(Baltimore, Md.) A Maryland court ruled that a referendum petition seeking to overturn a county law which added gender identity as a protected characteristic should be allowed on the ballot this fall.

“The referendum is a drastic measure to block a law that was unanimously passed by the duly elected Montgomery County Council after extensive public hearings,” said Natalie Chin, Staff Attorney at Lambda Legal.

“The court agreed with our arguments but said we didn’t make them soon enough. We disagree and will be seeking an appeal,” she said.

On Nov. 13, 2007, the Montgomery County council unanimously passed an act adding gender identity as a protected characteristic under the county’s civil rights law.

A group calling itself Citizens for Responsible Government immediately began collecting signatures to block the law from going into effect.

Lambda Legal, together with Equality Maryland, represented Montgomery County registered voters who oppose the referendum effort. They say repeal would set back the clock on civil rights in Montgomery.

In court papers filed on June 16, Lambda Legal argued that the Montgomery County Board of Elections used the wrong formula to determine the required number of signatures needed to put the measure on the ballot.

Lambda argued and the court agreed that the calculation was incorrectly derived from five percent of  “active” voters when state law requires counting all registered voters—resulting in a shortfall of hundreds of signatures.

“Strict compliance is supposed to provide safeguards for the vulnerable minority that the law is intended to protect and this ruling disregards those safeguards,” said Carrie Evans, Equality Maryland policy director.

“We are working with our attorneys to assess where we go from here. In the meantime, Basic Rights Montgomery, a broad-based coalition working to ensure this law remains in place, is in full swing.”

The anti-discrimination law under attack was unanimously passed after extensive public hearings.