My voice is shaking and my hands are trembling because I am not a public speaker. I am simply a daughter of 54 years, a wife of 33 years, a mother of 29 years, a mother-in-law of 5 years and a grandmother of just 10 months. That tells you two things. First, I am the model of your traditional American family. Second, I am old enough to know that I am not the one who ought to be trembling. You, the people in power, with the power to hurt or help people, ought to be trembling before you take this vote.

When I was a little girl, we used to pledge the flag every morning in school. I didn't know then how empty the words "with liberty and justice for all" really were. That came in adulthood when I realized those words really meant with liberty and justice for only those the people in power deem appropriate.

I believe that your edict, like that of the medical community, should be "first do no harm". As far as I can tell, no matter the mask you put on it, this bill does only harm. It perpetuates persecution and maligns an entire group of people.

I am fairly certain that homosexuality is something you are uneducated about and very afraid of! Table this vote. Educate yourselves.

Just ten years ago I was not unlike many of you. Then my younger son shared his secret. I had a choice—turn my back on him, accept all the hateful and insidious messages that were so readily available and easy to digest, or learn what homosexuality was really about. Believing that education is never harmful, I chose the latter. I read everything I could get my hands on from propaganda to scientific journals. I even called Dr. Johnson of the team of Masters and Johnson in St. Louis.

Today I can tell you it is horribly painful to stand here and have to justify the very existence of one of the finest human beings I have ever met. He is my son. He is bright, caring, compassionate, talented, self-supporting and tax paying. He is one of my greatest blessings. He might even have brought some joy to you if you happened to have seen his performance as "Riff" in "West Side Story" at the Baltimore Lyric Opera House just last month.

Make no mistake, this is personal. This legislation is designed to hurt my son, humiliate my son, and insult my son when he would never harm anyone.

While I speak personally, as a member of PFLAG (Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) my voice represents thousands of sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, aunts and uncles in the State.

Table this vote. There is no dishonor in not knowing but much dishonor in choosing to remain ignorant. Educate yourselves, then we can talk about this with information based in facts and not buzz words that give safe harbor to hatred and fear.