EDGE Washington

A transgender activist and House of Delegates candidate has filed a complaint with the Montgomery County Human Rights Commission in response to an ethics investigation launched against her.

Doctor Dana Beyer announced last month at a Rockville press conference she had filed the complaint to respond to accusations Maryland Citizens for Responsible Government made against her. The organization claimed Beyer used her position as a senior political adviser to County Councilmember Duchy Tractenberg [D-At Large] to intimidate those who campaigned to repeal an anti-discrimination ordinance.

Beyer also serves as the vice chair of Equality Maryland. And she is a candidate for the House of Delegates after she lost a previous bid to go to Annapolis.

At the Nov. 17 press conference and in a recent interview with EDGE, Beyer expressed her belief the current ethics investigation is a politically orchestrated move designed to smear her public image and damage her campaign.

As for the origins of the ethics investigation, Beyer said she feels those who opposed the passage of Montgomery Country’s Gender Identity and Non-Discrimination Bill-- which she was instrumental in establishing--spurred the effort behind the complaint.

"They were originally part of a group calling themselves Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum," Beyer explained. "They morphed into Citizens for Responsible Government."

That group made a failed attempt to petition the Gender Identity and Non-Discrimination Bill through referendum in Montgomery Country. And in response, Equality Maryland created Basic Rights Montgomery.

"In the winter of 2008, around the time of the Democratic primaries, they were collecting signatures to put this on the ballot for November," Beyer recalled. "I was part of that cadre of people working the streets in active opposition to the signature drive."

It’s at that point, Beyer maintained, disgruntled members of the opposition began to personally target her.

"They sued me and Equality Maryland within a month of the Court of Appeals decision in our favor," she said. "They filed a slew of ethics charges against me. They claim I surrounded people. I don’t know how one person can surround anybody."

Beyer says the county’s Ethics Commission investigated the claims, and members "decided to charge me with one of those complaints" in what she described as "a blatantly political and discriminatory move."

That charge remained unknown for months - until this past August, when someone searched both her computer and voice mail.

"My boss informally told me I’d been charged with the code that says a public employee cannot intimidate a citizen in pursuit of political action," Beyer contended.

Equality Maryland continues to maintain the commission should not have brought the complaint against Beyer.

"She did her work with Basic Rights Montgomery as a private citizen and part of the Equality Maryland board," the organization said. "She was not doing this work on county time or representing herself as county employee."

Equality Maryland further echoed Beyer’s belief the charges are politically motivated. And meanwhile, Beyer’s grievance with the county’s Human Rights Commission allows her to file suit in circuit court up to 45 days after she filed it.

"They claim they resolve all complaints within a year to 15 months, which is way too long for me." she said. "My boss asked for federal intervention by filing a complaint with the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. We’re awaiting a response."

County attorney Ed Lattner would not confirm or deny the investigation against Beyer when EDGE contacted him.

"It’s not that I don’t want to talk; it’s that matters before the ethics panel are confidential," he said.

Beyer was quick to counter.

"The problem here is that the oversight agencies of the county have been corrupted," he said.