Commission Minutes

2025

September 15th Meeting

Attendance
Darcie Adams, LGBTQIA+ Commissioner-in-waiting
Cory Anotado, LGBTQIA+ Commissioner
Alexis Newby, Deputy Director, Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs
Caite Debevec, LGBTQIA+ Commissioner
Melissa Deveraux, LGBTQIA+ Commissioner
Tiane Harrison, LGBTQIA+ Commissioner
Aubrey Livi, LGBTQIA+ Commission Secretary
Dante Merrell, LGBTQIA+ Commission Vice Chair
Kayla Morgan, LGBTQIA+ Commissioner
Tica Torres, LGBTQIA+ Commission Chair
Isaiah Lawrence, LGBTQIA+ Commissioner
Jayne Miller, LGBTQIA+ Commissioner
Trystan Sill, LGBTQIA+ Commissioner
 

Regrets
Melanie Bryant, Director, Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs
Lamar Martin, LGBTQ+ Commissioner

Meeting Summary
• Request from “I Love LUTFY” co-host
    o Will be presenting a Cans and Cocktails event at the Eagle in Baltimore and Thirst Lounge in DC – daytime parties with community harm reduction programming, the proceeds of which will benefit food banks
    o Seeking funds, HIV prevention supplies, etc.
    o Will give the commission a flyer to share with our networks
• Discussion: how can external organizations reach out to the commission?
    o The Office of LGBTQ Affairs has a contact form set up, but we could set up our own as well
    o Should include a standing commission meeting agenda item for the public to comment, and also allow community to ask to have a line item on the agenda to present to the commission, with a cutoff time by which they must submit their request prior to the meeting
• October meeting date change to avoid Indigenous People’s Day
    o A. Livi to send out doodle poll for 6th, week of the 13th, and the 20th
• Recap of Office of Equity and Civil Rights meeting
    o The OECR is currently reviewing language in policies and wants our feedback
    o Maybe can share information via teams, we have a scheduled time to review/discuss, and then share our feedback together
    o Once we have met internally, schedule with them to discuss priorities and agenda for eventual public event
    o Maybe Trevor project support bill
    o Will need to alert the Mayor’s office to any planned legislative recommendations ahead of time. Need to have a preliminary subcommittee meeting to discuss our legislative priorities.
• Legislative subcommittee
    o The commission needs to know what’s being proposed on the docket, nothing is listed on the LGBTQ Caucus website
    o Will work in conjunction with OECR
• National Coming Out Day event
    o No longer having Boots on the Ground event on 10/11, will instead be having a Let’s Talk About sex event on 10/3, 4pm – 9pm, which will focus on health
    o Rally on City Hall Lawn on 10/11 in conjunction with Black Equity, 12pm – 4pm
• Updates from the Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs
    o There is a SYNC tomorrow, the link will be provided in WhatsApp
• Open Discussion:
    o IT Updates/Teams access
    o Waiting for email

Motions
Motion 1: Move to make a Subcommittee for Legislative recommendations, led by J. Miller.
    Proposed: D. Merrell
    Seconded: A. Livi
    Aye: 11. Nay: 0. Abstain: 0.
    Motion passed.

Action Items
• A. Livi to send out Doodle poll for subcommittee meeting time
• A. Livi to send out Doodle poll for October Committee meeting time
• D. Merrell to find times that BCIT can meet with us and then share with A. Livi to send out a Doodle poll and schedule meeting times
• D. Merrell to send A. Newby Lufty’s email
• A. Newby to follow up with M. Bryant about sharing Lufty’s info with other CBOs during SYNC
• A. Newby to provide link to SYNC meeting in the WhatsApp

October 6th Meeting

Attendance
Caite Debevec, LGBTQIA+ Commissioner
Tiane Harrison, LGBTQIA+ Commissioner
Aubrey Livi, LGBTQIA+ Commission Secretary
Tica Torres, LGBTQIA+ Commission Chair
Isaiah Lawrence, LGBTQIA+ Commissioner
Jayne Miller, LGBTQIA+ Commissioner
Trystan Sill, LGBTQIA+ Commissioner
Cory Anotado, LGBTQIA+ Commissioner
Melanie Bryant, Director, Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs
Melissa Deveraux, LGBTQIA+ Commissioner
Lamar Martin, LGBTQ+ Commissioner
Dante Merrell, LGBTQIA+ Commission Vice Chair
Kayla Morgan, LGBTQIA+ Commissioner
Alexis Newby, Deputy Director, Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs
 

Regrets
Darcie Adams, LGBTQIA+ Commissioner-in-waiting

Meeting Summary
• Quorum not met, so not an official meeting
• Legislative subcommittee
    o Will have backing of Planned Parenthood, plan to present to the state legislators
    o Timeframe: submitting to legislators in January
    o Set up virtual meeting with the LGBTQ Caucus, first with Senator Mary Washington’s office on the regularly scheduled December 8 call, and then with the whole caucus once we have something substantial to bring
• Next steps are to review our top priorities and figure out how we will be addressing them, both through legislation and by other means
    o For example, asking the Office to poll school systems and assess available existing supports to

Action Items
• A. Livi to send out poll to see if we want to skip our November meetings
• A. Livi to work with T. Torres to set up schedule for collaboration on legislative submission
• T. Torres to send T. Harrison example of state commission’s notice to draft similar notice to clarify that we don’t speak for the mayor or the mayor’s office
• I. Lawrence to start looking into non-legislative ideas to help support queer youth

December 8th Meeting

Welcome to new commissioners and introductions

Councilwoman Porter’s request/Legislative agenda

  • Had a bill asking how the city can improve the health of the community
  • They divided into 3 sections
  • Had a hearing with councilwoman porter last week
  • The health department, bpd, housing, the office of lgbtq affairs all gave presentations
  • The goal is to ensure accountability and that support for the most marginalized is being provided
  • We need a liaison from the city council’s office – they might be supposed to have
  • Councilwoman Porter would like us to supply a list of proposals for her to present to the state  
  • Some of these issues intersect with global issues facing everyone in the state – the key is to make sure that the lgbtq community is included in those discussions
  • Jeremy Browning is interested to come to a committee meeting to talk about the legislative proposals which will be coming from the state commission
  • Tica will send out his proposed list again for all of the commissioners to review
  • Jayne – call for folks to bring forward examples of denial of service, etc., to lobby for legislation
  • Darcie proposes collaboration with the howard country commission as well

Youth Safety Assessment

  • Isaiah put together a possible plan to help us assess the safety of community youth – direct outreach and also collaborating with organizations that support youth
  • https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Cqus2k4vuonhhf5mXRx-Fi6yTH1UhJPbUZEpjMdL_NY/edit?usp=sharing
  • Need to build relationship with the school system – Caite has relationships with the school system via work, Darcie has connections with school-based restorative practices, Lauren has contacts in BCPS  
  • Will circle back to this item next meeting and potentially create a subcommittee

Pride Center collaboration

  • Merrick is now at Pride Center, needs support with programming for transmasc folks
  • Need to reconnect with the pride center, there’s been staff turnover  
  • Tica will be meeting with Traymor next week and will report back, will request a report on last year’s pride – corporate sponsors have not received any sort of report on the event either

Updates from the Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs

  • Pride 2026 – currently working with Pride center, tentative dates june 12-?
    • The Mayor has requested that the pride events be moved to Druid Hill Park
    • Safe Haven will be leading the charge for trans pride, which will occur the same weekend as general pride, but not the same day this year – two separate plans, only two festivals authorized to occur in the park during that weekend
  • Excited for the commission to work on legislative proposals
  • Alexis Blackmon-Newbie has resigned from the office of LGBTQ Affairs and will be moving to the deputy director of Safe Haven
  • SYNC updates
    • Need commissioners’ help to get folks to the table 
    • Link. Think. Sync. Baltimore LGBTQ Affairs Community Sync Flyer
  • December 11, 2025 Ho! Ho! Ho! Pleasure Please Event Flyer
  • Open Discussion:
    • Community input (standing item)
    • IT Updates/Teams access
  • Review next steps and Action Items
    • Add agenda items to next meeting  
    • Review meeting schedule
    • Pride 2026
    • Review Bylaws 


2026

January 16th Meeting

Attendance
Melanie Bryant, Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs Director
Andrea Burnette, Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs
Caite Debevec, LGBTQ+ Commissioner
Justin George, LGBTQ+ Commissioner
Tiane Harrison, LGBTQ+ Commissioner
Aubrey Livi, LGBTQ+ Commission Secretary
Matthew Menter, LGBTQ+ Commissioner
Dante Merrell, LGBTQ+ Commission Vice Chair
Jayne Miller, LGBTQ+ Commissioner
Kayla Morgan, LGBTQ+ Commissioner
Tica Torres, LGBTQ+ Commission Chair
Renee Lau, LGBTQ+ Commissioner
Isaiah Lawrence, LGBTQ+ Commissioner
Trystan Sill, LGBTQ+ Commissioner

Regrets
Melissa Deveraux, LGBTQ+ Commissioner
Lauren LaPorta, LGBTQ+ Commissioner
Trystan Sill, LGBTQ+ Commissioner
Todd Troester, LGBTQ+ Commissioner

Meeting Summary
• Monthly Commission Meeting Timing
    o K. Morgan suggested increasing the monthly meeting time.
    o D. Adams sent out a poll during the meeting to find timing preferences.
    o A. Livi to follow up and send out Doodle poll based on the results.
• Pride 2026
    o The Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs has initiated working groups with the Pride Center and Baltimore Safe Haven, which have signed MOUs.
    o Discussions include reviewing routes for the footprints for Pride and Trans Pride, which have been determined by the Mayor – both celebrations will occur in Druid Hill Park, but the parade route is still TBD.
    o J. Miller and M. Menter expressed dissatisfaction with the change in location, since last year’s route was successful, despite a lack of signage and communication.
    o Key takeaways from last year are that communication regarding location and starting points/routes need to be communicated clearly and early.
• Bylaws
    o D. Merrel is no longer an official member of the commission.
    o Commissioner terms should be concurrent with the Mayor’s term, but the terms which started in 2024 are 4 year terms which will carry over (Correction: the earlier terms do not carry over and all commissioners who were not sworn back in need to do so).
    o Commissioners who have not yet been sworn in are able to attend meetings, but do not have voting rights.
• Updates from the Office of LGBTQ Affairs
    o The best way to contact M. Bryant is via email.
    o The Mayor has requested to review any legislative recommendations the committee might make before they are shared with a broader audience.
    o There will be an upcoming financial disclosure request.

Upcoming events:
▪ Sex Education event February, hosted by Mx. Eden and RND associates.
▪ An event regarding fostering LGBTQ youth.
▪ In March, Freestate Justice will host another Know Your Rights event.
▪ Monthly Community Conversations.
▪ Freestate Justice will host a training in January.
 

Motions
Motion 1: Move to approve previous meeting minutes and agenda.
    Proposed: J. Miller
    Seconded: K. Morgan
    Aye: 12. Nay: 0. Abstain: 0.
    Motion passed.

Motion 2: Move to increase the monthly meeting time from 60 to 90 minutes or else meet twice a month for 60 minutes each.
    Proposed: K. Morgan
    Seconded: A. Livi
    Aye: 12. Nay: 0. Abstain: 0.
    Motion passed.

Motion 3: Move to make formal subcommittee for Community Round Table.
    Proposed: T. Sill
    Seconded: T. Harrison
    Aye: 8. Nay: 0. Abstain: 0.
    Motion passed.

Action Items
    • A. Livi to send out poll to find a new meeting time.
    • A. Livi to send out poll to determine who still needs to be sworn in.
    • A. Livi to send out poll to determine who lacks City Microsoft 360 access.

February 11th Meeting

Attendance
Darcie Adams, LGBTQ+ Commissioner
Melanie Bryant, Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs Director
Caite Debevec, LGBTQ+ Commissioner
Justin George, LGBTQ+ Commissioner
Tiane Harrison, LGBTQ+ Commissioner
Lauren LaPorta, LGBTQ+ Commissioner
Renee Lau, LGBTQ+ Commissioner
Isaiah Lawrence, LGBTQ+ Commissioner
Aubrey Livi, LGBTQ+ Commission Secretary
Matthew Menter, LGBTQ+ Commissioner
Dante Merrell, LGBTQ+ Commission Vice Chair
Jayne Miller, LGBTQ+ Commissioner
Kayla Morgan, LGBTQ+ Commissioner
Tica Torres, LGBTQ+ Commission Chair
Todd Troester, LGBTQ+ Commissioner
Trystan Sill, LGBTQ+ Commissioner

Regrets
Andrea Burnette, Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs
Melissa Deveraux, LGBTQ+ Commissioner

Meeting Summary
• Commissioner introductions
• Legislative testimony
    o T. Torres gave testimony on a hate crime bill that would impact the community.
    o The Commission would like to clarify our role with respect to what sorts of testimony and advice we are able to provide and to whom, how to clarify that our opinions don’t represent the Mayor’s, etc.
    o A meeting is to be arranged with the Mayor’s Office of Government Relations (MOGR).
    o The Commission is also seeking clarity regarding existent mechanisms and processes for advising the Mayor’s office and City Council regarding issues pertinent to the community.
    o Dana Moore, the liaison for Boards and Commissions, is planning a training to help clarify roles and expectations for Commissioners.
• Pride meetings
    o M. Bryant reports that the Mayor’s office will take care of the Pride Proclamation internally.
    o Pride is an event hosted by private organizations: the city will provide staging/permits, etc., and we can make recommendations, but it is up to the organizations to make the final determinations regarding how to run the events.
    o Pride will consist of one parade and two concurrent festivals (general Pride and Trans Pride), with two different footprints.
    o The commission should equally show support to all Prides - general, Trans, Black, etc. If the commission plans to walk in one parade or table at an event it should do the same for all of them.
    o Pride events are fund raising events for the organizations that run them – there are no plans at this time for the City to eventually take over the Pride festivities to ensure that the organizations don’t lose their funding sources.
• No other major updates from the Office of LGBTQ Affairs
• LGBTQ developers have come to D. Merrell with information they would like to share with the community, which may be relevant work for a Housing subcommittee.
• M. Bryant requests that the Commissioners help to host Community Conversations events if we have information to offer from their areas of expertise.

Motions
Motion 1: Move to approve previous meeting minutes and agenda.
    Proposed: J. Miller
    Seconded: K. Morgan
    Aye: 15. Nay: 0. Abstain: 0.
    Motion passed.

Motion 2: Motion to participate in the Pride parade in some capacity and make a subcommittee to handle the logistics.
    Proposed: T. Sill
    Seconded: C. Debevec
    Aye: 15. Nay: 0. Abstain: 0.
    Motion passed.

Action Items
    • A. Livi to investigate Teams meeting access issues.
    • T. Torres to disseminate a copy of the commission founding legislation.
    • TBD: disseminate a copy of MIMA’s handbook.
    • A. Livi to share list of City Teams access with D. Merrell.
    • D. Merrell to follow up with BCIT on our behalf wrt to access.
    • D. Merrell to put together housing draft to share with the commission.
    • A. Livi to create Pride subcommittee on WhatsApp.
    • Tica to send wrap-up email.

March 11th Meeting

Attendance
Darcie Adams, LGBTQ+ Commissioner
Melanie Bryant, Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs Director
Caite Debevec, LGBTQ+ Commissioner
Matthew Forte, LGBTQ+ Commissioner
Lauren LaPorta, LGBTQ+ Commissioner
Aubrey Livi, LGBTQ+ Commission Secretary
Matthew Menter, LGBTQ+ Commissioner
Jayne Miller, LGBTQ+ Commissioner
Kayla Morgan, LGBTQ+ Commissioner
Tica Torres, LGBTQ+ Commission Chair
Todd Troester, LGBTQ+ Commissioner
Renee Truth, Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs Deputy Director
Trystan Sill, LGBTQ+ Commissioner
 

Regrets
Andrea Burnette, Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs
Melissa Deveraux, LGBTQ+ Commissioner
Renee Lau, LGBTQ+ Commissioner
Justin George, LGBTQ+ Commissioner

Meeting Summary
• Commissioner introductions
• Updates from the Office of LGBTQ Affairs:
    o M. Bryant gave an intro to the commission role, responsibilities, and expectations.
    o We don’t speak for the mayor’s office, speaking for the commission itself should jointly be agreed upon and communicated via the chair
    o Reporting requirements – annual report is still required, bylaws required
    o The Commission is independent of the Mayor’s Office and our recommendations are allowed to be different from the administration’s position, but we have to go through a formal process and through the proper channels to make our statements. The Commission can be registered as an entity on the legislative testimony submission form. A process needs to be formalized to make sure that intended statements are reviewed in a timely manner.
    o Mechanisms to offer recommendations to city leadership:
        ▪ Will be included in the upcoming handbook, along with how the Commission holds the office accountable and vice versa.
        ▪ The Office is of the opinion that the Commission should engage community members via SYNC meetings and community events (town halls, etc), in partnership with the Office of Civil Rights and Equity.
    o Trans Day of Visibility is upcoming.
    o Big upcoming initiative: LGBTQ Center, hub for city centers and CBOs, and potentially a Welcome Center. A meeting is scheduled with the Wienberg Foundation and civic fund, the issue is being approached from an economic development perspective. M. Bryant with share the proposal with the group when it is ready.
        • LGBTQ Advocacy Day will be held next Monday in Annapolis. T. Sill put a carpooling link in the google calendar invite and will add further details in the Events channel.
    o Purpose of Advocacy Day: to meet with the LGBTQ Caucus in Annapolis and give them insight into issues affecting our community, mostly for next year’s session.
    o Should talk to Delegate Smith at the Planning Department regarding the City Center.
• The Office is planning an annual retreat/in-person meeting for the Commission
    o T. Sill offers space to host the retreat at a state park.
    o L. LaPorta offers space to host the retreat at an office.
• Bylaws need to be approved by the legal department before the commission can formally vote on things.
• The Office is accepting new applications for commissioners and working to create a standardized scoring metric for their selection, in which commissioners will have a say.
• T. Troester proposed that the commission engage with queer sports leagues for community engagement.
    o The CAPS Board (of which he is a member) has been talking about doing community outreach themselves.
    o Unmatched Athletes and Frontrunners, another queer sports league, has been included in the community SYNC meetings.
    o M. Bryant proposed that the commission use the community SYNC space to help coordinate across the queer sports groups, could do some sort of cross community queer sporting events during pride
• City Microsoft access – these difficulties are occurring across all boards and commissions. Commissioners are supposed to be able to have a city email that is not crossed into BCIT, but at the moment we still need to use WhatsApp.
• For Pride, the Office of LGBTQ Affairs will be providing a float that we are all welcome to ride on - we have a free slot in the parade.

Motions
N/A

Action Items
• T. Troester to begin reaching out to contacts in CAPS
• M. Bryant to schedule a meeting with T. Troester to brainstorm about cross-sports league events, etc.
• A. Livi to send D. Adams the list of names for email needs
• A. Livi to send out Doodle Poll for Bylaws working meeting

June 24th Meeting

I. Opening 
   A. Tica started meeting at 6:13 PM 
B. Roll call 
   1. Absences: 
       a) Melissa Deveran
       b) Matt Meuler 
C. Overview 
   1. Purpose of the meeting: reset and solidify the terms 
   2. Cannot take comments from the public but they can be here for the meeting 
II. Dr. Bryant 
   A. Appreciation for commission 
       1. Working, level-setting, understanding expectations of each other, and how we can work together to make sure the commission are the eyes and ears of the community 
   B. Acknowledgement of on-the-job learning adjustment 
   C. Bylaws are still in legal department for review 
III. Jill 
   A. On Women’s and Veteran’s Commission 
       1. Both support the LGBTQ+ 
   B. Advice: 
       1. Refer back to the Statute 
           a) All of the work comes after that 
           b) How do we interpret these bullet points and make them a reality? 
           c) Set priorities for the year and focus on one or two of those for the first year 
           d) What is the most achievable? What is the biggest need for the community? 
       2. Go back to the Mayor’s Action Plan 
           a) How does our work intersect with this? 
       3. Be in the community 
           a) What are the urgent needs? What is being overlooked? 
           b) Advisory function 
       4. Work around the blocks 
           a) As the bylaws are in development, use them as a framework to start doing the work before they are already in place but not the end-all, be-all 
           b) Utilize partners and departments with budgets since we do not have one and fundraising can be challenging 
               (1) Keep lobbying for funding 
               (2) Utilize Dr. Bryant for lobbying 
   C. Question/Answer: 
       1. Where can we find the Mayor’s Action Plan? 
           a) It came out two weeks ago, it comes out every term 
           b) Available on the website 
       2. Relationship between the staff person/office and the Commission. In terms of work ideas functioning, how does that relationship work? 
           a) “Commission is driving the ideation, projects, what they want to do, what their priorities are. Staff person provides the resources to be able to do that.” 
           b) Follow up- Who is our staff person? 
               (1) Dr. Melanie Bryant 
               (2) New (unpaid) intern for a year: Candida 
       3. Can you give an example of a project from your commission? 
           a) Anna wanted to do a State of the Womb. What do birthing people need? They partnered with Empact Art so it was an art therapy practice while talking through counseling. 
               (1) Partnered with Morgan State also to give volunteer hours from conversation notes 
                   (a) Created statue with community involvement 
                   (b) Listening information lead to list of legislative priorities 
       4. Under Open Meetings Act, we are allowed to have open to public comment. Is tonight a unique situation? 
           a) It is discretionary and decided by the chair. 
           b) Dr. Bryant - If this were a retreat, it would be closed. Because we knew the commission would have questions about Pride, that is why it is open. 
               (1) Any meeting that the commission decides is that way. 
           c) This website has listed the meeting in advance for the public
   D. Additional resources: 
       1. Community support 
           a) Work requirements, SNAP eligibility, volunteer hours 
           b) Student volunteer hours
   E. Officer Positions 
           a) Typically, 
               (1) Chair - sets agenda and conduct for meeting 
               (2) Vice Chair - steps in to lead and generally support the chair 
               (3) Secretary - keeper of the minutes AND ensuring the Open Meeting Act is ensured 
   F. Alice Kennedy 
       1. Documentation 
           a) Mayor’s Action Plan will be emailed along with any other paperwork, presentations, etc. we might need 
IV. Dana Moore 
   A. Senior Advisor for Boards and Commissions 
       1. This is a new position 
       2. Board and Commission will be used interchangeably 
   B. Created “The Importance and Impact of Commission Service” 
       1. Commissioners are sworn government officials 
           a) Ethics filing 
               (1) Question: even as a volunteer? If we have trouble getting people to volunteer, why are we making the procedure more difficult by providing such personal information as non-paid employees? 
                  (a) Since we have decision-making ability, it has an impact on the community. 
           b) We have power, access, and a responsibility to the community that come with extra responsibilities 
               (1) Question: who is monitoring our social media? 
                   (a) No one is personally looking over accounts, but a member of the community reported a post 
                   (b) Question: what if we say something critical of the mayor? 
                        (i) You have First Amendment rights 
           c) Representation of the Mayor 
               (1) It is in the LGBTQ Commission Handbook 
       2. Keep information relevant 
           a) Website 
           b) Meetings notes 
           c) Question: is the expectation that we update the website? 
               (1) Answer: Dr. Bryant - we put in a new request for the website and submit it through a ticket. This is the process for minutes as well. 
       3. “Crayon Constraints Challenge” 
           a) Drawing #1 
               (1) Money, safety, and awareness going into the city 
                   (a) We need unified resources 
           b) Drawing #2 
               (1) Structure and building blocks 
                   (a) Create opportunities for people to feel like they have a place in the system 
               (2) Dandelion 
                   (a) We might seem fragile but will not be blown away 
           c) Drawing #3 
               (1) Question mark about serving on the Commission 
               (2) Star and money it can be strengthened by money, resources, and accessibility 
               (3) City to represent heart and more money 
           d) Drawing #4 
               (1) Anxiety and jagged edges but surrounded by some warmth 
           e) Drawing #5 
               (1) Commission can be strengthened by what we learned as kids: respect, listening, communication and serving community 
           f) Drawing #6 
               (1) Coming together but with curiosity as opposed to with answers and unwillingness to change 
           g) Drawing #7 
               (1) Pass 
           h) Drawing #8 
               (1) Strengthen for OUR community, not THE community 
            i) Drawing #9 
               (1) Time, money, more opportunities for community events outside of Pride 
            j) Drawing #10 
               (1) Time into community growth 
           k) Drawing #11
               (1) Highway to policy 
            l) Drawing #12 
               (1) Obama O in HOPE with inclusion pride flag to represent hope 
           m) Drawing #13 
               (1) Commission is not reflective of the population of Baltimore 
            n) Drawing #14 
               (1) Two ears for more intentional listening because it is so easy to get drowned out in the noise 
    C. How does the role of the charter impact any weight because we have to uphold the oath and signings? 
        1. Duties, power, responsibility, and state impact 
        2. We are an extension of the city 
        3. Question to Jane: What is the concern of position semantics? 
            a) Answer: I do not speak for anyone other than myself. There is a group of people coming from different backgrounds to be an advisory commission and sometimes statements need to be made to impact public policy. I don’t think anyone who needed to vet that personal impact statement should be from the Mayor’s Office for legislation that impacts our community. 
               (1) Follow up: there is a way to get office awareness without being tone-inconsistent 
                    b) While we are serving on the Commission, if there were ever a time we don’t agree with something that is happening, that is more pertinent. 
                (1) The timeliness needs to be addressed. We had many concerns 
                (2) Alice Kennedy - Mayor Relations will be here in July on how that process can work to help 
V. Dr. Bryant 
    A. Tica: we WANT to speak up and out about concerns, but how do we provide that? 
        1. Dr. Bryant - can be directly addressed to her 
    B. Communication 
        1. We have been using WhatsApp (open to MPIA Act) 
        2. All personal emails have been submitted to Teams for access 
        3. Leadership call has been established outside of the monthly call 
        4. Structure of the work - how do we function? 
            a) Email or phone call direct calls, concerns, and questions 
            b) We can set up one-on-one and if issues arise they can be brought back up to the group 
        5. It is the Commission’s job to drive the project 
    C. Pride 
        1. There are some things being handled internally so not everything can be spoken on 
            a) What is the commission’s role for bigger issues? 
            b) The permit side of things: were there issues that resulted in the separate block party? 
                (1) Permit city piece - any organization that wants to exercise their rights to gather can do that. It is the city’s responsibility to issue permits. The organizations who lead Pride and Trans Pride get 50% off of city services. For permitting, there is a timeline that checks off things that need to happen. 
        2. Can we create a form to send out to the community? 
            a) Yes. We can create and send out a form that will allow community to respond whether or not they want to come to the July meeting 
    D. Meeting ended: 7:37 PM

July 8th Meeting
  1. Opening 
    1. Call the meeting to order 6:08
    2. Adhering to MD Open Meeting Act 
    3. Roll call
    4. Minutes from last meeting: approved
    5. Agenda for 7/8 : approved 
  2. Bylaws
    1. JM - object to Line 7 in the city code “perform any other duty required by the mayor”  
      1. TT - the only relevant line in our bylaws is 2.2 
      2. MB - we serve at the pleasure of the Mayor, which includes if our office is going to be involved. The bylaws mirror the ordinance but it is not a directly quoted mandate. If there is a question about requests, any commissioner is not comfortable completing that request will be documented and we act accordingly. 
      3. JM - the commission should have some level of operational independence from the Mayor’s office directly
        1. TT - that has been confirmed that we are our own independent identities and can make our own statements as a group, but we need to establish more scaffoldings in subcommittees. We have our first amendment right in application to the commission, public statements, community sync meetings, etc.
        2. We are going to specifically meet with legal to confirm avenues of language 
        3. MB - the committee can disagree with policy, but there are processes and timelines in place for disagreement, discussion, and communication 
    2. LL - there is no protocol for offboarding procedures
      1. TT - we can have an addendum or a separate running document for edits on this point 
    3. TT - we can edit at any time but it needs to be approved through legal. This is just our first draft and is a living document that can be expanded upon 
    4. Approval from full members 
  3. Officer Elections 
    1. We need a chair, vice chair, and secretary 
    2. Nominations:  
      1. Tica Torres - I nominate Lauren LaPorta for Secretary 
      2. Trystan Sill - I re-nominate Tica Torres for Chair 
      3. Lauren LaPorta - I nominate Darcie Adams 
      4. Trystan Sill - I nominate myself for this position. 
      5. Caite Debevec - I nominate Justin for either Secretary or Co-Chair
      6. Tica Torres - nominations for Kayla Morgan as Co-Chair and Trystan as Co-Chair and/or Secretary 
    3. KM - Before we move forward, we should revisit the list of nominations from two months ago 
      1. Co-Chair:
        1. Trystan - I have been on the re-designed commission and original commission. I am an active meeting participant and good at communication through coordination to be a support. I can also take notes and organize minutes as Secretary and would be happy. As far as experience goes, I have worked for state government for almost 16 years and coordinating large groups. 
        2. Justin is abstaining to run
        3. Kayla - I can work on the roll and work within the role and supportive of Tica. I am not fulfilling traditional tasks but I have good memory and work habits. I am a manager in my professional life, so thinking on the go, collaboration, and multitasking. Feedback, critiques, and alternative perspectives are important. Creating a pipeline to the community is why I’m here. 
      2. Secretary:
        1. Lauren - I am doctoral student in Multicultural and Gender Studies. I was a teacher for ten years and I want to work in educational and policy reform in the future. I want to bring in voices of my community members and create something long-lasting. 
    4. Results:
      1. Trystan won co-chair 
      2. Trystan and Lauren tied for Secretary. Trystan has removed themselves from the running. Lauren is Secretary 
  4. Subcommittees  
    1. TT - I want to change the name of one of the committees; the Standing Events committee? We want to restructure to work priorities that we talked about.
    2. Chairs will be in charge of setting their own meeting time and location. Connect with Candita to set that up 
    3. Commissioners are to reach out to chairs to join the committees
    4. TT motion to create an Events committee 
      1. KM seconded
    5. Assigned chairs by Tica 
      1. Youth 
        1. Nominated Chair - Caite Debevec  (accepted)
      2. Policy - holding off on on deciding 
        1. Nominated Chair - suggested Matt M (but need to be confirmed as he was absent)
      3. Changing "Committee to Help the Office” to Fundraising
        1. Nominated Chair - Todd Troester (accepted)
      4. Events -  holding off on on deciding 
        1. Nominated Chair - Kayla Morgan (turned down)
    6. Events committee has been created. There will be conversation about what events we are able to run and how that looks. 
  5. Updates from the Office 
    1. MB - All subcommittees and officers will be invited to monthly meetings to keep channels of communication open and report out on what is happening 
      1. This meeting will be 8/5
    2. Events coming up
      1. 7/23 - African Spirituality in LGBTQIA+ communities
      2. Greedy Reads collaboration in August 
      3. Looking to create a 6-month schedule of events 
  6. Open Discussion 
    1. TS - IT issues 
      1. TT - standing agenda item 
      2. CD - are other commissions dealing with this?
        1. MB - it is a security issue we are working with 
    2. RL - 7/25 community cookout at 814 N. Collington, 12-4
    3. ToT - services
      1. MVLS can promote services; they serve the entire state 
      2. Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP),        7/22 - Union Craft Brewing, 5:30 - 7:30 PM. Free for anyone wanting to network! 
    4. Pride
      1. RL - 
        1. waiting until resolution with the Mayor’s Office. We [the trans community] feel that we have to go back to how it was prior – a one day event that is for the trans community. 
        2. From a commissioner’s perspective, what happened in Safety City was unconscionable. They did not have a copy of the footprint, and she ended up doing security alone despite there being reported issues. It was just too much. Too much change too quick and the location was horrible. The community/parade/block party is what it has always been, and the day should remain as a community event. 
        3. Safe Haven does not use trans pride as a fundraiser. Most of the vendors were there for free. We don’t want to be AFRAM or Artscape. Just appreciate what the community does for us. 
      2. TT - How do we address this? 
        1. MB - we don’t provide any details/support outside of permits. Those partnerships are the ones that allow them discounts on those permits. Two separate requests for footprints were seen and approved. Multiple site visits were done to locations and chosen by each organization. The city does not operate Pride or Trans Pride, we just provide access to space. The city also paid for additional security
        2. TT - what we want is for adjust culture, so what can we do to curb that? 
        3. RL - let the Pride Center do their thing with permits. 
          1. Issues:
            1. Entertainers being paid not to perform because they came at 4:00 
            2. They paid additional security and sanitation 
        4. JM - the event is disconnect and disjointed. The perception is that the city took it over 
        5. MB - there were over 20k people, and we need to consider the safety of people and where they can safely congregate. We provided route options to specifically connect the parade to the park. Since that was rejected, it is on the responsibility of the organizers to communicate that route update 
        6. TT - more offline conversation needs to be had moving forward 
        7. TS - I hear there were a lot of issues and grievances but also not sure who is in charge of what issue, so what is OUR resolution? Do we want to reach out to the organizers to let them know what was said? It is in our bylaws that we can discuss with community stakeholders. 
        8. MB - there is a series of mediations and meetings moving forward between the organizations. How can we get the opinions of the community? Through Town Halls? Input meetings? This is reflective of how it looks on Baltimore’s LGBTQ+ community. 
          1. TT - there will be a work group hopefully created as a result of these meetings 
          2. MB - they are also creating a Town Hall within the LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce 
        9. ToT - Second to Dr. Bryant. The hate out there is enough and we don’t need internal enemies 
  7. Closing
    1. JM - call to adjourn 7:55, ToT seconded