Maryland Marriage Equality: 14-Year-Old Girl Pleads With Senate Officials To Vote Against Gay Marriage On Her Birthday

Whether or not same-sex marriage will be legalized in Maryland remains to be seen, but one local girl has made her stance on the issue clear.

The girl, who identifies herself as Sarah and says she is home-schooled, told Maryland's Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee that not only was it her 14th birthday, but that it "would be the best birthday present ever if you would vote no on gay marriage."

She goes on to note, "I really feel bad for kids who have two parents of the same gender...I don't want any more kids to get confused about what's right and OK."

She concludes, "People have the choice to be gay, but I don't want to be affected by their choice."

Among those unlikely to agree with her are Gov. Martin O'Malley, who urged lawmakers in what Reuters has deemed an "unusual personal testimony" at the same event to approve marriage equality. "The very reason for our state's founding was for religious freedom. At the heart of religious freedom is respect for the freedom of individual conscience," he said. "The way forward, the way to sustain and enhance our common life together, is equal respect for the freedom of all," he said in unusual personal testimony that underscored the importance he attaches to the measure.