Maryland is poised to become the sixth state to recognize same-sex marriage as proponents say they believe they have enough support to pass such a measure in the upcoming legislative session.
The expansion of gay rights appears to have gained significant traction as Maryland's General Assembly begins its 90-day session Wednesday. Not only are Democrats optimistic about their chances of approving same-sex marriage, but a leading Republican, sensing momentum on the issue, has instead countered with a proposal to grant civil unions to gay couples.
Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley has publicly stated that he would sign a marriage bill into law. Maryland then would join Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, New Hampshire, Vermont and Washington, D.C., in sanctioning same-sex marriages.
Maryland has been inching toward granting greater rights and protections for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Last year Democratic state Attorney General Doug Gansler offered a legal opinion recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions.
"We've been marching in this direction for a while now," said Democratic state Delegate Heather Mizeur.
Excellent news, but not without a catch: Opponents of the measure vow to force a referendum vote that would overturn the law, just as same-sex marriage was subject to a slow death in California. That state's Prop 8 battle, headed for the Supreme Court, may have far-reaching implications for a number of states.
I'll keep an eye on Maryland's progress here.
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5 comments:
It sounds like you don't agree with the binding legal power of a voter referendum and would rather have activist judges make our laws instead.
Democracy only works when you agree with the outcome of the winner, I see. In every state where a ban on gay marriage has gone before voters, Americans have chosen to preserve the sanctity of marriage and not give in to special interests. Every time.
You think lawmakers would take a hint. There isn't a debate on this, America (and the President mind you) clearly reject the notion.
But Democrats keep socially engineering things anyway. That's fine, keep turning blue states red from the backlash.
Now that ZCP has been proven to be a liar right here in the comments threads of the blog he trolls, will he do the right thing and leave forever?
How does it feel to be unmasked as a liar and a failure, ZCP? How can you live with the shame?
As soon as Zandar apologizes for and admits to his culpability in the Tuscon shooting, or retracts the last week worth of blog posts blaming Sarah Palin and the right.
This troll's kind of weak sauce. I mean, you look at ZCP as compared to some of the epic trolls that have despoiled teh interwebz and he's just... not very good.
Trolling is a art, ZCP.
Referendums are not, by nature, constitutional, which is why so many get challenged in court. Hell, a lot of them are down right horrible policy and yet got passed. Theoretically, you could pass a prop that ends the republican party state wide. Yeah it'd get challenged in court, rightfully so, but would you be saying the same thing about the will of the people then? I suppose those activist judges wouldn't be so bad then?
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