Next up in Maryland's equality fight: Transgender discrimination

Jenna Fischetti hopes no else will have to go through what she did. A transgender woman, Fischetti says she was fired from her car dealership job in 2004 after her employers discovered that while they knew her as a male at work, she adopted a female persona on weekends. The official excuses for her dismissal kept shifting, but she said the real reason was clear enough — people just couldn’t accept who she was. A proposal before the General Assembly this year, however, would protect other transgender individuals from what Fischetti faced. The Fairness for All Marylanders Act, sponsored by Montgomery County Sens. Richard S. Madaleno Jr. (D-Dist. 18) of Kensington and Jamie Raskin (D-Dist. 20) of Takoma Park, prohibits discrimination based on gender identity.