Peter Murphy (born July 15, 1949) is an American politician and member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

who previously represented district 28 in the

Maryland House of Delegates The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the legislature of the State of Maryland. It consists of 141 delegates elected from 47 districts. The House of Delegates Chamber is in the Maryland State House on State Circle in Annapolis, ...

. In 2014, he was elected President of the Charles County Board of Commissioners.

Background

Murphy was born in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, on July 15, 1949. He has both a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

and an

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

from the

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...

, and an Ed.S. Degree in Counseling from

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

. He began his non-political career as a microbiologist for the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...

. There he developed a strong interest in teaching and education and went on to teach science and math at General Smallwood Middle School in

Indian Head, Maryland Indian Head is a town in Charles County, Maryland, United States. The population was 3,894 at the 2020 U.S. Census. It has been the site of a naval base specializing in gun and rocket propellants since 1890. Production of nitrocellulose and smoke ...

. He later directed a large educational testing program at

In the legislature

Member of House of Delegates since January 10, 2007. Member, Ways and Means Committee, 2007- (education subcommittee, 2007-; transportation subcommittee, 2007-).

Legislative notes

* voted for the Clean Indoor Air Act of 2007 (HB359) * voted in favor of increasing the sales tax by 20% - Tax Reform Act of 2007 (HB2) * voted in favor of in-state tuition for illegal immigrants in 2007 (HB6) * sponsored House Bill 30 in 2007, allowing the state to confiscate unused portions of gift certificates after 4 years.

Personal

Murphy is openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

. He was one of eight openly

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

members of the

Maryland General Assembly The Maryland General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland that convenes within the State House in Annapolis. It is a bicameral body: the upper chamber, the Maryland Senate, has 47 representatives and the lower chamb ...

, alongside Sen.

Rich Madaleno Richard Stuart Madaleno Jr., commonly known as Rich Madaleno (born June 16, 1965), is an American politician from Maryland. A Democrat, he was a member of the Maryland State Senate, representing the state's 18th district in Montgomery County, ...

(D–Kensington) and Dels.

Anne Kaiser Anne R. Kaiser (born February 10, 1968) is an American politician from the state of Maryland who serves in the Maryland House of Delegates, where she represents the 14th district, which includes parts of Silver Spring, Calverton, Colesville, ...

(D–Burtonsville),

Heather Mizeur Heather R. Mizeur ( ; born December 6, 1972) is an American politician who served as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates from January 10, 2007 to January 14, 2015, representing the 20th district in Montgomery County, Maryland. She was a ca ...

(D–Takoma Park),

Maggie McIntosh Margaret L. "Maggie" McIntosh (born December 22, 1947) is an American politician from the state of Maryland. She was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates from 1993 to 2023. She is a former Baltimore City Public School teacher who now chai ...

(D–Baltimore),

Mary L. Washington Mary Lynn Washington (born May 20, 1962) is an American politician from Baltimore, Maryland. A Democrat, she was first elected in to the Maryland House of Delegates in 2010 to represent the 43rd legislative district. In 2018, she was elected to ...

(D–Baltimore), Bonnie Cullison (D–Silver Spring) and

Luke Clippinger Luke H. Clippinger (born September 24, 1972) is an American politician and lawyer who has served as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates, representing the state's 46th district in Baltimore, since 2011. Early life and education Clippinger ...

(D–Baltimore). He is a divorced father of two daughters.

References

External links

Maryland legislature: Del. Peter Murphyelectpetermurphy.com/
Official web site {{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Peter 1949 births Gay politicians LGBT state legislators in Maryland Living people Democratic Party members of the Maryland House of Delegates 21st-century American politicians