." >> professor benjamin hopkins, what is the east india company? >> the british east india company was a semi commercial company founded in the year 1600 by royal charter by queen elizabeth, which gave it the exclusive right to trade with the indies, english merchants. over time that transformed into a kind of peer saddle juggernaut and the myth that is extremely complex and difficult to understand, but the key thing about the east india company was that after the mid 18th century these to the company came to rule over much of the south asian subcontinent, which included most of modern-day bangladesh, india, and pakistan. the east india company was rolled up in 1858 following the great beauty of 1857 and 1858. control of the south asian subcontinent passed directly to the british crown. >> how did this to its charter? >> its charter was granted to a group of merchants who have petitioned the elizabethan court for the exclusive right to trade, and it was actually one of a number of european trading companies, including the hudson bay company that wa

hopkins bayview. we have a crew heading to that scene. the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community received a show of support. >> nadia ramdass joins us this morning. good morning. >> naacp president benjamin jealous talked about his transgender brother and said that the concerns of the lgb community are very close to his heart. he said it's time to end discrimination and violence everywhere. lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender advocates are meeting in baltimore to discuss the best way to fight for equality. organizers say titi a coincidence the conference was held in maryland. stephanie rawlings-blake and maryland first lady shared their support with attendees and also spoke about the likelihood of state lawmakers passing a marriage equality bill. >> i definitetly think it is close. but that is why there is a big lobbying effort. and hopefully people will see that this is about families. this is not -- it's about getting over prejudice and about making sure that we protect families. >> i think very good chances of passing. i'm just hopeful. i do not know what the actual numbers are because i stay out of all of it. i just sort of hope and pray that the good people in the state of maryla