Marilyn Mosby Invites Community to Court to Promote LGBT Awareness
by
Wcbm
The Office of the State’s Attorney for Baltimore City has invited the community to court on Oct. 22 to learn ways to work with law enforcement to promote LGBTQ Victim Awareness, the challenges in bringing justice in these matters and a viewpoint from the leaders in criminal justice advocacy. The event, which is free, will take place between 8:30 a.m.-12 p.m. at the Mitchell Courthouse, 100 N. Calvert St., Room 100 in Baltimore.
“We know that LGBTQ people experience incredibly high rates of discrimination and victimization, but so many choose not to report crimes out of fear that they will not be taken seriously, or worse that they will experience discrimination at the hands of those institutions designed to protect our community from discrimination,” Patrick Paschall, the executive director of FreeState Justice, which is partnering with State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby for this event, told the Blade. “And we know that the only way to start the process of bridging these gaps is to build trust between the communities and the courts, so LGBTQ people feel they have a voice in the legal system and so members of the legal profession understand the experiences of LGBTQ people.”
Paschall adds, “Our goals with this program are to remove barriers for LGBTQ victims, identify best practices for interacting with LGBTQ victims, and inform the LGBTQ community about where an how to report crimes or navigate the legal system.”
