So close, and yet so far. I thought it would be the state senate that would be the major holdup, but now it looks like the House might be the institution that kills marriage equality in Maryland.
Thanks to timmyc's diary for bringing this latest battle to my attention and inspiring this diary. I'm from Maryland, and I worked in Prince George's for almost 15 years. I was thrilled last month when the state senate passed the Civil Marriage Protection Act.
Two delegates and co-sponsors of the bill, Jill Carter and Tiffany Alston, both from Prince George's County who had previously said they intended to support the bill skipped the vote to move the legislation out of the Judiciary committee.
Firedoglake
Delegate Sam Arora who was also one of the co-sponsors of the bill (and who had received generous campaign contributions from the LGBT community) started to have second thoughts about gay marriage until he was faced with a firestorm on his facebook page including demands by former donors that he return their contributions. This convinced him to vote to move the bill forward. Fortunately, Del. Joseph Vallerio, who actually opposes same-sex marriage, provided the vote to move the legislation to the House floor so that the 141 members of the House could have the chance to vote on it.
LGBTQNation
On Tuesday morning, Delegates Jill Carter (D-Baltimore) and Tiffany Alston (D-Prince George) delayed the bill when they didn’t show up for the vote, announcing a few hours later that despite prior promises, they were going to refuse to vote yes on the bill until some of their other interests were advanced.
Washington Post
By withholding her vote on the same-sex marriage bill, Carter said she hoped to create leverage to increase funding for Baltimore schools and to focus more attention on a family-law bill she is sponsoring.
"This is still very early in the session, so I think there is time to get it all done," Carter said, adding that Alston also has concerns about school funding for Prince George's.
I'm very much in favor of adequate school funding, and since I worked in Prince George's County Schools for 15 years, I know how desperately the county needs help, but I think it's a terrible idea to hold marriage equality hostage.
Jill Carter has now decided she is ready to vote for the bill.
Tiffany Alston is still wavering. I'm trying to determine the factors in her mental dialectic.
Ontop Magazine
“It's a very important, deeply personal issue,” she told the paper. “I need time to think it through. I need time to pray.”
Let's all pray that Delegate Alston comes to her senses and votes for what is fair.
In a statement to WTOP Radio she said "she's looking for a solution that will satisfy both “my constituency as well as my conscience.”
A Washington Post article noted that Alston, who is African-American, is being pummeled by the black churches of Prince George, who oppose giving gay and lesbian couple the right to marry.
“Maryland is so liberal, yes,” she told the Post. “But there are the churches.”
Do the churches control Maryland's District 24? Where is District 24 anyway? Oh, here's a map Perhaps they do. But if you live in District 24, or if you know anyone that does, now is the time to let Delegate Alston that you want everyone to have the privilege of marriage equality.
Here is her contact information:
TIFFANY T. ALSTON
Democrat, District 24, Prince George's County
House Office Building, Room 204
6 Bladen St., Annapolis, MD 21401
(410) 841-3692, (301) 858-3692
1-800-492-7122, ext. 3692 (toll free)
e-mail: tiffany.alston@house.state.md.us
fax: (410) 841-3442, (301) 858-3442
and to contact other delegates in Maryland:
Maryland House of Delegates