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Breaking: Maryland Senate passes marriage equality
February 23, 2012
By Jacob Combs
Tonight, the Maryland Senate debated and passed a bill to bring marriage equality to the state by a vote of 25-22. The measure passed the House of Delegates earlier this week by a vote of 72-67. Last year, the bill passed the state Senate by a margin of 25-21, but was withdrawn from the floor of the House of Delegates as support evaporated at the last minute.
The bill will now head to the desk of Gov. Martin O’Malley’s, who supports it. Opponents of marriage equality in the state have promised to collect signatures to put the issue up for a voter referendum in November. Maryland would be the fifth state to have a ballot question on marriage equality this year, provided opponents of Washington state’s recently passed marriage vote succeed in their signature collection effort.
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46 Comments Leave a Comment
1.
Mark Mead-Brewer | February 23, 2012 at 3:30 pm
Congratulations Maryland!!!!
2.
Mike | February 23, 2012 at 3:33 pm
haha what is happening! Suddenly all of the east coast is adopting marriage equality. Way to go!
3.
Jim | February 23, 2012 at 3:34 pm
Does anyone know when this would go into effect after it is signed by the govenor. My reasoning is that if it becomes effective, and marriages begin, before a ballot initiative could be voted on, then I'm assuming that ballot initiative could be declared invalid, using the 9th District Courts recent decision regarding Prop 8, as part of the rationale. Because like on Prop 8, the court said you cannot take away a right that was already granted.
4.
Bryce from DC and KS | February 23, 2012 at 3:35 pm
True story: the vote literally took place at the very second I was crossing the state line from DC into Maryland! MD did the right thing. Since I can't be in Anapolis or B-More, Gaithersburg will have to do for tonight!
5.
John | February 23, 2012 at 3:46 pm
Sorry to bust everyones bubble but this will just be repealed at the ballot box. I would like this as much as anyone else but every time it has made it on the ballot it passes. So I really didn't have my hopes up for this. Everyone may be excited now but just wait until after the elections.
6.
Ed Cortes | February 23, 2012 at 3:46 pm
I love the fact that the H8ers will have to fund 5 ballot propositions this year! Let's see if we can get any more drains on their resources!
7.
jonc | February 23, 2012 at 3:47 pm
The bill has a provision that delays the effective date til January of 2013, giving the people's referendum a chance to gather enough signatures to be placed on the Nov. ballot. If the potential recerendum succeeds, the marriage law would not go into effect.
8.
JefferyK | February 23, 2012 at 3:51 pm
It wasn't too long ago when gay marriage was on the ballot here in California during another presidential election — people came out to the polls to vote for Obama and vote against gay marriage. I'm afraid that if that happens again this fall, in other states, we are really going to have to do some serious soul searching regarding coalition building and just who our allies are.
9.
Bob Barnes | February 23, 2012 at 3:54 pm
Congrats to my neighbors!!!!
If you get a chance, wander over to the NOM blogs and enjoy the mayhem. NOM has yet to mention a thing about the second downing of DOMA as unconstitutional, and the moderators are deleting civil comments made about it. For those getting by, there's just the sad cases of denial per usual by NOMers. These are desperate times for NOM. Good.
10.
Bob Barnes | February 23, 2012 at 3:57 pm
And for what reasons? Singling out gays to deny them equal access is becoming a big no-no.
11.
Jamie | February 23, 2012 at 3:57 pm
Effective Jan 1, 2013.
12.
John | February 23, 2012 at 3:59 pm
Dude what are you talking about? Stop thinking I am the enemy. I want to be able to marry the person I love too, but I am merely stating that everyone shouldn't get their hopes up. That is my right to state this. This is reality and it sucks!
13.
Jamie | February 23, 2012 at 4:00 pm
My take, we should hire people to stand beside the paid signature gatherers and ask anyone that signs these propositions why they want to vote to eliminate the rights of their neighbors and why they are against freedom and liberty.
14.
Straight Ally #3008 | February 23, 2012 at 4:01 pm
It's cold comfort, but public opinion is not only steadily changing in favor of equality, but gaining steam. One day soon – and I don't know if 2012 is the year – a referendum to repeal pro-equality legislation will fail at the ballot box.
http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/…
15.
Leo | February 23, 2012 at 4:03 pm
There's always a first time. Domestic partnerships also lost every ballot battle… until they won in Washington.
16.
B Z | February 23, 2012 at 4:03 pm
That would be nice, but (a) the law takes effect Jan 1, 2013, (b) even if it didn't, if the anti-equality folks collect enough signatures to put it on the ballot, the law would be suspended until after the election (unless the legislature declared it an emergency law, which would then go into effect immediately, but that would require a supermajority, which we don't have), and (c) Maryland isn't in the 9th Circuit.
(b also applies to Washington, though a and c don't.)
17.
Bryce from DC and KS | February 23, 2012 at 4:09 pm
Maybe we will win at the ballot box, maybe we will lose. I happen to believe we will win, but if we don't we aren't going to give up until things are right. At the very least, these victories mean that the fight will go on and we will inevitably win.
So let's just enjoy this moment. This is a big deal!!!
18.
John | February 23, 2012 at 4:10 pm
Why is that there are so many gays out there that don't like the truth? I mean face it, yes there "could" be a first time but that is VERY slim. Stop being in DENIAL! REALITY HELLO!
19.
John | February 23, 2012 at 4:11 pm
Domestic Partnership for one is a huge difference for a lot of people in this country.
20.
Andrew | February 23, 2012 at 4:19 pm
I don't think he's attacking you. I think he's saying that opinions are changing, and that arguments that worked against marriage rights in the past are increasingly being seen as discriminatory and wrong.
21.
John | February 23, 2012 at 4:23 pm
We will see about that, but I highly doubt this because the voters are dumb and believe anything they see or hear without doing research.
22.
misken | February 23, 2012 at 4:23 pm
Domestic partnerships technically won in California and Arizona (and most likely other states) before Washington.
And marriage won in Massachusetts as well. (the voters there refused to sign petitions to get the state supreme court ruling on the ballot, and to me, that counts and voter rejection of a proposed initiative).
23.
Sagesse | February 23, 2012 at 4:28 pm
I predict marriage equality will win at the ballot box in one state at least. It could be Washington, it could be Maine. Less likely, but it could be Maryland, or Minnesota (win as in defeat a DOMA amendment) or NC.
24.
Jacob | February 23, 2012 at 4:29 pm
You have every right to your opinion–I just don't see how it squares with any real evidence. We may well lose all three votes (or all five), but it's absurd to look at split polls and think it's already a foregone conclusion. We were three points off in Maine during an off-year vote. We may not be favorites, but we're not such a longshot!
25.
Lymis | February 23, 2012 at 4:31 pm
And while the "you can't take away a right that has already been granted" is the way of lot of the media is reporting the court decision, that's not what the ruling actually says. Nothing keeps a right from being removed – but there has to be a compelling government interest, and removing the right has to be for a reason that is rationally (at least) related to that interest – and that nothing that was proposed as a reason met that test.
Likely, the same logic would apply in Maryland, so yes, the decision might apply. But that isn't quite what it said, and simply passing a law and having it go into effect doesn't make it bulletproof.
26.
Lymis | February 23, 2012 at 4:38 pm
Nate Silver's predictions (http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/29/the-future-of-same-sex-marriage-ballot-measures/) show that this November, Maryland is about a tossup on the predicted model for voters to shoot down a ban on gay marriage at the ballot box, with a slightly better chance of upholding marriage than banning it, and that the trend towards equality is accelerating.
It will be a squeaker either way, but the days of just giving up and announcing that a referendum spells automatic doom are over.
27.
Josh | February 23, 2012 at 4:41 pm
For what it's worth, congrats, MD! See you in November.
Who can tell me this? What other minority group has had their rights voted away the number of times that we have?
I think the real problem we keep facing is that it's waaaaaay too easy to get something on the ballot in too many states. It's such a waste of time and money. We keep going through this. A fairly elected legislature passes a bill to protect a minority group and then pro-discrimination types come along and repeal it by the majority who are not even impacted by the bill. Increase the number of signatures required to qualify so only the REALLY important issues get qualified. They make it so easy that just about anything can get a ballot question it seems. It's disgusting.
28.
Nickolas | February 23, 2012 at 4:54 pm
i think it similar to Washington where a stay is put on it until the november election. I'm a resident of Washington and axiously await anti-marriage equality referendum 71 to hit the ballot. Although, hopefully they won't get enought signatures.
29.
Gregory in SLC | February 23, 2012 at 5:06 pm
AGREE Sagesse!
Hooray for Maryland! Hooray for February 2012, THE tipping point for marriage equality!
30.
Straight Dave | February 23, 2012 at 5:45 pm
Politicians may be more vulnerable to this pressure since their votes are public and can be held against them in a big way. The average citizen doesn't have this same incentive to "behave better". So they genuinely have to buy into equality in order to vote for it. That's a higher barrier to climb than mere political self-survival.
I agree the national mood is changing, but it's probably spread very unevenly. We already have contrary types of votes upcoming in WA/MD(+) vs those in MN/NC(-). The odds are we'll win a couple of them this time around, which is a big step in itself, just to break the "streak".
31.
Jamie | February 23, 2012 at 5:51 pm
Better yet, pass a civil rights law like Washington D.C. that simply states that citizens don't get to vote on the rights of minorities.
32.
Straight Dave | February 23, 2012 at 5:57 pm
My top predictions for a win:
1) Maine
2) Minn
3) Wash
I would be surprised if at least 2 of the 5 don't go our way. Remember we still have 8+ more months of momentum, and there's bound to be another DOMA ruling for us by then.
33.
Jdg | February 23, 2012 at 6:07 pm
Reconstruction comes to mind… Fortunately I don't think we'll have to wait so long.
34.
Peterplumber | February 23, 2012 at 6:14 pm
They will get enough signatues for R-74. They learned from R-71 to concentrate thier efforts in Eastern Washington. It matters not. When the vote comes, it will be the same as R-71. The Pueget Sound area has more population the the rest of the state combined. King County will carry the day!!
35.
Rich | February 23, 2012 at 6:19 pm
It's official…marriage equality will be on the ballot in Maine this November. The Secretary of State has verified that enough (actually way more than enough) signatures were collected. So, now, we must all do our parts to bring this home. In Maine, we are feeling pretty good about this time around but we can't let our guard down. The Catholic Church is taking quite a beating of late for a number of reasons, not least of which is its Contraception Stand. This will heat up and it will be my goal to tie the Church very closely to NOM and it's despicable pattern of lies and deceits. Isn't it wonderful? Pressure on NOM from coast to coast.
36.
Reformed | February 23, 2012 at 6:34 pm
Ok John, I am going to stop being in denial now. Oh, this IS so much better . . .
I sure hope I don't replapse back into postive thinking (or that this learned helplessness buzz doesn't wear off to fast)
37.
Reformed | February 23, 2012 at 6:48 pm
Posted February 23, 2012 at 9:45 pm | Permalink
clearly maggie! . . even requesting another review by the most liberal court in america to avoid it.
Oh this IS fun, moderator must be asleep again. Tee Hee.
38.
Gregory in SLC | February 23, 2012 at 7:15 pm
I agree PP. Washington's time has come!
39.
Leo | February 23, 2012 at 7:17 pm
CA,AZ: Yes, good point.
MA: That's news to me. AFAIK (and Wikipedia agrees) they did get enough voter signatures, but not enough votes in the legislature.
40.
Seth from Maryland | February 23, 2012 at 7:49 pm
i would say our best chance would be in 1Washington, 2Maine, 3Maryland and Minnesota, i think we will win at least 3 of these but in my opinion we will in all of them
41.
Steve | February 23, 2012 at 7:52 pm
I love it! It forces the pro-hate groups to spread out their resources so thin they’ll lose everything!
42.
Pat | February 23, 2012 at 10:16 pm
From Nate Silver's analysis, the easiest state should be Maine, followed by WA, where we are favored. MD is a real tossup, so is MN.
43.
Bob | February 23, 2012 at 10:29 pm
congrats to Maryland,,,, for passing marriage equality,,,,, that's a win,,,, the bummer following is the ferendum,,,,, I now we're being kicked around,,,, and I choose hope!!!! remember Tavis Smiley interview re the difference between optimism and hope,,,,, his guest said that black people had hope even when hope was stillborn to them,,, they had hope before they could imagine it,,,, hope was their anchor,, it's more realitistic than optimism,,,, hope does not put on rose colored glasses,, hope knows deep down inside that change is going to come,,,,
and just for fun talking about the Catholic Church,,,, this is the week to glitter bomb the Catholic Arcdiocis of NY send an email to communications@archny.org and type the word glitter glitter glittter,, you can also write and tell them to stop discriminating against us,,, glitter bomb the pope,, have some fun,,,, made me feel good,,,,,
44.
Brent | February 23, 2012 at 10:39 pm
Hey, I live in the Tri-Cities (eastern WA) and wholeheartedly support marriage equality. Benton County will give as many 'yes' votes as we can in November!
45.
Bill S. | February 24, 2012 at 2:51 am
The voters could not put that issue on the ballot because the Massachusetts constitution prohibits voter-initiated referenda that would amend the state's equal protection clause.
Connecticut voters did vote down a constitutional convention in 2008 (which is automatically put on the ballot every so many years) just after their Supreme Court mandated marriage equality.
46.
Volunteer Abroad | February 26, 2012 at 1:23 am
This is good. Lets see how much effective it becomes.
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