Maryland House kills same-sex marriage bill for this year

[yardwork]

Source: Washington Post

The Maryland House of Delegates has voted to effectively kill for this year a bill that would have allowed same-sex marriage in the state.

The House approved on voice vote a motion to send the bill back to the Judiciary Committee, an acknowledgment by supporters that it did not have sufficient votes to pass on the floor.

The bill cleared the Senate two weeks ago on a 25-to-21 vote, and Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) had pledged to sign it.

Advocates for the bill had hoped Maryland would join five other states and the District in allowing same-sex marriages. The bill had significant momentum coming out of the Senate but ran into resistance in the Democratic-led House from African-American lawmakers from Prince George's County, who cited religious opposition in their districts, and conservative Democrats in Southern Maryland and the Baltimore suburbs.



Read more: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/annapolis/2011/03/maryland_house_killes_same-sex.html?hpid=moreheadlines

[msongs]

1. the bible says slavery is good. is that thebook they are using to deny gay marriage? n

[devils chaplain]

2. Sad.

And I'm a little surprised.

[yardwork]

4. There was a lot of last-minute pressure from NOM and other anti-rights groups.

Evidence suggests that these groups are funded almost entirely by the Catholic Church, Mormon leadership, and leaders of the fundamentalist Protestant network. In other words, there is a LOT of money being thrown at legislators to vote against civil rights. And there may be threats as well. Vote against this bill or lose reelection. Vote against this bill or see your name in the paper for something embarrassing that will ensure that you never win reelection.

Why these huge religious organizations care so much about denying rights to a minority group is kind of a mystery to me. Wait. No it isn't. Gay rights = women's rights = human rights. All organizations based on patriarchy and privilege of the few have good reason to fear allowing people to live and love freely.

We really are radical! :evilgrin:

[devils chaplain]

6. It's curious that...

I'm sure the same people opposing this are the same people cheering anti-Sharia laws. Yet I've never met an anti-gay marriage advocate who wasn't ultimately opposed to it for religious reasons. I guess injecting religion into politics is good if it's your religion, it seems...

[Orangepeel]

3. I'm so disappointed. :-(

Rumor is, we were one vote short.

[yardwork]

5. They will try again in Maryland, but even if the legislators vote to approve

it will go up for a popular vote. Equal rights have lost every single time it's come up for a popular vote.

[Corruption Winz]

7. Sad..

But, I don't see this changing anytime soon. If it passes, the popular vote it likely to kill it soon enough.

[yardwork]

8. Yes. Corruption wins, human rights lose.

[Orangepeel]

9. From Delegate McIntosh's Blog:

http://www.delmaggie.com/?p=521

As a cosponsor of the marriage equality bill – as well as one of the few openly gay members of the General Assembly – it has been a great comfort to receive so many letters of support for this legislation. Though I advocated tirelessly for this bill among my colleagues, this afternoon the House of Delegates decided to recommit the Civil Marriage Protection Act to the Judiciary Committee. While SB 116 was not defeated, it likely means marriage equality legislation will not pass this session.

I am going to make a confession here. Rarely, rarely, am I reduced to tears or rendered speechless in Annapolis-but today I was. This has been an emotional roller coaster yet today I have never been so moved by my colleagues both gay and straight. Ten years ago I “came out” and was for a time the only openly gay member of the Maryland General Assembly. Today I am one of seven. At that time colleagues of mine and I were fighting to have discrimination ended in housing and employment. Think of it: just 10 years ago employers, landlords, and others could discriminated solely because they knew or thought you were gay. That was legal!

Today I sat as dozens of my colleagues spoke in favor of Marriage Equality. I cannot tell you how proud I am of Delegates Heather Mizeur, Bonnie Cullison, Mary Washington, Luke Clippinger, Anne Kaiser, and Peter Murphy. All told their personal story, all moved the fight for equality forward. I am so honored to be here, serving Maryland, with them.

Today we made history. We must celebrate! For the first time in Maryland history, Marriage Equality had a favorable vote in the Senate and would have fallen only a few votes short of passing in the House. So why should we celebrate? I will tell you why – today the atmosphere, the debate, and even more importantly, the hearts and minds in our chamber were forever altered. Once altered, history will march on, and we will see Marriage Equality become law very soon.