Advocates for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in Maryland say they see Tuesday's elections as a mixed bag -- some good, some bad and some ugly.
Among the ugliest, according to advocates, was a disingenuous robocall sent last week to voters in Anne Arundel County by an unknown (or fake) group urging them to call the mother of a gay County Council candidate to thank him for coming out and supporting the Fairness for All Marylanders Act.
That law recently banned discrimination against transgender Marylanders in employment and other public accommodations. The recording says the law allows transgender people to go into any bathroom of their choosing "based on their confused gender identity."
Advocates believe it was sent to drum up anti-gay opposition to Patrick Armstrong's bid to become a councilman.
Carrie Evans, executive director of Equality Maryland, the state's largest LGBT advocacy group, said she was alerted to the message -- left on the voicemail of an Equality Maryland supporter -- last week. The message lacked identifying information about the sender, required by law, and was confusing enough to make the supporter think it had come from Equality Maryland, Evans said.
"We were like, 'Yeah, that is definitely not us,'" Evans said.
Election officials said they have forwarded the matter to the state prosecutor's office.
Evans said opponents relying on unfounded fears about the Fairness for All Marylanders Act is "really unfair to voters."
Here's a further breakdown of the election from Evans' perspective.
The good: In total, 94 percent of the candidates endorsed by the political action committee of Equality Maryland were elected into office.
The group's candidate for governor, Democrat Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, was not among the victors, losing to Republican challenger Larry Hogan. But Evans said the group plans to take Hogan's "word for it" that he wants to represent all Marylanders, and welcomes the opportunity to work with him.
"Equality Maryland can't stop our agenda for equality and fairness based on who's in the governor's office. We didn't do it under Governor Ehrlich and we don't plan to do it under Hogan," Evans said. "We're going to try to find those areas where we can agree."
Evans said she invited Hogan to the group's brunch next week -- honoring Gov. Martin O'Malley for his support over the years -- and hopes he can make it.