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Bill legalizing same-sex marriage introduced
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| Contributor | The Sunset Provision |
| Last Edited | The Sunset Provision Jan 31, 2008 02:10am |
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| Category | News |
| Media | Newspaper - Baltimore Sun |
| News Date | Thursday, January 31, 2008 08:10:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | More than a fourth of state lawmakers have signed up to sponsor a bill that would legalize same-sex marriages in Maryland, the measure's proponents announced today.
Legislators gathered with gay-rights activists to announce the introduction of the legislation in the General Assembly four months after Maryland's highest court upheld the state's 34-year-old statute defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
The activists and legislators portrayed their efforts as the latest struggle in the civil rights movement and invoked the name of former Sen. Gwendolyn T. Britt, a longtime activist against racial discrimination who died this month. Britt had agreed to sponsor the same-sex marriage bill in the Senate. Sens. Richard Madaleno and Jamie Raskin, both Montgomery County Democrats, have taken on that role.
Proponents secured nine sponsors in the Senate and 40 in the House of Delegates. That's about half of the majority needed for passage, leaving the bill's prospects uncertain this year. Gov. Martin O'Malley and House Speaker Michael E. Busch have said that they prefer civil unions. Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller opposes both same-sex marriage and civil unions.
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