The ACLU of Maryland is deeply saddened by the passing of State Senator Gwendolyn T. Britt, a champion of justice and equality. Senator Britt was from Prince George’s County, and served as Chairwoman of the Prince George’s County Delegation and Secretary of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland.

Her accomplishments were many, but perhaps her unique contribution was her belief that civil rights ought to be indivisible and universal. From her youth, Senator Britt was a leader in the fight for civil rights. Although a native Marylander, she traveled to Mississippi as a Freedom Rider and was jailed for 40 days for trying to desegregate a whites-only train station waiting area. Nearer to home in 1960, she was arrested trying to integrate Glen Echo Park.

Senator Britt had a commitment to youth and public education, both in Prince George’s and in policy at the state level. She took a lead role on issues and bills related to truancy, suspensions of youth from school, and requirements for graduation. Senator Britt, at a recent Legislative Black Caucus session on High School Assessments, expressed her determination that students receive the educational support needed to pass the tests and that the state should ensure that the minority achievement gap be addressed.

Senator Britt unequivocally and unhesitatingly embraced civil marriage equality as a civil rights issue important to her. Immediately following the Court of Appeals ruling last year denying committed same-sex couples and their families equal access to the protections of civil marriage, she announced her intent to sponsor legislation to correct this gross inequity. She became a lead sponsor of the “Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act”, a founding member of the Maryland Black Family Alliance, and a unifying force for all those involved in civil rights work in the Free State.

Senator Britt also was pivotal in restoring the crucial right to vote to former offenders who have paid their debt to society, the denial of which had long been a stain on our democracy. In sponsoring the legislation that swiftly passed the Maryland General Assembly last year, Senator Britt was unwavering in taking up the bill; consistent with her understated leadership she said she was honored to be the Senate leader on the voting rights issue.

Hundreds of thousands of Marylanders – from school children, to committed gay and lesbian couples, to former offenders trying to rejoin their communities – owe a great debt to Senator Britt’s leadership.

Click these links to read The Washington Post and The Baltimore Sun accounts of her remarkable life.

Senator Britt’s courage in taking principled stands for all people and passion for the promise of equality and justice will be greatly missed. Truly, her passing is a loss to us all, especially to members of her family, to whom we extend our deep condolences.

In Freedom and Equality,

Elliott Andalman, Board President, Takoma Park
Susan Goering, Executive Director, Baltimore

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