin R. Nimocks, senior legal counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), says it was easy for supporters of the referendum to get more than enough signatures just by explaining what the ordinance does. "This bill allows individuals to self-identify whether you're a man or a woman without any regard to what your biological sex is -- and this runs counter to American cultural interests. The people of Montgomery County are not in favor of this," Nimocks explains. Petitions collected by the Maryland Coalition for Responsible Government were submitted to the Montgomery County Board of Elections, and the referendum was certified for the November 4 ballot. But Nimocks says there are some people who obviously fear the results of that vote. "They collected signatures to put the matter on the ballot and, now, the homosexual political special-interest groups in Maryland are trying to remove this matter from the November ballot," Nimocks contends. In a lawsuit against the county election board, an un-named group of homosexuals and transsexuals is asking the board to decertify the referendum petitions, even though the group missed the deadline to challenge the initiative. "It just shows the lengths to which folks will go to remove the voice of the people from the democratic process," the ADF attorney says. "They had a specific time in which they needed to bring their lawsuit. They brought it well after that time expired. And we're asking the court to dismiss the lawsuit, not only because the people have a right to vote and determine what their law is, but [also] because this lawsuit was brought well after the time required for them to bring it," Nimocks points out. ADF has filed a friend-of-the-court brief arguing against the challenge.
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