This afternoon the Maryland House approved its transgender rights bill by a vote of 86-52. As you might expect, the debate got ugly at times, with one House member saying, "Do we really want Klinger in charge of our daycares?" Equality Maryland reports via press release:
"Today we thank Delegates Pena-Melynk and Kelly for their tremendous leadership. We are proud of the 86 Delegates who stood up for fairness today by voting to support HB 235. All hardworking people in our state, should have a chance to earn a living and provide for themselves and their families. Nobody should have to live in fear that they can be legally fired for reasons that have nothing to do with their job skills or work performance. There is still work to do, but today, we're one step closer in seeing all transgender Marylanders are treated fairly under the law. Discrimination in jobs and housing happens a lot in Maryland and it's time we put a stop to it. Data shows that 1 in 5 transgender people in Maryland have lost a job due to discrimination and 12% have become homeless. This law is a matter of life-or-death for some Marylanders. We look to the Senate now, where we will work with proven champions Senator Jamie Raskin and Senator Rich Madaleno to see this bill through to a swift and successful passage."
This morning a Maryland House committee voted 15-8 to advance its Gender Identity Anti-Discrimination Act to the full chamber. Equality Maryland reports via press release:
House Bill 235 would add gender identity to the state's anti-discrimination laws in the area of employment, housing, and credit. The subcommittee approved a few non-substantive amendments which the lead sponsor, Equality Maryland, and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force all found them to be relatively inconsequential. They committee also modified the definition of gender identity within the bill. This definition will provide protection both for a person's gender identity, as well as the way in which they express their gender in terms of presentation. Equality Maryland worked with the subcommittee and committee to ensure that both areas would be covered under the bill's definition.
The bill is strongly opposed by the usual bigots. Maryland residents, please contact your House Delegate and request their support.
While we are disappointed the House did not vote to pass marriage equality today, we are confident we will win in the future. With so much at stake today for thousands of Maryland families, we are thankful that our legislative allies have taken such care with this vote. It is best to delay this historic vote until we are absolutely sure we have the votes to win. We look forward to working strategically with our amazing allies in the legislature, and our supporters across the state, to continue to build support for, and win, marriage equality in the Free State. We are extraordinarily grateful to the many leaders who have stood by us throughout this journey. We wouldn't have made it this far without their tireless dedication.
Lambda Legal
On behalf of many same-sex couples and their families who seek equality, we are disappointed by the Maryland House’s failure today to finish the job started by the Senate last month. But this is not the end. We commend the state Senators who passed the Civil Marriage Protection Act and the House Delegates who have staunchly supported marriage equality. We urge the House to soon bring the bill to a successful vote and give critical protections to Maryland's thousands of same-sex couples and their families. We applaud Equality Maryland for its tireless and ongoing work for Maryland families. Thousands of same-sex couples in Maryland are still not allowed to get married in their home state and must travel out of state to better protect their families.
The Maryland House of Delegates has voted to effectively kill for this year a bill that would have allowed same-sex marriage in Maryland. The House approved on voice vote a motion to send the bill back to the Judiciary Committee, an acknowledgment by supporters that it did not have sufficient votes to pass on the floor. The bill cleared the Senate two weeks ago on a 25-to-21 vote, and Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) had pledged to sign it.
Very disappointing. NOM is doing backflips and taunting on Twitter.
After voting down four hostile GOP amendments, the Maryland House of Delegates has just voted to advance its marriage equality bill to a third (and possibly final) reading tomorrow. Here are the failed poison pills offered by the enemies of equality:
Amendment 1: "This Act may not be construed to require an entity to provide adoption, foster care, or social services if providing the services would violate the entity's religious beliefs." Amendment 2: "Providing that, in a public school that offers instruction involving materials that promote same-sex marriage, a public school teacher may not be required to teach the materials and a parent shall be given an opportunity to have the parent’s child excused from the instruction under certain circumstances." Amendment 3: "Change title of Act to 'Same-Sex Marriage Act'." Amendment 4: "To require a public referendum on same-same marriage."
All of the above provided to JMG readers via email by openly gay Delegate Luke Clippinger.
Equality Maryland tweets that the marriage debate before the full House of Delegates is scheduled to begin at 10am tomorrow. They also note that those red-caped whackjobs from the Society for the Defense of Tradition are currently playing their bagpipes outside the state house.
After fighting off a myriad of poison pill amendments put forward by the GOP, the Maryland House Judiciary Committee has just advanced its marriage equality bill to the full chamber. Equality Maryland sends this press release:
“Marriage provides a critical safety net for families. With this favorable vote from the committee on SB 116, we're one step closer to providing not only the same benefits, but also the respect and dignity to the thousands of gay and lesbian couples in Maryland. From every corner of the state, Marylanders have made it clear that a majority favor marriage equality. We remain cautiously optimistic about the upcoming vote on the House floor. Equality Maryland is counting on every person who supports ending the exclusion of loving same sex couples from marriage to contact their delegates and be counted in this fight to bring equality to the Free State."
JMG reader and openly gay House Delegate Luke Clippinger: "This is another important step on the road to marriage equality. I'm proud to be on the Judiciary Committee so as to be able to cast this vote - I'm pleased to be part of passing this important piece of legislation."
Among the failed GOP ploys were amendments allowing polygamous and incestuous marriages. The full Maryland House vote should take place next week.
Maryland House Delegate Sam Arora, who yesterday caused quite the furor over indications that he was going to vote against the marriage bill he cosponsored, now says he's back on board.
I have heard from constituents, friends, and advocates from across the spectrum of views and have thought about the issue of same-sex marriage extensively. I understand their concern—this is a very serious issue, and one that many people feel passionately about. As the vote drew nearer, I wrestled with this issue in a way I never had before, which led me to realize that I had some concerns about the bill. While I personally believe that Maryland should extend civil rights to same-sex couples through civil unions, I have come to the conclusion that this issue has such impact on the people of Maryland that they should have a direct say. I will vote to send the bill to the floor because it deserves an up-or-down vote. On the floor, I will vote to send the bill to the governor so that Marylanders can ultimately decide this issue at the polls. I think that is appropriate.
Yesterday Arora was accused of deleting a January 25th pro-marriage tweet from his Twitter history as sites like AmericaBlog went ballistic. Looks like the pressure worked.
Maryland Delegate Tiffany Alston, one of the key needed votes on the House judiciary committee, is backing away from her promise to support marriage equality. Now Alston says civil unions are the way to go.
Delegate Tiffany Alston, D-Prince George's, delayed a vote on the bill Tuesday morning by skipping the session in protest. On Thursday, she said she is researching an amendment that would better reflect a separation between church and state by changing the bill to be about civil unions. "I have a decision that I have to make that's going to satisfy my constituency as well as my conscience," Alston says. Alston says the change she is considering would allow Maryland residents to get civil union licenses if they wished to be married, whether they are heterosexual or homosexual. She says she believes the change would be "a good balance," but does not know if it would receive support from other committee members.
Meanwhile over on AmericaBlog, John Aravosis is eviscerating Delegate Sam Arora, one of the marriage bill's sponsors who is also now walking back his support. Aravosis is calling on donors to Arora's campaign to demand their money back.
After two days of delays and some minor panic due to two wayward Democrats, marriage equality backers in Maryland now think the bill will advance out of the House judiciary committee tomorrow. But it will be a squeaker.
Delegates Tiffany Alston, Prince George’s County Democrat, and Jill Carter, Baltimore city Democrat, said Wednesday that they are ready to cast votes on the bill, which is in House’s 22-member Judiciary Committee. Mrs. Alston said she missed the scheduled vote Tuesday morning because she needed more time to consider the issue. Mrs. Carter said she wanted to “leverage” her vote to bring attention to proposed state budget cuts to Baltimore city education and to a bill on child custody and welfare that she is sponsoring. Committee members think Mrs. Alston and Mrs. Carter would cast the 11th and 12th votes needed to advance the bill to the House floor.
One of the bill's backers says that if the vote doesn't happen by Thursday afternoon, "you can write the obituary."
One of two legislators who went missing Tuesday morning for a committee vote on Maryland's same-sex marriage legislation said they are withholding their votes on the bill to gain "leverage" on unrelated issues they consider equally important. Del. Jill Carter (D-Baltimore) told reporters Tuesday afternoon that she and Del. Tiffany T. Alston (D-Prince George's) are concerned about school funding for Baltimore and Prince George's County and some family law bills that have yet to move forward. "This is still very early in the session, so I think there is time to get it all done," Carter said. Colleagues had frantically tried to locate the two legislators for about half an hour Tuesday morning before calling off a scheduled vote in the House Judiciary Committee. Both Alston and Carter are co-sponsors of the House version of the same-sex marriage bill.
According to local news, GOP legislators heckled the committee's chair to call for the vote even with the bill's missing backers out of the room. The vote may still take place today so cross your fingers.
EARLIER TODAY:
The Maryland House of Delegates judiciary committee is expected to vote today on whether to pass its marriage equality bill to the full chamber. Last week anti-gay Christiantist groups launched a massive assault on the bill with robocalls and the distribution of materials from a Massachusetts-based hate group. That onslaught caused at least one Delegate to de-sponsor the bill.
JMG reader Michael writes to tip us to the video of his father's marriage equality testimony before the Maryland House of Delegates last week. Michael's dad is an active Mormon, a physician, and a colonel in the U.S. Army. Watch this.
The coming marriage equality vote in the Maryland House of Delegates is now thought to be in jeopardy due to a ferocious campaign by anti-gay Christianists. Only a couple of days ago the vote was considered to be an easy win. Lou Chibarro reports at Washington Blade:
Backers said that as of this week, the number of delegates who have publicly declared their support for the bill was just short of the 71 votes needed in the 141-member House. “There’s an effort to derail this bill like none I’ve seen before,” said gay State Sen. Richard Madaleno (D-Montgomery County), the author and one of the lead sponsors of the marriage equality bill in the Senate. In a telephone news briefing on Friday, Madaleno said the mainstream media have repeatedly reported an earlier assumption that support for the bill was greater in the House than in the Senate, and approval of the measure in the Senate guaranteed its passage in the House. With opponents, including the Maryland Catholic Conference and the New Jersey-based National Organization for Marriage, applying enormous pressure on wavering delegates, Madaleno and Equality Maryland officials said support in the House might be in jeopardy.
Supporters of the bill had originally planned to pass it as close to the end of the legislative session as possible in order to diminish the time available to collect petition signatures for a ballot referendum. By Maryland law, signature gathering can only begin once the governor signs the bill and must be completed by June 1st. But with support for the bill possibly eroding (one delegate has already removed his name as a cosponsor), backers are now pushing for passage as soon as possible. If the petition requirements are met in time, marriage equality (if passed) then goes on hold until the referendum.
TAKE ACTION: Maryland residents please contact your delegates immediately and urge that they maintain their support of equality.
VIDEO: As yesterday's House debate, nutjob Delegate Don Dywer, who has joined with NOM in an anti-gay robocall campaign, sat next to Maggie Gallagher and opened his testimony with a prayer that God stop the Maryland House from "redefining and destroying forever the God-ordained institution of marriage." According to Dwyer, House delegates that vote in support of same-sex marriage are subject to arrest for perjury, because saying that gay people deserve equality is a lie and they know it. Or something like that.
UPDATE:AmericaBlog reports that Dwyer is distributing materials from the SPLC-certified hate group, Mass Resistance. Here's the email he sent to his constituents.
This is Maryland Delegate Don Dwyer, Jr.
I have been fighting for many years now to keep marriage between a man and a woman as the Creator God intended. We are about to redefine the term “marriage” to include same sex marriages. Please open, print and read the attached files regarding Same Sex Marriage
PLEASE NOTE: THE EFFECTS OF SSM AND THE LITTLE BLACK BOOK ARE VERY DISTURBING BUT YOU MUST KNOW WHAT IS BEING TAUGHT TO CHILDREN IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Moments ago the Maryland Senate approved its marriage equality bill by a vote of 25-21. The bill now moves to the Democrat-heavy House of Delegates where it is expected to pass easily before landing on the gay-friendly governor's desk. We're almost there, kiddos! Follow along on Twitter at the hashtag #Marryland.
UPDATE: A reader emails to note that despite some predictions of the bill breezing through the Maryland House, some are cautioning to "take nothing for granted" as by at least one count, the vote may be closer than previously thought. Maryland residents, please contact your Delegates immediately and encourage their support for equality.
NOM's Maggie Gallagher and the Family Research Council's Peter "Export Gays" Sprigg repped the hate groups at yesterday's marriage debate before the Maryland legislature.
This afternoon the Maryland House approved its transgender rights bill by a vote of 86-52. As you might expect, the debate got ugly at times, with one House member saying, "Do we really want Klinger in charge of our daycares?" Equality Maryland reports via press release: 
