maryland

The Maryland Senate is expected to begin debate on the marriage equality bill Thursday as opponents plan amendments intended to derail the proposal that narrowly passed the House of Delegates last week.

Maryland senators voted on Monday to recommit the Gender Identity Anti-Discrimination Act to committee, effectively killing any prospects for the bill to pass this session, which ends at midnight. Shortly before 1 p.m. on the last day of session, senators voted 27 to 20 to recommit the bill to the judicial proceedings committee, which had advanced the measure by a 7 to 4 vote on Saturday. The move left no time to resurrect the bill in 2011.

A debate predicted to last the entire day and beyond took only two hours Wednesday morning as Maryland senators voted 25-22 shortly after noon to advance the marriage equality bill to a third and final reading on Thursday followed by a final vote. Sen. Bryan Simonaire, a Republican from Anne Arundel County who proposed to exempt teachers from presenting marriage equality based on their religious beliefs, repeatedly raised the specter of “unintended consequences” to the marriage equality bill, such as school children reading books about same-sex couples. Sen. Jamie Raskin, a Democrat from Montgomery County, led the debate in favor of the marriage equality bill and consistently countered opponents’ arguments.

Lawmakers will introduce a bill to legalize marriage equality in Maryland next week, with the backing of newly reelected governor Martin O'Malley. The announcement comes after Republican senator Allan Kittleman stepped down as minority leader after two years because of his interest in introducing a bill to legalize civil unions for gay and lesbian couples. He decided he was not sufficiently conservative for fellow GOPers.

On November 6, Maryland voters made history by becoming one of the first in the nation's history to affirm marriage equality at the ballot box. Throughout the evening's election returns, Maryland's Question 6 maintained a strong lead, but the final tally saw Marylanders uphold the state's marriage equality law with 57.9% of the vote in favor, 42.1% opposed.

Another Chick-fil-A restaurant has been vandalized with pro-same-sex marriage messages – this time with stickers instead of paint. Stickers promoting marriage equality and an image combining a rainbow flag and the American flag were found glued to the windows of a Maryland Chick-fil-A restaurant early Sunday morning, Cpl. Gregory Santangelo told The Frederick News-Post. Several homemade signs were also left at the site, he said.

The Maryland Senate passed the marriage equality bill in a bipartisan 25-22 vote Thursday afternoon, moving one step closer to becoming the eighth state to legalize same-sex marriage. Gov. Martin O’Malley plans to sign the bill into law next week, according to a spokesperson.

In the latest surprising twist along the long and winding path of the Maryland marriage equality bill, the house of delegates voted Friday afternoon to recommit the bill to committee, effectively ensuring there would be no further action on the bill until next year.  Following three hours of impassioned debate, house chairman Joseph Vallario proposed the motion to recommit, which delegates approved in a voice vote. The procedural maneuver sends the bill back to the judiciary committee, where it can be taken up again in 2012. The committee advanced the bill by a 12-10 vote last week.

If a woman in a same-sex marriage gives birth to a child in Maryland, her spouse will now automatically be listed as a parent on the birth certificate. The Maryland Division of Health and Mental Hygiene sent a letter to state birth registrars last Thursday ordering them to make the change. The letter said the impetus for the change was an opinion issued by Atty. Gen. Douglas Gansler last year that the state would likely soon recognize same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions.

A marriage equality bill has been introduced in the Maryland house of delegates, following introduction of the bill in the state senate last week. Lawmakers and advocates including Equality Maryland, Freedom To Marry, and representatives from religious and civil rights groups held a press conference at the state capital in Annapolis on Tuesday morning to announce the introduction of the legislation. According to the media advisory, the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act, which was introduced in the house by majority leader Kumar Barve, “ends the exclusion of committed same-sex couples from civil marriage and protects the religious freedom of churches and synagogues.”

Gov. Martin O’Malley of Maryland announced this week that state employees will now be able to designate same-sex spouses as dependents, the Washington Post is reporting. Through this designation, the spouses are entitled to receive health-care, as well as many other benefits that are already afforded to husbands and wives of heterosexual state employees.

According to a recent poll conducted by the Washington Post, support of same-sex marriage in Maryland may be increasing, with registered voters now narrowly supporting a law to allow it.

Keesha Patterson proposed to her girlfriend Rowan Ha while the two celebrated Barack Obama's re-election in Chicago, and will head home to Maryland with the newly acquired freedom to marry in the northeastern state.

Parents in a Maryland school district are outraged after several students were sent home with an antigay flyer bearing the message that no one is “born gay” and that people can choose their sexual orientation.

Some 300 people gathered in Maryland on Monday evening for a vigil in response to the brutal beating of Chrissy Lee Polis captured on video at a McDonald’s last week. Reports from the scene in Rosedale in Baltimore County indicate that the crowd of activists and politicians expressed an upbeat and unified mood in the face of continuing violence against transgender individuals. The video of the beating filmed by a McDonald’s employee, who has since been fired, went viral on Youtube and, in the words of delegate Joseline Pena-Melnyk to her legislative colleagues, brought “shame” to the state. Teonna Monae Brown faces first and second-degree assault charges. The identity of her younger accomplice, who was charged as a juvenile, has not been released. Prosecutors are looking into the possibility of hate-crime charges.

A coalition of groups in Maryland will rally Monday evening to denounce the violent attack against a transgender woman at a McDonald’s in Baltimore County that was captured on video last week. According to a news release, Trans-United, TransMaryland, Baltimore County for Equality, the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center of Baltimore and others will gather at 7 p.m. outside the McDonald’s in Rosedale where Chrissy Lee Polis, 22, was attacked last Monday. A video of the violent attack, in which two teenage girls punched and kicked Polis while one restaurant employee and patron tried to intervene and others laughed, has gone viral on the web. Watch the extremely graphic video below, followed by comments from Polis.

The Maryland senate judicial proceedings committee will hold a hearing on the marriage equality bill early Tuesday afternoon. Advocates including statewide LGBT group Equality Maryland plan to speak out for the bill in advance of the hearing, which begins at 1 p.m.