Maryland Gay Marriage Bill Advances After Joint Panel Passes Measure

By Ian Simpson

A joint panel of the Maryland legislature approved on Valentines's Day a bill to legalize same-sex marriage, adding to national momentum for gay nuptials following advances in California, New Jersey and Washington state over the last week.

Committee approval of Governor Martin O'Malley's bill on Tuesday moves Maryland closer to becoming the eighth state to legalize gay marriage.

The House of Delegates' Judiciary Committee and the Health and Government Operations Committee approved the measure 25-18 in a joint vote, a judiciary panel spokeswoman said. The measure is expected to go to the full House on Wednesday, she said.

A similar bill died in the House last year following opposition from several African-American lawmakers. O'Malley, a Democrat, said he had rallied support for the measure and needed only a handful of extra votes to secure passage this year.

The Maryland Senate, which passed the bill last year, was expected to consider the measure as early as Friday, said Senator Brian Frosh, head of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee.

The Maryland vote came one day after Washington became the seventh state to legalize same-sex marriage, although the law will not take affect until June at the earliest. The law may also face a ballot initiative in November sought by opponents.

New Jersey's Senate also approved a gay marriage bill on Monday, with the lower house expected to vote on Thursday. Governor Chris Christie, a Republican, has promised to veto the measure.

Last week, a federal appeals court declared a voter-approved gay marriage ban in California unconstitutional, opening the way for the restoration of same sex marriage in the nation's most populous state.

The seven states which have legalized gay marriage are New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Iowa, Connecticut and Washington state. The District of Columbia also has legalized same-sex marriage.

The Maryland measure would allow same-sex marriages between gay and lesbian couples, although religious institutions would not be required to perform same-sex marriages.

A Washington Post poll published last month showed that 50 percent of Maryland residents supported legalization of same-sex marriage, while 44 percent were opposed.

The level of support in Maryland is the highest ever in a Post poll, and is in line with the rest of the country, the newspaper said.

Maryland Democrats, who hold majorities in both chambers of the legislature, are sharply divided by race on the issue. Among whites, 71 percent back same-sex unions, while 41 percent of blacks support it, the poll showed.

New York-based Reverend Al Sharpton, a national civil rights activist, is lobbying black ministers in Maryland this year to try to reverse the opposition that stymied the proposal in 2011.

(Additional reporting by Alice Popovici; Editing By Barbara Goldberg and Greg McCune)

Copyright 2012 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.

Comments

[Tricia W]

07:42 PM on 02/17/2012

People in the pews are further along
than people in the pulpits ~

.
PERSONHOOD BILL ADVANCES!!! .

[Lyoshka]

03:52 PM on 02/17/2012

Way to go Maryland! Can't wait till the gay marriage is legalized there (it's definitely not a question of if, but rather of when). It's a shame so many other states can't seem to make those steps forward.

[mad1026]

11:39 PM on 02/16/2012

It's a great week for gays and lesbians. Thank you Governors Gregoire and O'Malley for being so proactive in promoting Marriage Equality for Washington and Maryland. It's a shame Chris Christie is New Jersey's governor; he seems to live in the Dark Ages.

[the blaze of reality]

11:24 PM on 02/16/2012

Gov't needs to stay the hell out of marriage. The only job of gov't is to collect taxes and maintain a military. Stay out of people's lives!! I advocate small govt' because of situations like this. The big gov't voters out there better wise up to reality.

[GDWhiteman]

03:50 PM on 02/17/2012

The government issues licenses for a defined legal contract - keeps things simple - everyone knows their rights and responsibilities. It sounds like you're advocating a "make up your own marriage" contract. All I can say about this is that it would be a windfall for lawyers everywhere trying to figure out what the contract covers. Are you a lawyer?

[the blaze of reality]

06:26 PM on 02/18/2012

Yea you're missing the point

[dhs1966]

07:56 PM on 02/16/2012

Since God sanctioned marriage between a man and woman, why not change the name for same sex marriage; that may alleviate the problem, we change the name of everything to suit our fancies.

[Bruce A Robinson]

09:17 PM on 02/16/2012

Same-sex marriage is the third time that marriage has been redefined in the U.S. The first time was at the end of the Civil War when African Americans were allowed to marry throughout the U.S. The second was in 1967 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that interracial couples could marry anywhere in the U.S. And now the movement towards same-sex marriage is developing a real head of steam.

We didn't rename marriage the previous two times. I don't see why we should rename it today.

[JDuck]

11:47 AM on 02/17/2012

Can I rename yours?

[wcorbett]

06:57 PM on 02/16/2012

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."

Marriage equality is not just a want or a need, it is a right.

[Joseph Robertson]

01:13 AM on 02/17/2012

What an appropriate Bible verse, exactly the antidote needed to counter the fire and brimstone poison being spewed by so called "Christians" opposed to even rudimentary civil rights for LGBT people. Love conquers hate. :-)

[TotalTranquility]

03:42 PM on 02/17/2012

F&F

[Rabbitstick]

12:10 PM on 02/16/2012

i think its pretty funny that black legislators held up the bill last year. you would think they could understand what that discrimination is like, but apparently they forgot everything that happened before 1970.

[Vintage59]

02:31 PM on 02/16/2012

I found a list compiled by my ex-boss a couple of years ago. The list separated our thirty or so volunteers into "minority" and "non-minority" categories. Everyone on the minority list was African-American, as was my boss.

The approximately twenty five other volunteers were all classified as "non-minority." There were three Euro-Americans and the rest were all Latino, Asian-American, or Native-American.

[GDWhiteman]

03:59 PM on 02/17/2012

Blacks have a religious history that rarely includes Bible study in the original languages let alone in the context of the existing cultures even for their clergy. Many evangelical and fundamentalist whites suffer from the same ignorance. Most English translations are rather sloppy in giving them any help with that. They read "homosexual" and think of it only in the context of what they've been told by the preacher that taught them that. Although the Bible condemns homosexuality in the context of rape, pederasty, prostitution, and various pagan rites, it says not one word against loving same-sex relationships. In the one instance where Jesus confronts same-sex love, he praises the faith of the Roman centurion who came pleading for his "pais" (usually translated as "servant", "pais" is a specific type of slave/servant - a same-sex lover). Nor does the Bible "define marriage as between one man and one woman". The verses commonly cited for that are the simple answer to a simple question asked Jesus: "Is it legal for a man to divorce his wife?".

[Razpooten]

11:18 AM on 02/16/2012

Those wonderful and romantic words spoken at weddings: “...Entreat me not to leave you,
Or to turn back from following after you;
For wherever you go, I will go;
And wherever you lodge, I will lodge;
Your people shall be my people,
And your God, my God.
17. Where you die, I will die,
And there will I be buried.
The Lord do so to me, and more also,
If anything but death parts you and me.”
- Spoken by a woman to a woman which would become Jesus' great-grandmother, in Ruth 1:

[talkstocoyotes]

08:35 PM on 02/17/2012

Well, King David's great-grandmother. The Gospels give a geneology indicating that King David was one of Jesus' ancestors, but that was assuming Joseph was the father.

[Razpooten]

08:55 PM on 02/17/2012

I may be a generation off; David is descendant of Ruth (Naomi)

[talkstocoyotes]

08:35 PM on 02/17/2012

Sorry, meant to add --

That would be a beautiful quote for a religious wedding, same-sex or opposite-sex.

[Razpooten]

08:48 PM on 02/17/2012

As I stated above; it is commonly heard at wedding (heterosexual). It certainly is appropiate for a same-sex couple since it came from a same-sex relationship.

[concentric1]

08:37 AM on 02/16/2012

It will pass in Maryland and eventually it will pass across the country. Those attempting to hold back the tide are fighting a useless battle. Gay marriage will come ultimately. And for those who would deny others the freedom are participating in discrimination. For those with religious opposition - work it out in your church, temple, synagogue, etc. but keep legislation based on things secular. We are not a Christian nation, we are not a Muslim nation, we are not a Jewish nation, we are not a Catholic nation we are a democratic nation that has a separation of church and state clause for a reason. enuf said.

[Ioan Lightoller]

10:55 AM on 02/16/2012

Fanned and faved. I have long been saying this: no one's "holy book" should be ruling this nation. If someone has issues with something like marriage equality, then they should not marry someone of the same sex--or even attend said wedding if they feel that strongly. But there should be no forcing of any religious dogma on others as law.

[Razpooten]

11:20 AM on 02/16/2012

Thank you, well stated; faved.

[themightyabealrd]

04:44 AM on 02/16/2012

I believe some of the African Americans who oppose marriage equality do so out of religious beliefs, but others are like a lot of Anglo Americans who oppose it-a goodly part of their self image is based upon having a group of people they believe themselves to be superior to.
I was married for twelve and a half years....to a woman. If I were to marry again, I'd marry a woman. Happily, my self-esteem is sturdy as it is, so I have no need to deem myself better than folks whose biological and emotional imperatives are different from my own.

[Aurora Acevedo]

03:14 AM on 02/16/2012

I REAL THINK WE SHOULD ALLOW GAY PEOPLE TO BE MARRIAGE I GO TO CHRUCH AND GOD LOVE EVERYONE,SO THESE PEOPLE THAT HATE GAY PEOPLE NEED TO OPEN THEY MIND AND SEE THERE ARE GOOD PEOPLE,GAY PEOPLE ARE GOOD PEOPLE, THIS IS A NEW LIFE, WHAT THE GOV SHOULD BE WORRY ABOUT IS NEW YORK CITY RATS AND HELP THE OLD PEOPLE WHO REAL NEED SSI FOR THERE LIFE AND SOME THAT CAN DO FOR THERE SELF,,,,I THINK WE SHOULD LOOK AT THE REAL PROBLEM OF THIS WORLD CLIMATE COP ARE NOT GOOD AS YOU MIGHT THINK.THEY LIE AS WELL.YOU HAVE PEOPLE IN JAIL FOR NO REASON....THEY LOCK UP WRONG PEOPLE AND TRY TO GIVE THEM LIFE,WHEN THEY SHOULD GIVE LIFE TO PEOPLE THAT HURT KID OR KILL SOMEONE,YOU CAN TELL SOMEONE TO DON'T USE DRUG ,CAUSE THEY ARE GOING TO DO IT.SO THAT GIVE THE COP RIGHT TAKE THEM TO JAIL,YES THERE A WAR ONDRUG,BUT THAT NOT THE REAL PROBLEM.....

[TBJ]

08:45 AM on 02/16/2012

Please refrain from yelling on the Internet.

[Razpooten]

11:21 AM on 02/16/2012

Please find the caps lock key and stay relevant.

[bucca]

02:14 AM on 02/16/2012

Go O' Malley and our outstanding own Senator Barbara Mikulski, you have always led strong for 100% equality from day one, inspiring everyone in your hometown, my fam incld, for every piece of work you do...you're a loud and clear local Saint who's letters my family still cherish!

Slam down hard and make it a non-issue Babe!

[tjlatwork]

12:33 AM on 02/16/2012

oh, the irony, african americans against equal rights for a minority.

[Bob Kellerman]

03:48 AM on 02/16/2012

Unfortunately, it is common for oppressed groups to enjoy opressing "the next group down the ladder"

African Americans are wonderful people, but many of them are WAY off in the past on their attitude toward Gays
--- and when there is an instance of a Black celebrity using Gay slurs or saying homophobic things, and it is written about on HP, there is a rush of folks saying that the slurs mean nothing, or the person is being picked on because he is Black

This is disappointing to folks who have stuck up for equal rights for 50 years, like me

[GDWhiteman]

04:44 PM on 02/17/2012

Agreed. I was beaten and cursed by "Bible believing" Christians for the "sin" of being a N*****-Lover in the 60's. Now I have black people joining those "Bible believing" Christians in dissing me (but thankfully not beating me yet) for advocating for GLBTQ rights.

[NovemberScorp]

09:50 AM on 02/16/2012

yes and given the fact that the Repulsive Party can't get over the fact of President Obamas' skin color, one would think that African Americans should shun discrimination of any sort.

[talkstocoyotes]

08:38 PM on 02/17/2012

You'd think so; but that sick itch to have someone to look down on as a second-class citizen seems to be a universal human ugliness that no race is exempt from.

[RESXD]

10:41 PM on 02/15/2012

Thats my state! :D O'Malley 2016 :P

[Atwill]

10:23 PM on 02/15/2012

Things are moving much faster then we thought. perhaps in 2013, after Obama wins, and he will, he will kill DOMA and soon all 50 states will have gay marriage. OBAMA 2012

[Bob Kellerman]

03:50 AM on 02/16/2012

YOU HAVE TO ELECT DEMOCRATS TO CONGRESS

The President cannot erase laws that Congress has passed.

[Watch Maker]

07:38 AM on 02/16/2012

Congress approval rating hovering around 10%. Hopefully that means a big turnover both right and left.

Perhaps elect some members that love their country more than their political party.

[GDWhiteman]

04:45 PM on 02/17/2012

Absolutely! To stay home is to preserve the status quo - VOTE DEMOCRAT!

[SomewhereInLeftField]

09:18 AM on 02/16/2012

While we have a long way to go, it is amazing to see how much progress has been made in such a short time.

In 1986, the Supreme Court held that states could criminalize consensual same-sex sexual activity.

26 years later, that case has been reversed. Many states have passed laws prohibiting employment/housing/public accommodation discrimination against the LGBT community, about 15% of states allow for marriage equality, several more have marriage-in-name-only rights for LGBT folks, and serious discussions are being held in several more states to make marriage equality a reality.

That's a lot that's been accomplished in a pretty short amount of time.

[Razpooten]

11:23 AM on 02/16/2012

Yes indeed.