Breaking: Maryland Marriage Bill Passes House Judiciary Committee

March 04, 2011

The Maryland marriage bill was passed in the House Judiciary Committee today by a vote of 12-10. The full House could vote on the bill as early as next week. The Senate passed a marriage bill on February 24 by a vote of 25-21. 

"Today's vote was an important step toward ensuring that the thousands of loving and committed same-sex couples in Maryland have the full array of protections that only come with marriage," said Marc Solomon, National Campaign Director for Freedom to Marry.  "But this victory is not yet a lock -- everyone must play their part.  We call on constituents to contact their legislators and on legislators to listen and do what is right to secure this victory for Maryland families."

"We applaud the Maryland House of Delegates Judiciary Committee for ending attempts to hold our families hostage to political maneuvering," said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. "Maryland is at the forefront in the fight for equality and will go down on the right side of history.  We ask the full House to swiftly move forward to bring full equality to Maryland Families."

Yusef Najafi of Metro Weekly has more:

If signed into law, the legislation would grant same-sex couples in the state legal marriage recognition, while also protecting the rights of religious institutions to handle issues of marriage however they see fit.

Opponents have threatened to take the issue to take the marriage legislation to the ballot box. According to Maryland's State Board of Elections, opponents of the marriage bill can start collecting signatures for a statewide referendum immediately after the passage of the bill in the House of Delegates, before Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) signs the bill.

A total of 55,736 signatures are required on the petition and must be submitted to Secretary of State John P. McDonough (D) by June 30. One third of those signatures are due on May 31.