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His record as Maryland's governor shows that he is no friend to the LGBTQ+ community, according to political insiders in the state.
Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who is running for U.S. Senate as an ostensibly moderate Republican who can work across political divides, is actually no friend to LGBTQ+ people, say activists and elected officials from his state. In a recent teletown hall, he evaded questions on his record when asked by someone who identified as gay.
At that recent campaign event, the gay Marylander confronted him about his failure to sign some bills that would protect LGBTQ+ rights and people. Hogan alternately said he didn’t know what bills the person was referring to or that he didn’t oppose them and they became law anyway.
Hogan let several pro-LGBTQ+ bills become law without his signature and opposed others. He was governor of Maryland from 2015 to 2023, and he is running against Democrat Angela Alsobrooks for the Senate seat being vacated by Ben Cardin, also a Democrat, who is retiring after three terms. Alsobrooks, the county executive of Prince George’s County, has the endorsement of Cardin, the Human Rights Campaign, People for the American Way, many labor unions, and other progressive groups.
"I am a gay Marylander, and I'm very aware that as an ex-governor, there were many LGBTQ rights bills that passed without your signature, including laws that outlawed the LGBTQ panic defense," the caller said in a recording obtained by The Advocate. "Your decision to not sign these bills is concerning to me, because I'm aware that in the Senate, many bills pass or fail by a single vote. So as a gay Marylander, how can I count on you to protect me and my peers?"
Hogan responded, "Bills passed, and they became law, and I did not oppose them, and so I don't know exactly which bills you're referring to or when they passed."
In 2014, while running for governor, Hogan told The Baltimore Sun’s editorial board he opposed a bill to ban discrimination based on gender identity and expression in employment, housing, and public accommodations. It was passed by the legislature and signed into law by his predecessor as governor, Democrat Martin O’Malley.
Hogan once said he was “not a proponent” of marriage equality, but he would not interfere with voters’ approval of it. O’Malley signed a marriage equality bill into law in 2012, but opponents gathered enough signatures to refer the issue to voters in a referendum, which appeared on Maryland's ballot as Question 6. Voters did affirm the law that year.
In the 1990s, he opposed President Bill Clinton’s effort to lift the ban on military service by gay, lesbian, and bisexual people (the plan, which hit a wall in Congress, resulted in the compromise of “don’t ask, don’t tell”). In 1992, he ran against incumbent Democrat Steny Hoyer for U.S. House and lost. A few months after the election, preparing for another run he ultimately decided against, Hogan “criticized Hoyer for supporting Clinton’s plan to allow gays in the military,” according to The Washington Post.
Later, as governor, Hogan failed to sign bills passed by the legislature expanding the definition of hate crimes to include those based on gender identity; prohibiting medical professionals and facilities from discriminating against patients for their sexual orientation, gender identity, or numerous other traits; banning the gay and trans “panic” defenses in assault and murder cases; making gender identity a protected characteristic; and several other pro-LGBTQ+ bills. He did not veto them, but they became law without his signature.
He did sign a bill in 2018 barring health care professionals from subjecting minors to conversion therapy, which is designed to turn LGBTQ+ people straight or cisgender. Major medical and mental health groups have denounced the practice as ineffective and harmful.
He also had to reissue an anti-bias order because his original order did not protect state employees from discrimination based on gender identity or marital status.
Hogan’s campaign website doesn’t include a section on LGBTQ+ issues. In contrast, Alsobrooks’s site section on “Equality” notes that as Prince George’s County executive, she appointed the county’s first LGBTQ+ liaison. “She will continue to stand up for the rights of LGBTQ+ Americans, including the right to marry, grow their families, and live free from discrimination, in the Senate,” the section continues. “She will strongly oppose Republican efforts to undermine equality and promote discrimination including the recent wave of anti-trans legislation in some Republican led legislatures. Angela believes we must speak out against anti-trans hate and violence, from bullying in our schools, to violent hate-based crimes, to discriminatory legislation.”
In endorsing Alsobrooks, HRC President Kelley Robinson said, “Angela Alsobrooks has always been a champion for equality and freedom, from her support for the state law that legalized same-sex marriage in 2012, to becoming the first Maryland county executive to authorize flying the Progress Pride flag over county buildings, and much more. With everything at stake and democracy itself hanging in the balance, Marylanders deserve that kind of champion. Angela is a trailblazer who is poised to defeat Trump-endorsed Republican Larry Hogan and become the first Black woman from Maryland to serve in the U.S. Senate. The Human Rights Campaign is excited and proud to put our full support behind Angela Alsobrooks and help rally Maryland’s voters to elect her in November.”
In the endorsement release, Alsobrooks said, “I am very honored to earn the endorsement of the Human Rights Campaign. In the United States Senate, I will always stand up for the rights of LGBTQ+ Americans and make sure we have a future where our freedoms are always protected. That’s why this race is so critical. This race will determine who gets the 51st seat and which party will control the agenda.”
Other Democratic Maryland politicians are speaking out as well, both on the need to elect an LGBTQ+ ally over the unreliable Hogan and to maintain Democratic control of the Senate.
"Republican Larry Hogan can’t rewrite history,” Anne Kaiser, a member of the Maryland House of Delegates and the state’s Legislative LGBTQ+ Caucus, said in a statement to The Advocate. “Hogan made clear throughout his time as governor that he will not stand up for Maryland’s LGBTQ+ community. If elected to the Senate, Hogan could be the 51st seat Republicans need to push forward an agenda that’ll rip away rights from LGBTQ+ Marylanders.”
“Republicans need one more Senate seat to control the agenda,” added Mary Washington, a state senator who is also a member of the LGBTQ+ Caucus. “If Larry Hogan is elected, he’d turn the Senate over to Republicans and help roll back the progress that the Biden-Harris Administration has made to ensure that ALL families in Maryland have the protections we need. Our community can’t afford a Republican-controlled Senate flipped by Larry Hogan.”
