It was close thing in Maryland today for marriage equality. The legislation needed 71 votes in the Maryland House of Delegates and it
got 71, with 67 delegates opposed.
The Maryland Senate is expected to pass the bill easily since it passed with ease last year but could not secure enough votes in the House:
The Civil Marriage Protection Act passed the House with support from a Prince George’s County lawmaker who helped kill the bill last year by walking out of a voting session.
The House passage puts Maryland on the verge of being the eighth state to allow gay nuptials. [...]
The House vote is a major win for [Democratic Gov. Martin] O’Malley, who threw the weight of his office behind the measure after a similar bill fell a few votes short in the House last year. The governor had been working the halls of the House office building at all hours to convince wavering delegates.
One of seven openly gay delegates, Democrat Maggie MacIntosh of Baltimore recounted her coming out as lesbian to a hushed chamber: “We should extend to families, same-sex loving couples, the right to marry in a civil ceremony. I’m going to ask you today, my colleagues, to make history.”
John Wagner writes:
The state’s move toward same-sex marriage comes amid a fresh wave of momentum nationally for gay-rights activists. Gay nuptials bills were signed by the governors of New York in June and Washington state this month. And just Friday, the New Jersey legislature sent Gov. Chris Christie (R) a same-sex marriage bill, which Christie promptly vetoed as he had promised to do.
In Annapolis, O’Malley and other supporters scrambled in recent days to nail down enough votes to avoid a repeat of last year when the legislation died on the House floor.
The tide is coming in and it won't be stopped no matter what the opponents say.
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jpmassar has a diary up.