In Maryland, Fight for Marriage Parity Continues

Though politicians in Maryland recently said that marriage equality having come to New York would not lead to passage of a similar law in that state, equality advocates there have renewed their efforts to usher in legal parity for gay and lesbian families, according to a July 12 article in the Baltimore Sun.

In the wake of the New York law, the article said, a Maryland coalition has begun a fresh campaign for marriage.

"Marylanders for Marriage Equality pulls together a collection of unions, churches and progressive groups," the Baltimore Sun article said. "The goal: Show wavering delegates that there's support for the controversial measure and pick up the handful of new votes needed to pass it in the state's general assembly."

Openly gay State Delegate Maggie McIntosh, a Democrat, told the Sun that equality advocates had not solicited as much support as they needed, or could have requested, for an earlier bill that fell just a few votes shy in the last legislative session.

The city's top official was among the first to offer such support, the article noted. Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake was part of the media conference that introduced the new coalition, and the mayor told the press that she was "grateful" for the coalition.

The article noted that Gov. Martin O'Malley, who has voiced support for marriage equality in the past, was not at the press conference. Equality advocates hope for O'Malley's support for any future marriage parity legislation, but it is unclear whether they can count on it.

"Governor O'Malley was incredibly helpful to us behind the scenes in the last session, but if we're going to be successful next year, we can't run a closeted campaign for marriage equality," openly lesbian Maryland State Delegate Heather Mizeur told the press.

One of the signature aspects of the New York law is the role that the governor of that state, Andrew Cuomo, took in shepherding it to approval by a state senate that had rejected a similar proposal only two years ago. In 2009, no Republican lawmakers supported the New York measure, and some Democrats who had previously voiced support turned their backs on marriage equality.

But in this year's successful bid to legalize marriage for all families in New York, near unanimous Democratic support in the state senate was bolstered by four Republicans adding their weight to the bill, sending it to Cuomo's desk.

The Human Rights Campaign also focused on New York in the months before the vote there, with a series of 30-second videos in which celebrities, politicians, and athletes declared themselves to be "New Yorkers for Equality," and invited viewers to support the cause.

"The New York debate is illustrative to what public support can do in order to give lawmakers the public support and the backing that they need to make the right decision," said the HRC's Michael Cole-Schwarz.

Others also took note.

"Gay rights supporters in Maryland can learn a lot from the effort in the Empire State, which will join Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Iowa and Washington, D.C., as places where same-sex couples can marry," a June 27 Gazette.net article said.

"It's love that makes a family, but marriage that protects it," Mizeur said in a June 27 radio interview.

State Sen. Allan Kittleman also remarked on support from GOP New York state lawmakers. "I think it does say something about this issue becoming more acceptable to the Republican Party," he said. The lawmaker, a Republican himself, has lent his support to the earlier marriage equality measure.

"What happened in New York demonstrates that this is not an issue supported by one party," Kittleman added. "It's a good message to Republican lawmakers that you can support this bill and still be a good member of this party."

Maryland legislators entertained the notion that moderate Republicans among their colleagues might be persuaded to support the measure. But a July 1 follow-up article at Gazette.net indicated that such support would not be forthcoming -- not for marriage equality, anyway. One Republican lawmaker did suggest that if equality advocates were to propose civil unions, that might be more palatable to conservative lawmakers.

"I don't see it as having a huge impact on what happens here," said State Del. C.T. Wilson. Had a vote been taken, the Gazette.net article said, Wilson would have voted against marriage rights for gay and lesbian families.

Local Results, National Effects

But state politics in Maryland and elsewhere do not operate in a black hole, and advocates point out that when the New York marriage law comes into effect on July 24, the number of Americans living in a state where marriage equality is legal will instantly double. That will undoubtedly have an impact on the GLBT civil rights struggle both at the national and local level.

But State Del. Nicholaus Kipke told the media that the minds of his colleagues are made up, saying, "The positions of lawmakers are pretty well-entrenched on the issue." However, Kipke said, he would vote in favor of a bill to provide civil unions, which GLBT equality advocates regard as both separate and unequal to full-fledged marriage rights.

The hard reality of opposition to full equality before the law for same-sex families was acknowledged by one supporter of family parity, former Equality Maryland board member Darrell Carrington.

"While it certainly puts some wind in your sails and gives you some hope that another state can do this, it's a completely different situation" in Maryland than in New York, Carrington told the media.

O'Malley did not seem to be in a hurry to commit himself to another attempt to bring marriage parity to his state. Neither, however, did he rule it out: "We'll certainly be looking very seriously at that as we put together our legislative agenda," O'Malley told the press.

"The new group includes the Service Employees Union International, the Communication Workers of America, the Human Rights Campaign, Catholics for Equality, the Maryland Black Family Alliance and Pride in Faith, the ACLU and Equality Maryland," reported the Baltimore Sun.

Though the nascent coalition has not as yet gained a staff or officials, anti-gay groups are already reacting to its presence on the state's political stage. The Baltimore Sun reported that the Maryland Catholic Conference hastily sent out its own message, with a statement that was sent out an hour after the coalition's press conference.

"The coalition that upheld the time honored tradition of marriage in Maryland remains intact and will continue to be involved," the MCC statement said.

New York's marriage equality law only passed because it included protections for religious agencies, guaranteeing that churches would not have to marry same-sex couples if their doctrines teach that commitment between people of the same gender is a matter of "sin."

Opponents to the New York measure cited fears that churches and religiously affiliated groups might face legal action if they denied same-sex couples out of religious beliefs.

Wilson suggested that similar fears are at play in Maryland. "Many of the citizens I've talked to," Wilson said, were "not against homosexuality; they're not against gay marriage. They just want to protect the religious sanctity of marriage."

A recent poll showed that, for the first time, a majority of Americans believe that gay and lesbian families ought to have recourse to the legal recognition and protections of marriage. Climbing social acceptance of sexual minorities and their families might, some argue, translate into more court victories for equality advocates.

Some equality proponents also believe that, given America's respect for the military, even greater acceptance will follow once "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the anti-gay law banning service by openly gay and lesbian servicemembers, is repealed.

Another major roadblock is a second anti-gay federal law, the Defense of Marriage Act, which denies same-sex families any federal-level recognition. That law is under challenge in 10 different federal cases, and has already been found unconstitutional by one federal judge. The Obama Administration has stopped defending the law in federal court, due to questions about the law's constitutionality.

A bill to repeal DOMA has been introduced in Congress by pro-equality lawmakers. Should DOMA be repealed or stuck down by the courts, an avenue to federal recognition of same-sex families might one day be possible.