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Loading ...Will Maryland recognize gay marriages?
06.01.2009 6:00pm EDT
Maryland’s attorney general is deciding whether gay marriages performed in other states will be legally recognized by his state, the Baltimore Sun reports.
Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler is a Democrat and a strong advocate for equal marriage. Maryland defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman, but it also has a “longstanding tradition” of recognizing marriages performed in other states, the Sun said.While Gov. Martin O’Malley and the General Assembly have extended a number of rights and benefits to gay and lesbian couples, they have stopped short of endorsing same-sex unions, the Sun said.
“You can’t understate the significance of being married,” said openly gay Sen. Richard S. Madaleno. “People in our state get married every day, and to be denied the ability to do that is very dispiriting.”
Maryland would be following the example of New York, which recognizes same-sex marriages performed elsewhere, though gays and lesbians can’t get legally married in the state.
Steve, I lived in Maryland for 43 years.
Is SSM the only qualification for being a blue state? While MD is not as liberal as New England, Blue means a Democrat majority state and is exactly what MD is, a Democrat majority state. MD is better that Virginia, with same-sex couples leaving Virginia to live in Maryland it is granted not as far along as is New Jersey. NJ gov Corzine won the NJ Dem primary yesterday and he faces antimarriage equality GOP contender who won the NJ GOP primary in the NJ general election. Corzine says he will sign NJ marriage equality into law when it reaches his desk, whereas Chris Christie says he will veto the same bill if it reaches him should he become the next NJ gov.
MD is along the marriage equality path of evolution somewhat like this: NH may or may not become the 6th marriage equality state today, NJ may be next in line and this year, Illinois may come up next for civil unions this year, 2010 Maryland may or may not see civil unions with marriage equality unlikely for a few more years, a try for overturning Prop 8 at the ballot box likely in CA in 2010, a possibility for marriage equality in RI in 2011 or 2012 may more likely by the fact that anti marriage equality RI Gov Carcieri cannot serve beyond 2011 due to RI’s term limits and all the Dem contenders for RI gov are currently all pro-marriage equality including a run by the gay mayor of Providence Cicilline. NY State may possibly see marriage equality in 2012 or maybe earlier.
We will see how things unfold, this timeline is merely a prediction.
Morgan,
I reluctantly left Maryland (and my family there) 5 years ago for California. I left because I thought I needed to go to a gay Mecca (San Francisco) to feel like part of a community and put behind me some of my issues about being gay. I love SF, but Maryland is home and always will be. I know that there are l.ots of fair-minded and good-hearted people in Maryland. I am very thankful for people like you who stayed in Maryland to fight the fight. One day I would love to live in Maryland again, and I would like to take my same-sex husband with me. Thanks for working to make my home a fair place. Give em hell!
@drewski – you’ve nailed it.
Marriage is marriage and everyone knows what that means. RDP’s, Civil Unions – there just isn’t the societal or cultural history in our country to have a universal understanding of these various terms.
My wife and I are one of the 18,000 legally married Lesbian/Gay couples in a State that has just upheld an (IMHO) unconstitutional – constitutional change which states that Gay and Lesbians can’t get legally married. So we’ve got a Constitution in California that’s in conflict with itself. We’ve been advised to carry a copy of our marriage certificate in case of emergency room visits (which are an unfortunate reality in our lives).
Marriage and only marriage will suffice as long as our society and all the legal, medical and governmental entities use that specific word to mean specific, culturally understood and accepted things. Our community deserves nothing less than full equality.