Editing Maryland (section)

=== LGBT population ===
{{Main|LGBT rights in Maryland}}
Maryland has one of the highest percentages of LGBT people in its populace out of any state; 5.7% of Marylanders identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer, the highest of any state. (Washington, D.C. ranks higher with a LGBT population of 8.6%.) Maryland ranks as one of the best states in the nation for rights of the LGBT community, with protections against discrimination enacted since 2001 for sexuality and 2014 for gender, same-sex marriage legalization in 2013, bans on conversion therapy enacted in 2018, abolition of the gay panic defense in 2021, and issuance in 2023 of an executive order protecting the rights of transgender individuals. In 2020, Montgomery County unanimously passed an ordinance implementing an LGBTIQ+ bill of rights.

The first person known to describe himself as a [[drag queen]] was [[William Dorsey Swann]], born enslaved in Hancock, Maryland. Swann was the first American on record who pursued legal and political action to defend the [[LGBTQ community]]'s [[right to assemble]].<ref name=":6">{{Cite news |last=Joseph |first=Channing Gerard |date=January 31, 2020 |title=The First Drag Queen Was a Former Slave |journal=The Nation |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/society/drag-queen-slave-ball/ |url-status=live |access-date=February 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210202152031/https://www.thenation.com/article/society/drag-queen-slave-ball/ |archive-date=February 2, 2021 |issn=0027-8378}}</ref>

In February 2010, Attorney General [[Doug Gansler]] issued an opinion stating that Maryland law should honor [[same-sex marriage]]s from out of state. At the time, the state Supreme Court wrote a decision upholding marriage discrimination.<ref name="freedomtomarry.org" />

On March 1, 2012, Maryland Governor [[Martin O'Malley]] signed the freedom to marry bill into law after it passed in the state legislature. Opponents of same-sex marriage began collecting signatures to overturn the law, which faced a referendum, as Question 6, in the November 2012 election.<ref name="freedomtomarry.org" /> A January 2011 Gonzales Research & Marketing Strategies poll showed 51% support for marriage in the state.<ref>{{cite web |date=May 24, 2012 |title=Maryland Polling Memo |url=http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2012/05/maryland-polling-memo.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170803202911/http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2012/05/maryland-polling-memo.html |archive-date=August 3, 2017 |access-date=August 16, 2013 |publisher=Public Policy Polling}}</ref>

In May 2012, Maryland's Court of Appeals ruled that the state will recognize marriages of same-sex couples who married out-of-state, no matter the outcome of the November election.<ref name="freedomtomarry.org" />  Voters upheld the bill, passing Question 6 with 52% to 48% on November 6, 2012. Same-sex couples began marrying in Maryland on January 1, 2013.<ref name="freedomtomarry.org" />