Maryland’s House Passes Same-Sex Marriage Bill, Sends to Senate
Maryland (STOMD1)’s House of Delegates passed a bill that would allow gay and lesbian couples to marry, moving the state closer to becoming the eighth to permit same-sex nuptials.
The House, which halted the advance of gay marriage legislation last year, approved the bill 71-67 yesterday, according to legislative records. That advances it to the Senate, which approved it last year.
“There is still work to be done and marriage equality has not yet been achieved in Maryland,” Democratic Governor Martin O’Malley, who supports it, said in a statement.
The advance inserts Maryland into the national debate over whether to allow homosexuals to wed, as they now can in seven other states and the District of Columbia. This week, the state of Washington approved the practice, while New Jersey Governor Chris Christie yesterday vetoed a bill that had been passed by his Legislature Feb. 16.
While states have been moving to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples since 2003, the unions aren’t recognized by the federal government, which is banned from doing so as a result of a law passed in 1996. That’s left the issue to be fought in the states, where it’s been the focus of political and courtroom clashes between advocates who say citizens are being denied a civil right and those who see the practice as a threat to traditional values.
In addition to the District of Columbia, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, New Hampshire, Vermont and Washington permit the practice. This month, a federal appeals court struck down a 2008 voter initiative that outlawed gay marriage in California, saying it was unfair to gay couples. That ruling may send the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court (1000L).
To contact the reporter on this story: William Selway in Washington at wselway@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Tannenbaum at mtannen@bloomberg.net
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