Perez Joins State LGBTQ Commission

Enyel (Angel) Perez, founder and CEO of Caroline Pride, has been appointed and confirmed as a member of the Maryland Commission on LGBTQIA+  Affairs, a 21-member advisory board created by the Maryland General Assembly in 2022 to help assess challenges facing LGBTQ+ Marylanders. Perez explained that the main goal of the Commission is to review and recommend policies, ensuring the inclusion of those within his community.

For Perez, the appointment is an opportunity to ensure the Eastern Shore has a voice when statewide decisions affecting LGBTQ+ residents are made.  He said it is vital for the Eastern Shore “to have representation at the other side of the bridge when they make decisions over the LGBTQ+ community.”

He first applied to join the Commission when it was created back in 2022. “When the Commission was created, I applied to be a Commissioner,” Perez said, “Unfortunately, I was not selected back then, so I kept trying and trying. Finally I was selected.”

In February of this year, Perez received a call from the Governor’s Office asking whether there was still interest in serving. After the governor submitted appointment recommendations to the General Assembly, Perez went through the Senate confirmation process and was officially confirmed in April.

This new role builds on years of community organizing and advocacy through his non-profit organization, Caroline Pride. “I saw the opportunity to expand the type of work I was doing through Caroline Pride,” Pérez said, “to keep helping our community, not in Caroline County, but also around the Eastern Shore.”

Perez started the Caroline Pride festival in 2020. Although the pandemic forced organizers to replace the original event with a Facebook Live celebration, Caroline County eventually held its first in-person Pride festival in 2021. The event has only grown over the years.

Perez acknowledged that while LGBTQ+ communities have made significant gains over the past two decades, discrimination remains deeply present, particularly in more conservative rural areas. “We maybe won a battle, we didn’t win the war, and we have to continue to fight for our rights every single day,” he said.

“From now on, when I speak during the meetings, it’s not about me, it’s about the entire community,” Perez said, “I feel like I have a big responsibility to represent the Eastern Shore community on that Commission.”