latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-maryland-senate-approves-gay-marriage-bill-20120223,0,337729.story
Maryland Senate approves gay marriage bill
By Ian Duncan
3:30 PM PST, February 23, 2012 - Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Washington
The Maryland Senate passed a gay marriage bill Thursday by a 25-22 vote,
sending it to Gov. Martin OfMalley, who sponsored the bill and is likely to sign
it soon. Maryland would become the eighth state to allow same sex couples
to marry, though opponents have vowed to force a public vote on the issue in
November.
gI know today we are going to make history because we are going to take
another important step towards embracing every family in the state of Maryland,h
Sen. Richard Madaleno, who is openly gay, said on the floor before the vote.
Now that the bill has passed the General Assembly, its opponents are free to
start gathering the 55,736 signatures – 3% of the number of votes cast at the
last gubernatorial election - that they need to trigger a referendum. Church
groups and conservatives have said they have plans in place to start the
petition drive.
A third of the signatures need to be submitted to the State Board of
Elections by May 31, with the rest by June 30.
An amendment to the bill submitted by Republican Delegate Wade Kach means no
same-sex marriages can occur in the state until the new law takes effect on Jan.
1. Kach voted for the bill, but he said the amendment would allow any referendum
to take its course and provide enough time for any legal challenges to its
result to be settled.
A similar effort to legalize gay marriage in Maryland failed last year after
it died in the House of Delegates without coming to a vote. In July 2011,
OfMalley, a Democrat, announced he would include a gay marriage law in his
legislative package that would allow religious organizations to refuse to
conduct same-sex weddings.
Washington's Democratic governor, Christine
Gregoire, signed that statefs gay marriage bill into law Feb. 13, but its
opponents there also have promised a referendum challenge.
In the past, gay marriage laws submitted to the public have been voted down.
Maine voters rejected a law by a slim margin in 2009 and constitutional
amendments defining marriage as being between one man and one woman passed in
Arizona and California in 2008.
Supporters of gay marriage, however, point to polls that show increasing
numbers of voters back the right for same-sex unions, and they are hopeful that
a referendum would go in their favor.
A nationwide CBS News/New York Times poll conducted in February showed 40% of
respondents favored allowing same-sex marriages, while 23% supported civil
unions and 31% rejected either measure.
The other states that allow gay marriage are Massachusetts, Connecticut,
Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York. Washington and Maryland would
become the seventh and eighth if the referendum challenges failed. Washington,
D.C., also allows gay marriage.
ian.duncan@latimes.com
Copyright © 2012, Los Angeles Times