Gay Guide

Annapolis

Baltimore, Frederick, Gaithersburg

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In 1999 a Maryland court overturned the state's anti-gay sodomy law in the case of Williams v. State. The Baltimore City Circuit Court entered judgment prohibiting the state from enforcing either of the state's two laws regulating private sex acts. Because the state conducts all criminal prosecutions in Maryland, both laws are now invalid and unenforceable. Maryland is one of the 13 US states which has anti-discrimination laws protecting lesbian and gays. The legislation covers public and private employment, public and private housing and union practices.

5.30 million

Maryland lies in a region about midway between the rigorous climates of the North and the mild climates of the South, adjacent to the modifying influences of the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Appalachian Mountains to the west. Since this region is near the average path of the low pressure systems which move across the country, changes in wind direction are frequent and contribute to the changeable character of the weather. The net effect of the mountains to the west and the Bay and Ocean to the east is to produce a more equable climate compared with other continental locations farther inland at the same latitude. While hot, humid, muggy periods of weather are not uncommon during the warmer months, they are frequently attended by afternoon or evening thundershowers or night time breezes which provide some relief from uncomfortable conditions. The best time to visit is during the summer months from May to September though if you do not like the heat come early or late in the season.