tagged w/ Governor Martin O'Malley
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CNN...
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Maryland governor to sign same-sex marriage bill
By the CNN Wire Staff
updated 2:51 AM EST, Thu March 1, 2012
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PHOTO:
With Gov. Martin O'Malley's signature, Maryland will be the eighth state to approve same-sex marriage.
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STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Voters in Minnesota and North Carolina will consider proposals in November
New Jersey lawmakers approved same-sex marriage this month, but it was vetoed
Neither side in the same-sex marriage debate is declaring victory
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(CNN) -- Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley will sign into law Thursday a bill legalizing same-sex marriage.
"All children deserve the opportunity to live in a loving, caring, committed and stable home, protected equally under the law," O'Malley said in a statement after last week's vote.
"Maryland will now be able to protect individual civil marriage rights and religious freedom equally."
The Maryland House of Delegates approved the measure less than two weeks after Washington legislators voted to legalize same-sex marriage. That measure will take effect in the summer if it survives a likely court challenge.
Six states and the District of Columbia already issue same-sex marriage licenses -- Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont. Five states -- Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey and Rhode Island -- allow civil unions that provide rights similar to marriage.
New Jersey lawmakers approved same-sex marriage this month, but Gov. Chris Christie vetoed the legislation. He has said voters should decide the issue in a statewide referendum.
Voters in Minnesota and North Carolina, meanwhile, will consider proposals in November to ban gay marriage in those states. New Hampshire lawmakers may also consider a repeal of its same-sex marriage law, according to the National Organization for Marriage, which opposes same-sex marriage. Lawsuits seeking to expand civil unions or turn back laws banning same-sex marriages are working through the courts in at least 12 states, including Hawaii, Minnesota and California, the organization said.
Same-sex marriage became a national issue in 1993, after the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that a ban on such unions violated the state constitution.
Legislation was introduced recently to allow same-sex marriages in Illinois, and bills from 2011 remain technically active in Hawaii and Minnesota, said Jack Tweedie of the National Council of State Legislatures. It's unclear whether any will see significant action, he said.
An effort is also under way to put a proposal to legalize same-sex marriage on the November ballot in Maine, where voters previously overturned a 2009 state law authorizing it.
In California, meanwhile, a federal appeals court recently ruled against a voter-passed referendum that outlawed same-sex marriage. It said such a ban was unconstitutional and singled out gays and lesbians for discrimination. The case appears to be eventually headed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
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Maryland governor to sign same-sex marriage bill
By the CNN Wire... more
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Washington Post...
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Maryland House passes same-sex marriage bill
A bill to legalize same-sex marriage was approved Friday by the Maryland House of Delegates, all but assuring the measure will be sent to Gov. O’Malley for his promised signature.
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Same-sex marriage bill passes Maryland House of Delegates
View Photo Gallery — The Maryland House of Delegates approved a same-sex marriage bill, making an eventual signing by Gov. Martin O’Malley likely.
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PHOTO:
Feb. 16, 2012
Dels. Ariana B. Kelly (D-Montgomery) and Bonnie L. Cullison (D-Montgomery) confer. For Cullison, the debate about the gay marriage legislation is personal: She would like to be able to marry her partner, Marcia.
Mark Gail / The Washington Post
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By John Wagner, Friday, February 17, 3:46 PM
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A bill to legalize same-sex marriage won approval in the Maryland House of Delegates on Friday night, capping a dramatic turnaround from a year ago and all but assuring the measure will be sent to Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) for his promised signature.
After a day of emotional and contentious debate, the Democrat-led House voted 71-67 in favor of the bill, sending it to the Senate, which approved a similar measure last year. No senators have announced plans to change their votes.
Maryland is poised to join seven states and the District in allowing gay nuptials, but opponents are widely expected to launch a petition drive that could give Maryland voters the final say on the November ballot.
The state’s move toward same-sex marriage comes amid a fresh wave of momentum nationally for gay-rights activists. Gay nuptials bills were signed by the governors of New York in June and Washington state this month. And just Friday, the New Jersey legislature sent Gov. Chris Christie (R) a same-sex marriage bill, which Christie promptly vetoed as he had promised to do.
In Annapolis, O’Malley and other supporters scrambled in recent days to nail down enough votes to avoid a repeat of last year when the legislation died on the House floor.
Their efforts were buoyed by the support of two Republican delegates who announced their support of the legislation just this week: Robert A. Costa of Anne Arundel County and A. Wade Kach of Baltimore County.
During Friday’s debate, supporters — including seven gay delegates in the chamber — hailed the measure as a major step forward in equal rights. Opponents decried the redefinition of “marriage” and said it was an affront to long-standing religious traditions.
“We should extend to families, same-sex loving couples, the right to marry in a civil ceremony,” Del. Maggie L. McIntosh (D-Baltimore) said in a hushed chamber after relaying her experience coming out as a lesbian. “I’m going to ask you today, my colleagues, to make history.”
Kach told the chamber that his views on the issue changed after a bill hearing last week, when he heard testimony from loving same-sex couples, including some with children. “My constituents did not send me here to judge people,” Kach said.
In the hours before the bill passed, its prospects had appeared clouded by the hospitalization Thursday of a key supporter, Del. Veronica L. Turner (D-Prince George’s).
Although both chambers of Maryland’s legislature are heavily Democratic, the bill proved a tough sell among African American lawmakers from the party, including many Prince George’s delegates, who cited opposition by churches and constituents in their districts.
“Same-sex marriage is wrong,” Del. Emmett C. Burns Jr. (D-Baltimore County) told the chamber before the vote. “I believe that people who are gay have a right to be that, but the word ‘marriage’ should not be attached.”
Burns joined several Republicans in vowing to defeat the measure on the ballot.
One of the unexpected supporters was Del. Tiffany T. Alston (D-Prince George’s), who co-sponsored last year’s bill but withdrew her support in response to what she said was strong opposition in her district.
On Friday, Alston said she was satisfied that the bill would get petitioned to the ballot, in part based on a procedural amendment of hers that the chamber adopted.
“Right now, as a state, it’s time for us to move beyond the issue,” Alston told her colleagues. “I think the community needs to vote on this.”
Friday night’s vote marks a victory for O’Malley, who previously supported civil unions as an alternative to same-sex marriage. The governor agreed to sponsor this year’s in bill in July, in the wake of its failure in the House last year.
O’Malley said his reworked legislation provided greater protections for religious organizations opposed to gay nuptials.
During debate Friday, delegates rejected a proposed amendment, 78 to 45, to legalize civil unions rather than same-sex marriage.
This month, a federal appeals court also declared California’s ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional, saying it was a violation of the equal rights of gay and lesbian couples.
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Washington Post...
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Maryland House passes same-sex marriage bill
A bill... more
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