ITP V.012 SOCIAL JUSTICE: GAY MARRIAGES/MARRIAGE EQUALITY LEGAL IN MARYLAND

ITP V.012 EDITORS NOTE: Congrats Maryland, as it is AWESOME to see this social change in my lifetime.

Maryland State Senate has just passed a bill to legalize same sex marriages.
If the bill is signed, Maryland will be the eighth state to allow same-sex marriage. However, in New Jersey, USA, Governor Christie vetoed the marriage equality bill, as the bill WON in New Jersey State Senate.

FROM CNN.COM:
The Maryland Senate voted Thursday evening to legalize same-sex marriage, the latest sign of growing national recognition of such unions among gay and lesbian couples.
Gov. Martin O'Malley has pledged to sign the bill into law, which was approved last week by the House of Delegates.
"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 the vote.
The Maryland vote comes 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.
The flurry of activity is a stark change from two decades ago, when the issue of same-sex marriage first gained national attention. Just a decade ago, no states allowed such unions.
In 1996, when Congress defined marriage solely as a union between a man and a woman, 68% of Americans opposed same-sex marriage, with just 27% in favor, according to polling by Gallup. By May 2011, the lines had crossed, with 53% of Americans in favor and 45% opposed, according to the organization.
In November, the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press reported a more divided public -- 46% in favor of same-sex marriages and 44% opposed. But Pew also said the uptick in support seems to be gaining steam, having jumped 9 percentage points in two years.
The shifting attitudes have emboldened proponents of same-sex marriage.
"There's no question that with so many Americans having changed their minds and opened their hearts as they've heard the stories of real couples and thought about why marriage matters, we now have tremendous momentum towards ending marriage discrimination," said Evan Wolfson, president of Freedom to Marry, which favors recognizing a right to marriage for gay couples.
"We could see a nationwide victory as soon as one to two years. It could also take as much as 10 years."
Opponents disagree.
Citing the 31 states in which voters have approved measures defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman, National Organization for Marriage President Brian Brown said he doesn't believe polls saying that a majority of Americans now support same-sex marriage.
"The reality is that in these 31 states, everywhere we've had a vote, is that voters have said they believe marriage is an institution between a man and a woman," Brown said.
Same-sex marriage became a national issue in 1993, after the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that a ban on same-sex marriages 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 underway to put a proposal to legalize same-sex marriage on the November ballot in Maine, where voters previously overturned a 2009 state law authorizing same-sex marriage.
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.
Brown said Democratic legislatures -- not voters -- have been behind most of the recent action on same-sex marriage. Upcoming ballot initiatives will give voters an opportunity to refute the polling, and Brown says they will.
"What you will see is that there will be a vote in states representing all the different regions of this country and people are going to have the chance to say, emphatically, 'No'," Brown said.


FROM HRC (HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN):
The Maryland State Senate has just approved marriage equality legislation introduced by Gov. Martin O’Malley. The House of Delegates approved the legislation in a historic vote last Friday. Governor O’Malley is expected to sign the bill.

The Civil Marriage Protection Act allows committed gay and lesbian couples to obtain a marriage license while providing religious exemptions for churches and other religious institutions. Clergy, for example, do not have to perform any marriage they do not agree with.

Virtually any piece of legislation, according to Maryland law, can be subject to a referendum where voters cast a ballot supporting or opposing the legislation. Opponents of marriage equality are expected to begin obtaining the requisite signatures necessary to refer the Civil Marriage Protection Act to the general election ballot.

A January poll by the Washington Post indicated a majority of Marylanders support marriage equality.

The Human Rights Campaign committed extensive resources to the legislative effort in the Free State, including helping to create Marylanders for Marriage Equality, the broad-based coalition made up of labor, faith, civil liberties, and LGBT organizations. Learn more about HRC’s engagement in the fight for marriage equality in Maryland.

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GAY PRIDE