Baltimore  County Councilman Tom Quirk will introduce legislation at the January 17 council meeting that will both gender identity and sexual orientation to the County’s existing anti-discrimination legislation.

Baltimore County is following the lead of neighboring Howard County, which added gender identity to their anti-discrimination legislation last month.  The action of both counties follows several high profile crimes against transgender women:  Tyra Trent was found dead in an abandoned house in Baltimore last February, and the case has not been solved.  Crissy Lee Polis, another transgender woman, was beaten viciously in a Baltimore County McDonald’s for using the women’s restroom.  The attack was captured on video, and it went viral and sparked quite a bit of outrage.

It’s sad that it takes violence, and even more specifically violence on camera, for action to be taken on transgender rights.  That said, more power to Councilman Quirk for taking initiative to introduce a bill.