Baltimore Alternative, April 1991

BALT IMORE ALTERNATIVE April 1991 T Volume 6, Number 4 T Serving The Baltimore /Washington Community Since 1986 Health Department a Leading In Uncertain Times BY GAREY LAMBERT THE ALTERNATIVE BALTIMORE — The Baltimore City Health Department has nam¬ ed Ms. Brenda Prid¬ gen as its new AIDS Coordinator. Ms. Pridgen had worked as an AIDS outreach worker for the City department THE AIDS CRISIS until now. Her appointment partially fulfills one of the key recommenda¬ tions of two commit¬ tees of the Mayor’s AIDS Coordinating Council. The Patient Care Committee and the Social/Legal Task Force both recommended that a full-time AIDS coordinator be appointed. The Patient Care Committee recommended that “someone in the Health Department'' devel¬ op and write the grants that “will make the Baltimore City Health Department recipient of funds for a variety of AIDS-related activities.” The Social/Legal Task Force suggested that the AIDS Coordinator not only work от grants, but “ensure coordination with pre-existing agen- See PRIDGEN, page 21 ■tjLLl щг BANDOLOGY: Baltimore’s Star Spangled Band hosts the Lesbian and Gay Bands of Amenca at its first gay conference in Baltimore. 21 bands will perform April 13th. Story page 32 STATEWIDE In a Rare Vote Reversal, Maryland Adds Anti- Gay Actions to Hate Crime Stats BY JOHN ZEH _ THE ALTERNATIVE NNAPOLIS — In a rare rever¬ sal, the Maryland House of Delegates on March 22 voted 78-50 to add anti-gay attacks to data on hate crimes after gay and lesbian lobbyists turned up the heat on their elected officials to revive the bill. The day before, Del. Gene Counihan’s bill died by one vote. “I was really, really surprised that a pretty innocent effort to obtain crime statis¬ tics failed,” he said. “Nobody has given me a good reason” for opposing the measure. Co-sponsor Carol Pctzold of Rockville also expressed surprise at the close vote, saying there were never “any red flags indicating it was in seri¬ ous trouble.” Legislation that survives committee scrutiny rarely dies on the chamber floor. “I think this [House vote] shows exactly why we need this bill,” Counihan said after hearing snickers and titters from his peers. Some dele¬ gates are “either not willing to recog¬ nize there is problem, or they are part of the problem.” The next stop is consideration by the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, whose chairman, Sen. Walter Baker from the Eastern Shore, vowed to kill the bill. Citizen lobbyists and friendly legislators must hustle to promote the bill’s passage before the assembly adjourns April 8. HB 857 is the first bill specifically identified as gay-related to reach the House floor, according to published reports. Two other bills aimed at adding sex¬ ual orientation to Maryland’s hate crimes laws died in committee during this session. The Maryland Senate’s passage of a sodomy-reform bill in 1987 died in a House committee. Same-sex conduct is a felony in the Maryland. In less than 24 hours after the bill was voted down, supportive colleagues scurried to “save the honor” of the bill’s committee of origin, said John Burlison, co-chair of Lesbian and Gay ’ See VOTE, page 5