Maryland House passes Same sex marriage

I am so glad this has finally passed.

BREAKING: Maryland House Of Delegates Passes Marriage Equality Bill | After two days of contentious debate and the consideration of several amendments, the Maryland House of Delegates has passed marriage equality legislation with a vote of 71-67. One of the amendments passed delayed the date of enactment from October to January. Another created a non-severability clause, such that if the religious protections are overturned by the courts, the entire law would have to be deemed invalid. The measure still has to advance through the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee and full Senate, and even then, it is likely to be challenged by a referendum. Listen to the final vote:

<SNIP> video here

Update:

Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) responds: “Today, the House of Delegates voted for human dignity. Speaker Busch and his fellow Delegates deserve a lot of credit for their hard work. At its heart, their vote was a vote for Maryland’s children….Now, as the Senate prepares to vote, all of us are needed – and we’re prepared to redouble our efforts. The common thread running through our efforts together in Maryland is the thread of human dignity; the dignity of work, the dignity of faith, the dignity of family, the dignity of every individual. Love is an unalienable right.”

http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2012/02/17/428460/maryland-house-of-delegates-passes-marriage-equality-bill/

They somehow missed the Aye vote by Del. Bohanon of St. Mary's County.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-house-to-consider-handfuls-of-amendments-to-bill-that-would-legalize-gay-marriage/2012/02/17/gIQAHf13IR_story.html

Although it has been a slow process (though what civil rights movement hasn't faced backlash from haters), it seems like more and more states are willing to give LGBTs the rights they deserve. I'm not going to use the word equal yet, but its in the right direction.

There's still a long way to go, but progress is certainly being made.

Passed with 71 votes. There were concerns as early as this AM that it might fail by one vote, that of Sam Arora (D-19th), my idiot state rep. and craven homophobe, the same reason the bill failed last session by one vote.

I'm happy. This is the result of a lot of activists and delegates here, myself included, and they all deserve praise I'd like to personally note Del. Robert Costa, only GOP Delegate to support this bill getting to the assembly-floor and out of committee yesterday, even after his own party threatened him for supporting a bill to advance marriage-equality and even as it conflicted with his personal faith, as he felt that right-or-wrong on this issue was between people and their God and not the state of MD.

If we had more GOP legislators like Bob Costa who put law and fairness and conviction ahead of personal bias and partisanship, we'd be a lot better off as a nation and state. That said, I'm still going to work for his defeat unless he switches parties.

But we need one more thing before this issue gets to the Supreme Court. We need a state which has stained its constitution by bigotry to renounce that decision at the same ballot box that imposed it.

At the time that Loving vs. Virginia was decided, only a small minority of places had laws against interracial marriage, dating from the Civil War, and it was strictly enforced in even fewer of them. We have the possibility of about 3/4 of the states prohibiting equal marriage and only the remaining quarter affirming marriage equality. We need to turn back some normally blue states from intolerance to freedom as we try to achieve equality in the whole United States.

We're on a roll week with marriage equality. First we win in Washington state, and then the New Jersey legislature shows they'll pass it once a democrat is in the governor's office (all the more reason to work hard kicking Christie out of office) and now we passed one of the biggest hurdles in Maryland.

I have a good feeling that 2012 may even be the year that we win a voter ballot on gay marriage in some places, such as California (gay rights advocates are strongly considering putting a repeal of Prop-8 on the ballot there, because of how long it's looking like it'll take the courts to decide in the Prop-8 court cases).

... it's just "marriage for everyone."



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And yay to Gov. Martin O'Malley! A real treasure and a great Dem!

Hopefully, the national momentum continues, and picks up steam.

This is a big cause for celebration!

That is pretty awesome.

are being rendered irrelevant...



Happy dance with the LGBT family and hopes for more victories in the near future. SG

This is great news.

Province-by-province, and by around the 8th one the federal government passed legislation that made it look like it was all their idea.