Greenbelt Pride Talks Politics at Meeting

The Greenbelt Pride Group held their board elections meeting at the this past weekend, but the main event was special guest Byron MacFarlane.

Local Register of Wills for Howard County, McFarlane attended the meeting and served as guest speaker to discuss the group's concerns on marriage and their rights in Prince George's County.

McFarlance, elected in 2010, is a native to the area and also attended the University of Maryland while actively promoting equality for gay, bisexual, lesbian, transgendered and supporters (GBLT) on campus.  As the first openly gay elected official for the State of Maryland, MacFarlance strives to be a voice for the community, represent issues, fight for equal rights and call other government leaders to rise up and support gay marriage.  

"I did not get elected to sit behind a desk and not act when there is something I feel strongly about," as he reassured the crowd that getting benefits for them was one of his main goals.  MacFarlane does not wish to see any person, sexuality excluded, to be put at any disadvantage.  He said he doesn't like to see same-sex couples being treated as total strangers under the law, and therefore having to sell their homes due to tax liability in the event of the death of a partner.  "I never wants to see that happen again," he said.

The group questioned MacFarlance on titles and taxes as well as the future of gay marriage across the state, while MacFarlane responded, "We may have lost the marriage bill this year; but we're not backing down!"

According to GreenbeltPride.org, "GreenBeLT Pride" is a non-profit "community group for the gay, bisexual, lesbian, queer and transgendered persons of Greenbelt, Md (and surrounding areas), and their allies/supporters."  The group  represents the "GBLT" and also "Q," provides resources for those individuals as well as many networking events and quarterly social activities visit www.GreenbeltPride.org or contact Laura Moore at laura@lauramoore.com.