Same-sex marriage in Maryland

Quotations. Lack of
protection. Lawsuit. Appeal.

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Quotations:

	"If marriage means everything, it means absolutely nothing." Dr. James C. Dobson, of Focus on the Family.
	"A loving man and woman in a committed relationship can marry. Dogs, no matter what their relationship, are not allowed to marry. How should society treat gays and lesbians in committed relationships? As dogs or as humans?" A posting to an Internet mailing list; used by permission of the author.
	"Equality of rights under the law shall not be abridged or denied because of sex." Article 46 of the Declaration of Rights section of the Maryland Constitution.
	"That no man ought to be taken or imprisoned or disseized of his freehold, liberties or privileges, or outlawed, or exiled, or, in any manner, destroyed, or deprived of his life, liberty or property, but by the judgment of his peers, or by the Law of the land." Article 24 of the Declaration of Rights section of the Maryland Constitution.

Lack of protections for same-sex couples:

Same-sex couples in Maryland, like those in most other states in the U.S. are not permitted to marry. For the protection of themselves and of their children, same-sex couples must resort to creating "a patchwork of legal protections that come nowhere close to guaranteeing the family's sovereignty will be honored." ₁

Equality Maryland has prepared a report titled: "Marriage Inequality in the State of Maryland." It states:

"... meticulously details the legal obstacles couples must face in an attempt to secure some of the most basic protections of marriage, like the right to make medical decisions for an incapacitated spouse, basic property ownership rights and inheritance rights."

Same-sex couples in the state have no automatic legal right to programs enjoyed by every opposite-sex married couple. For example, to:

	Take family and medical leave to care for a sick partner
	Ride in an ambulance with a partner
	Visit a partner in a nursing home or hospital
	Receive Social Security benefits in the event of the death of a partner
	Sponsor a foreign-born partner to stay in the country
	Inherit jointly owned property without incurring crippling tax penalties
	Roll a partner's pension into their own
	Make burial decisions
	Have the security of continued insurance coverage after the death of a spouse.
	Take advantage of social services provided to help families cope with catastrophe, poverty, homelessness, or abandonment. 1,2,3

Deane & Polyak v. Conaway lawsuit:

"The state provides hundreds of rights and protections to straight couples who marry but denies those rights and protections to lesbian and gay couples who, like straight couples, need to be able to protect their families during times of hardship such as illness and death. The goal of this lawsuit is to make legal marriage, as well as the protections that come with it under state law, available to same-sex couples just as it is to different-sex couples." ₄

	Gita Deane and Lisa Polyak have been together for 25 years and are raising two daughters. When Deane was giving birth to their second daughter, the doctor asked that Lisa leave the room because, as Gita's partner, she had no status; she was considered to be a mere roommate. The doctor left Gita in pain and only administered an epidural after Lisa had left. 5
	Takia Foskey and Jo Rabb have been together for over three years. They had a commitment ceremony in 2004 and are raising two children. In 2003, Jo had an emergency operation. Takia was unable to see Jo in the hospital or to receive any information about her condition during recovery.
	Donna Myers and Maria Baarquero have known each other for six years. However, Maria is from Costa Rica and Donna is a citizen of the U.S. They can only visit each other during vacations.
	John Lestitian and Jim were together for almost 14 years. Jim died and left a will giving his entire estate to John. But there was a technical problem that made the will invalid. If they had been married, John would have inherited Jim's home automatically. But the law treated them as simple roommates. John had to move out of his own home shortly after his partner's death. 6

	The state had a legitimate interest in promoting the traditional -- opposite-sex -- family unit to the exclusion of same-sex couples..
	A ban on same-sex marriage is needed to preserve the uniformity of federal and interstate definitions of marriage.
	Various laws such as those allowing second parent adoption, designation of partners to make health care decisions, etc. are sufficient to handle the needs of same-sex couples and their children.
	Tradition in the U.S. has always restricted marriage to one man and one or more women. 4 On this final topic, judge Murdock wrote:

"Although tradition and societal values are important, they cannot be given so much weight that they alone will justify a discriminatory statutory classification. When tradition is the guise under which prejudice or animosity hides, it is not a legitimate state interest." ₅

The appeal to the Maryland Court of Appeals:

The state appealed the case directly to the Court of Appeals -- Maryland's most senior court. In doing so, they bypassed an intermediate court. Oral arguments were heard on 2006-DEC-04. The court's decision was issued on 2007-SEP-18.

References used:

The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.

1. "Report: Couples face severe obstacles obtaining substitute marriage benefits," News release, Equality Maryland, 2006-MAR-16, at: http://www.equalitymaryland.org/pr_2006/pr2006.03.15.htm 
2. Text of the report is available at: www.equalitymaryland.org/ *
3. A summary of the key protections is available at: www.equalitymaryland.org/ *
4. Deane & Polyak Baltimore Circuit Court decision, at: http://www.equalitymaryland.org/ *
5. Barbara Bradley Hagerty, "Maryland Judge Rejects Gay-Marriage Ban," NPR, 2006-JAN-20, at: http://www.npr.org/
6. "Deane and Polyak v. Conaway: About the Plaintiffs," ACLU, 2004-JUL-13, at: http://www.aclu.org/

* These are PDF files. You may require software to read them. Software can be obtained free from: 

Copyright © 2007 to 2010 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Originally written: 2007-MAR-03
Latest update: 2010-JAN-06
Author: B.A. Robinson

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