Maryland set to expand gay rights, same-sex marriage

Contents:

• IN MARYLAND, HOE PASS GAY MARRIAGE BILL
• GAY MARRIAGE
• IN MARYLAND, HOE PASS BILL TO LET GAYS WED
• MANY WEDDGS AS GAY MARRIAGE BE LEGAL MD.
• MARYLAND SET TO EXPAND GAY RIGHTS, SAME-SEX MARRIAGE
• CALIFORNIA STILL HAS AN ANTI-GAY MARRIAGE LAW. VOTERS ULD REMOVE NEXT YEAR
• MARYLAND JUDGE REJECTS GAY-MARRIAGE BAN
• GAY MARRIAGE TIMELE

IN MARYLAND, HOE PASS GAY MARRIAGE BILL

The bate stretched for hours the 18th-century, woon-domed statehoe, and was punctuated by emotnal entreati by supporters of the bill, cludg several gay and lbian legat, who talked about their own liv, and other legat who voked Jim Crow laws.

GAY MARRIAGE

Early Years: Same-Sex Marriage Bans In 1970, jt one year after the historic Stonewall Rts that galvanized the gay rights movement, law stunt Richard Baker and librarian Jam McConnell applied for a marriage license Gerald Nelson rejected their applitn bee they were a same-sex uple, and a trial urt upheld his cisn. ” This lg effectively blocked feral urts om lg on same-sex marriage for s, leavg the cisn solely the hands of stat, which alt blow after blow to those hopg to see gay marriage beg 1973, for stance, Maryland beme the first state to create a law that explicly f marriage as a unn between a man and woman, a belief held by many nservative relig groups. In 1989, the San Francis Board of Supervisors passed an ordance that allowed homosexual upl and unmarried heterosexual upl to register for domtic partnerships, which granted hospal visatn rights and other years later, the District of Columbia siarly passed a new law that allowed same-sex upl to register as domtic partners.

C., 1993, the hight urt Hawaii led that a ban on same-sex marriage may vlate that state nstutn’s Equal Protectn Clse—the first time a state urt has ever ched toward makg gay marriage Hawaii Supreme Court sent the se—brought by a gay male uple and two lbian upl who were nied marriage licens 1990—back for further review to the lower First Circu Court, which 1991 origally dismissed the the state tried to prove that there was “pellg state tert” jtifyg the ban, the se would be tied up ligatn for the next three Defense of Marriage Act Opponents of gay marriage, however, did not s on their hnch. That is, even if a state ma gay marriage legal, same-sex upl still wouldn’t be able to file e tax jotly, sponsor spo for immigratn benefs or receive spoal Social Secury payments, among many other act was a huge setback for the marriage equaly movement, but transient good news arose three months later: Hawaii Judge Kev S.

Phg for Change: Civil Unns The next saw a whirlwd of activy on the gay marriage ont, begng wh the year 2000 when Vermont beme the first state to legalize civil unns, a legal stat that provis most of the state-level benefs of years later, Massachetts beme the first state to legalize gay marriage when the Massachetts Supreme Court led that same-sex upl had the right to marry Goodridge v. Kansas and Texas were next 2005, and 2006 saw seven more stat passg Constutnal amendments agast gay towards the end of the , gay marriage beme legal var stat, cludg Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont (the first state to approve by legislative means) and New Hampshire. Domtic Partnerships Throughout the and the begng of the next, California equently ma headl for seawg on the gay marriage state was the first to pass a domtic partnership statute 1999, and legislators tried to pass a same-sex marriage bill 2005 and 2007.

IN MARYLAND, HOE PASS BILL TO LET GAYS WED

For the first time the untry’s history, voters (rather than judg or legislators) Mae, Maryland, and Washgton approved Constutnal amendments permtg same-sex marriage marriage also beme a feral issue 2010, Massachetts, the first state to legalize gay marriage, found Sectn 3 of DOMA—the part of the 1996 law that fed marriage as a unn between one man and one woman—to be unnstutnal.

Wdsor, nservative Jtice Anthony Kennedy sid wh Jtic Ruth Bar Gsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan favor of same-sex marriage rights, ultimately makg gay marriage legal across the natn June this time, was still outlawed only 13 stat, and more than 20 other untri had already legalized gay marriage, startg wh the Netherlands December 2000.

MANY WEDDGS AS GAY MARRIAGE BE LEGAL MD.

”The bate stretched for hours the 18th-century, woon-domed statehoe, and was punctuated by emotnal entreati by supporters of the bill, cludg several gay and lbian legat, who talked about their own liv, and other legat who voked Jim Crow laws. Mart O’Malley announced his support for same-sex marriage Maryland narrowly upheld the state’s same-sex marriage law, a historic victory for the natnal gay-rights movement that highlights the untry’s evolvg fn of Tuday, gays and lbians had been granted the right to marry by urts and state legislatur, but proponents of marriage had been feated at the ballot box more than 30 stat.

Griff attributed the succs to a new, refully assembled aln that uned gay-rights advot wh officials at the NAACP, wh clergy, and wh bs and philanthropists who hadn’t prevly ntributed to the gay-rights Brown, print of Natnal Organizatn for Marriage, which fought the measur both Mae and Maryland, nced feat. Women were more likely to support the measure than men, and whe voters were more likely to support than Ain Amerins, who spl about mpaign over Qutn 6 Maryland foced heavily on Ain Amerin voters, who make up a larger share of the electorate than any other state outsi the Deep South and whom polls showed as more reluctant to accept gay nuptials than whe voters.

MARYLAND SET TO EXPAND GAY RIGHTS, SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

(AP) — Same-sex upl Maryland were greeted wh cheers and noisemakers held over om New Year's Eve parti, as gay marriage beme legal the first state south of the Mason-Dixon Le on New Year's Sl, 68, was married to William Tasker, 60, on Tuday shortly after midnight by Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlgs-Blake si Cy Hall. 2 of the 2012 Legislative Ssn)Establish that Maryland’s civil marriage laws allow gay and lbian upl to obta a civil marriage license, provid they are not otherwise prohibed om marryg; protects clergy om havg to perform any particular marriage ceremony vlatn of their relig beliefs; affirms that each relig fah has exclive ntrol over s own theologil doctre regardg who may marry wh that fah; and provis that relig anizatns and certa related enti are not required to provi goods, servic, or benefs to an dividual related to the celebratn or promotn of marriage vlatn of their relig beliefs. Catholics for Equaly praised the passage of the law and learship of Catholics the General Assembly, sayg, "This bill not only betters the liv of lbian and gay upl and their children, but the liv of our Catholic fai throughout the ’s celebratn Maryland is a remr to all Amerin Catholics that our fah muny plays a cril role advancg LGBT equaly.

CALIFORNIA STILL HAS AN ANTI-GAY MARRIAGE LAW. VOTERS ULD REMOVE NEXT YEAR

"The New York State Court of Appeals clar that a lbian or gay uple livg together for a least ten years n be nsired a fay for purpos of rent ntrol protectn, the first time a state's hight urt l that a gay uple n be lled a fay... "Jt as Hawaii's high urt seemed poised to allow same-sex marriag, gay activists have seen their visns of legal weddgs on the beach of Mi disappear as voters approved Constutnal Amendment 2, givg the legislature power to 'rerve marriage to oppose-sex upl. "Rabbis belongg to the biggt and most liberal branch of Judaism the Uned Stat have voted to regnise the partnerships of gay and lbian Central Conference of Amerin Rabbis, which is part of the Jewish Reform movement, has agreed to sanctn relig ceremoni for same-sex Print of the Conference, Rabbi Charl Kroloff, said that gay and lbian people served the regnn and rpect due to people created the image of God.

The upl are barred om adoptg children overseas bee of potential objectns om untri that do not accept gay the new legislatn, all referenc to genr laws erng matrimony and adoptn will be leted favor of the ntral-genr term, partner. "Before the lg [Supreme Court lg that laws makg gay sex a crime were unnstutnal], supporters the Hoe [US Hoe of Reprentativ] of a nstutnal amendment that would more formally rtrict marriage to the unn of a man and a woman were havg trouble attractg sponsors. "A unty clerk issued marriage licens Friday to at least 15 gay upl, some of whom then exchanged vows outsi the urthoe, as more same-sex upl led up for a chance to tie the Mexi law f marriage as a ntract between ntractg parti but do not mentn genr.

MARYLAND JUDGE REJECTS GAY-MARRIAGE BAN

24, 2004] while makg his most revealg public ments so far about the sexual orientatn of his gay his posn on the subject at a town hall meetg here, Cheney replied: 'Lynne and I have a gay dghter, so 's an issue that our fay is very faiar wh.... 'In view of the substance and signifince of the fundamental nstutnal right to form a fay relatnship, ' he wrote, 'the California Constutn properly mt be terpreted to guarantee this basic civil right to all Californians, whether gay or heterosexual, and to same-sex upl as well as to oppose-sex upl. Proposn 8 was the most expensive proposn on any ballot the natn this year, wh more than $74 ln spent by both measure's most fervent proponents believed that nothg ls than the future of tradnal fai was at stake, while opponents believed that they were fightg for the fundamental right of gay people to be treated equally unr the years ago, Californians voted 61% to fe marriage as beg only between a man and a California Supreme Court overturned that measure, Proposn 22, s May 15 cisn legalizg same-sex marriage on the grounds that the state Constutn required equal treatment of gay and lbian upl.

Cuomo signed the measure after passed a Republin-ntrolled Senate on Friday night [June 24, 2011], raisg qutns as to whether the move reflects new momentum the gay rights said the law will grant same-sex upl equal rights to marry 'as well as hundreds of rights, benefs and protectns that are currently limed to married upl of the oppose sex. Print history to fully embrace that level of civil rights for ’s announcement gave an immediate jolt to the s-long movement for gay equaly at a moment when a growg number of stat are movg to ban — or legalize — same-sex unns and as polls show a majory of Amerins support marriage rights. "Voters Mae and Maryland approved same-sex marriage on a day of electn rults that jubilant gay rights advot lled a historic turng pot, the first time that marriage for gay men and lbians has been approved at the ballot Mnota, another first, voters rejected a proposal to amend the State Constutn to fe marriage as between a man and a woman, a measure that has been enshred the nstutns of 30 stat.

GAY MARRIAGE TIMELE

""Washgton state has approved gay marriage, jog Mae and Maryland as the first stat to pass same-sex marriage by popular about three-quarters of the expected ballots unted Thursday, Referendum 74 was matag s lead of 52 percent.

"The Pentagon announced Monday that would extend 20 new benefs to same-sex ary upl, cludg accs to base facili and groups as well as jot assignments, the latt move by the Obama admistratn to heed lls om gay and lbians prsg for change. "The Supreme Court stck down a key part of the feral Defense of Marriage Act on Wednday and clared that same-sex upl who are legally married serve equal rights to the benefs unr feral law that go to all other married cisn is a landmark w for the gay rights movement. Dissentg were Jtic John Roberts, Anton Slia, Samuel Alo and Clarence lg means that more than 100, 000 gay and lbian upl who are legally married will be able to take advantage of tax breaks, pensn rights and other benefs that are available to other married upl.

"The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal over same-sex marriage on jurisdictnal grounds, lg Wednday private parti do not have 'standg' to fend California's voter-approved ballot measure barrg gay and lbian upl om state-sanctned lg clears the way for same-sex marriag California to 5-4 cisn avoids, for now, a sweepg ncln on whether same-sex marriage is a nstutnal 'equal protectn' right that would apply to all issue was whether the Constutn's guarantee of equal protectn unr the law prevents stat om fg marriage to exclu same-sex upl, and whether a state n revoke same-sex marriage through referendum, as California did, once already has been a majory of the Supreme Court opted not to le on those issu. "All legally married same-sex upl will be regnized for feral tax purpos no matter what state they live , the Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department announced Thursday a change that will affect numero upl stat that have not permted gay change policy follows the Supreme Court's cisn June overturng a key provisn of the Defense of Marriage Act that barred the feral ernment om regnizg same-sex marriag for purpos such as surance benefs, immigratn and tax new approach 'provis accs to benefs, rponsibili and protectns unr feral tax law that all Amerins serve, ' Treasury Secretary Jab J. "A tough ban on same-sex relatnships that threatens vlators wh 14-year prison terms has been quietly signed to law by the print of Nigeria, Ai’s most populo natn, a step that rights advot have long feared not only as a reprsn aimed at gays but as an afont to basic eedoms of speech and ban, known as the Same Sex Marriage Prohibn Act, was passed by Parliament May but was not signed by the print, Goodluck Jonathan, until Jan.