
Same-sex marriage in MarylandPro and con SSM bills introduced
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2008-JAN: Marriage Equality bill introduced:A Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act was introduced
on 2008-JAN-25. It had 49 cosponsors: 9 in the Senate and 40 in the House. It would preserve the right of faith groups to continue to
discriminate against same-sex couples by refusing to marry them. The Act would change the Maryland family law (2-102):
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To define marriage as "between two people, not
otherwise prohibited from marrying..." |
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To protect any "official of a religious
institution or body authorized to solemnize marriages" from "being required to
solemnizing any marriage in violation of the right to free exercise of
religion guaranteed by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution
and by the Maryland Constitution and Maryland Declaration of Rights."
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Three of the primary sponsors stated:
Delegate Ben Barnes: "When we deny civil rights to one group of
citizens we demean and debase our entire society. Just as the Jim Crow South
is a scar on a great nation, so too is denying the protections of marriage to
gay and lesbian families. This Bill will give us in the Maryland Legislature
an opportunity to choose; we can choose to stand for equality with great civil
rights leaders like, Gwen Britt, John Lewis and Julian Bond or we can choose
the path of intolerance. Today I choose the path that these leaders have set
forth."
Delegate Anne Kaiser: "On this momentous occasion we take another
step forward on our nation's long march for equality. Today, by introducing
this bill, we are placing our faith in the legislators of the great state of
Maryland; that they will put equality for all of their constituents at the
forefront of their minds that they will move past divisiveness and come
together and support equality and unity, for all citizens in our one
Maryland."
Delegate Todd Schuler: "That my wife would be allowed at my death
bed in the hospital is one of the over 400 state and 1,100 federal rights that
she and I are able to take for granted. Gay families have to fight at every
turn for these rights and I am proud to join them in that fight." 2
Four other cosponsors stated:
Delegate Roger Manno: "Marriage equality is an issue of fundamental
fairness and equal protection under the law. The time has come."
Delegate Karen Montgomery: "As a person who has been married for over
fifty years, my husband and I have no problems with The Religious Freedom and
Civil Marriage Protection Act."
Delegate Karen Montgomery, Cosponsor
Delegate Jeff Waldstreicher: "This is the civil rights issue of our
time. I don't want to look back 20 years from now and regret being on the
wrong side of history. Marriage equality is the right thing to do, and now is
the right time to do it." 3
The Maryland Catholic Conference stated that they oppose this bill.
They complained that: "The title of the bill is misleading; it would not
protect civil marriage, but attempts to redefine it." 4 They
commented:
"... neither our courts nor our State legislature should impose a different
definition of marriage on our social order by assigning the legal status of
marriage to any relationship other than the union of a man and a woman as
husband and wife. They should not provide the same legal recognition to
same-sex or other alternative relationships -- whether they are called
marriages, or civil unions, or given some other designation -- as that which
the law properly provides to the marriage of one man and one woman. To do so
would undermine the institution of marriage, which has historically been the
privileged setting for raising a child, whose optimum flourishing requires a
stable relationship between father and mother. Even in marriages that do not
yield children, the marital union provides powerful witness to the
interdependence and complementarity of the sexes, a witness not duplicated by
any other relationship." 5
As of JAN-25, the bill had nearly 50 cosponsors. As in previous versions of
the bill, it would allow same-sex couples to marry and obtain all of the state
benefits and obligations of marriage, without any of the 1,100 or so federal
benefits. Religious institutions would be kept immune from any prosecution if
they wish to refuse to marry such couples. Executive Director of Equality Maryland, Dan Furmansky, said:
"For those naysayers who say that Maryland isn't ready to end marriage
discrimination, I ask you, if not now, when? Thousands of same-sex couples are
denied the more than 1,000 basic legal protections of a marriage license.
Granting these families the stability that marriage provides is good for their
health, good for their children, and good for society."
3
A hearing was held before the Senate Judicial
Proceedings Committee on 2008-FEB-14, and before the House Judiciary Committee
on 2008-FEB-28. Testimony in support of the bill was given by representatives
of the Episcopal Church, United Church of Christ, Jewish Community Relations
Council, Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry, and others. It did not
proceeded. 7 
2008-JAN: Marriage Protection Act introduced:Eight state senators introduced an amendment to the Maryland Constitution
that would state:
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Only a marriage between a man and a woman is valid in this state. |
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A civil union or relationship between individuals of the same sex, by
whatever name or title, that confers the benefit of marriage is not valid in
this state. |
It would require the approval of three-fifths of all the members to each of
the two houses before being voted upon by the citizens of Maryland in 2008-NOV.
4 The main effect of this amendment would be to prevent constitutional
challenges to the state's marriage law. The Maryland Catholic Conference
stated that they support this amendment. 5 The bill did not leave the Judicial Proceedings Committee and is now dead. 8 
References used:The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above
essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.
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"Text of the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act," Equality
Maryland, at:
http://www.equalitymaryland.org/*
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"Equality Maryland Applauds Introduction Of The Religious Freedom And Civil
Marriage Protection Act," 2008-JAN-25, at:
http://www.equalitymaryland.org/
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"Equality Maryland Applauds Introduction Of The Religious Freedom And Civil
Marriage Protection Act," Equality Maryland, 2008-JAN-25, at:
http://www.equalitymaryland.org/
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"Marriage Legislation 2009," Maryland Catholic Conference, at:
http://www.mdcathcon.org/
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"Marriage in Maryland: Securing the Foundation of Family and Society: A Statement from the Bishops of Maryland,"
Maryland Catholic Conference, 2008-JAN, at:
http://www.mdcathcon.org/
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"Our 2009 Legislative Agenda," Equality Maryland, at:
http://www.equalitymaryland.org/
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"Senate Bill 169: Marriage Protection Act," 2008, Home School Legal Defense
Association, at:
http://www.hslda.org/
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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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