Members of Baltimore’s transgender community feel they were mistreated at a Pride event

[00:00:00]Back in at 5:30, while it was meant to be a time to celebrate, Baltimore Pride this past weekend has left some feeling short-changed.

[00:00:06]>> That's right. The city's trans community is speaking out saying they were mistreated. Our Dennis Valera is live outside City Hall, and Dennis, there are calls for a resignation.

[00:00:18]>> Yeah, Nikki and Rick, specifically from the mayor's office of LGBTQ Affairs.

[00:00:22]Now, Maryland Safe Haven, they are a trans-led organization that puts on Trans Pride. And anyone who went to the festivities this weekend noticed that the Trans Pride celebrations were noticeably distant from the general Baltimore Pride celebrations.

[00:00:38]>> Dear Mayor Scott, this letter serves as a formal expression of concern >> That's the start of the letter Maryland Safe Haven sent to Mayor Brandon Scott with their concerns of how Trans Pride was handled this year. While it was also held in Druid Hill Park, it was placed further away from the other Pride celebrations. Renee Lau is with Maryland Safe Haven. She says the divide hurt to see, and they want Melanie Bryant, the head of the mayor's office of LGBTQ Affairs, to step down. Also starting a petition.

[00:01:04]>> We feel now we have to go back to standing in front of City Hall and shouting at the top of our lungs to get ourselves heard again. We don't want to have to do that.

[00:01:14]>> Dominique Morgan was the grand marshal for Trans Pride this year.

[00:01:17]>> So, I walked down the hill, and I was like, "Okay, this isn't crazy far, but why is everything so separated? This feels awkward."

[00:01:25]>> She got permission to make an announcement about Trans Pride on the main stage, but when she did, someone took the mic from her, and security was asked to move her.

[00:01:33]>> It was disgusting in the fact that this is supposed to be a day where we all get to celebrate, and it was disgusting in the fact that I know the privilege that I sit in, and I know there's some there's some younger trans girl watching that right now saying, "Well, that happened to Dominique Morgan, how are they going to treat me?"

[00:01:47]>> The Pride Center of Maryland has apologized, also putting out a statement it's cut ties with the entertainment company that helps organize Pride.

[00:01:54]Morgan says she'll still come back next year.

[00:01:56]>> I can't wait to come back next year and us do a redo.

[00:01:59]>> And Lao says Trans Pride will be better than ever.

[00:02:01]>> We're going to go back to our roots and we're going to try to make it a community neighborhood festival again instead of this blown out thing that never got to be.

[00:02:16]>> Now, Maryland Safe Haven also says that Baltimore police shut down their event at 9:00 Saturday night when their permit allowed them to go on until midnight.

[00:02:24]Now, on the phone earlier I did speak with a senior city official and she did tell me that the mayor has seen the letter and that he will respond to Maryland Safe Haven at a later time.

[00:02:35]Also, that they merely support the organizations that put on the pride events, that they don't necessarily organize them them themselves. Now, we also were told that Safe Haven was presented with multiple other locations before going forward with the one Trans Pride ended up in. We're reporting live on your corner from downtown. I'm Dennis Flaherty for WJZ.