The Nose has learned that Maryland's head queer avenger is leaving his post: Dan Furmansky, executive director of gay civil rights group Equality Maryland, announced last month that he is leaving the organization at the end of 2008.
He tells the Nose that he's not sure where he's going yet. "I would like to be able to work on GLBT issues as well as other progressive issues," he says. There's no doubt that Furmansky was sort of like a superhero working to protect the rights of GLBT Marylanders since he took the Equality Maryland helm in 2003: He fought for protection of victims of hate crime, defended the rights of queer families, and championed the civil liberties of transgendered citizens.
But do not despair, fair citizens, Furmansky is not abandoning gay Maryland altogether. ("I'm a Marylander," he tells the Nose. "Don't mess with perfection.") He's a wedding officiant, and he says he'll be happy to help straight and queer couples tie the knot, with or without an official marriage license.
