The Maryland House of Delegates approved Wednesday of a bill that would prohibit discrimination on the basis of one’s gender identity in the state of Maryland.

The Fairness for All Marylanders Act of 2014 passed the Maryland House of Delegates 82-57 votes. The Senate passed the bill earlier this year Mar. 4 with 32-15 votes. The bill only requires the signature of Governor Martin O’Malley who has already voiced his support for the bill.

The Fairness for All Marylanders Act will prohibit discrimination against gender identity in regards to employment, housing, credit or public accommodations. Without law prohibiting gender identity discrimination, business owners and employers would be able to deny services or employment to a transgender individual based on their gender identity.

“I’m thrilled that we’ve been able to accomplish another big victory for fairness and equality in the state of Maryland,” said Senator Rich Madaleno. “It’s remarkable how far we’ve come in such a short period of time.”

Board Chair for Gender Rights Maryland, Sharon Brackett, thanked the senators and House delegates who passed the bill. “This success is the result of many persons and cannot, and should not, be claimed by any one person or organization.”

The bill has passed successfully through the Maryland State Senate and gained large support in the House with 61 co-sponsors, almost half of the House’s delegates. The bill also gained large bipartisan support from Marylanders with 79 percent of Democrats and 60 percent of Republicans supporting the bill.

Opponents of the bill called into controversy the bill’s provisions that would allow transgender individuals to use public restrooms aligning with their gender identity. During the House Reading, the opposition commonly referred to The Fairness for All Marylanders Act as “the bathroom bill”.

Much of the opposition fears that sexual predators and pedophiles will be able to take advantage of the bill’s provisions.

House Delegate Kathy Szeliga sought to add an amendment that would strike the words “public accommodations” from the bill, in effect, not allowing transgender individuals born male to use a women’s restroom and vice versa.

“What this [bill] allows is possible predators and pedophiles to go in our [women’s] restrooms,” said Szeliga. The delegate cited an unspecified article published about a sex offender dressing as a woman and assaulting 3 young girls at a swimming park.

Research has largely cast doubt on the notion that there is a danger of sexual assault when ordinances allowing transgender individuals to use restrooms aligning with their gender identity are made. E-mail exchanges between Media Matters and 12 state officials where there are these anti-discrimination ordinances revealed that the state’s police departments have not reported any problems with transgender individuals assaulting women in public restrooms.

Delegate Joseline A. Pena-Melnyk, refuted Szeliga’s points citing the success of Baltimore County, Howard County, Montgomery County and the city of Hyattsville’s pre-existing prohibition of gender discrimination. “We heard they had no problems with the public accommodations part of the bill,” said Pena-Melnyk.

Delegate Kevin Kelly of Allegany County voiced his own opinion of transgender individuals on the house floor.  "I see this female walk in in pumps and a big Adam's apple, and I'm suspicious that that's probably a male. Either way, I'm going to be in that restroom and I believe this has potential to make me an aggressor," he said.

Delegate Kathy Afzhali’s stated in a newsletter to her constituents that her opposition was not on the principle of supporting discrimination, but against an effort to “normalize abnormal behavior.”

Delegate Heather Mizeur of Montgomery County put her opinion of the House floor conduct bluntly. “I’ve never been more disappointed in the conduct of our conversation on the House floor,” Mizeur told the Washington Post. “The underlying issue in this legislation is whether or not some of our most vulnerable members of society are still allowed to get beat up in these bathrooms.”

Delegate Mizeur will be one of three candidates running in the Maryland Democratic primary on June 24.

Gov. Martin O’Malley is expected to sign the bill into law soon. He released a statement Thursday congratulating the House and LGBT Community.

“We’re proud to stand with these leaders, the LGBT community, and other allies to complete this major piece of unfinished business — ensuring that everyone is protected from discrimination under the law,” he said. “I look forward to signing this bill.”