September 18, 2007
No Love for Gay Marriage From Maryland High Court
Ever since January, when Baltimore Circuit Court Judge M. Brooke Murdock ruled that Maryland's law banning same-sex marriage is discriminatory and unconstitutional, the state has been a major battle ground for same-sex marriage advocates around the country. Today, Maryland's Court of Appeals put an effective end to this chapter of the struggle's future in the state, ruling that the ban does not violate Maryland's state constitution.
The Associated Press via WTOP has more on the 4-3 decision, which cannot be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Openly gay Maryland State Sen. Richard Madaleno is expected to introduce a bill to allow same-sex marriage in the state.
Massachusetts is still the only state where gay marriage is legal outright. Nine other states, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Vermont and Washington, have passed measures giving formal spousal rights for same-sex couples, though not explicitly through the institution of marriage.
Image from graemeking
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"In declaring that the State's legitimate interests in fostering procreation and encouraging the traditional family structures in which children are born are related reasonably to the means employed..."
Which is exactly why infertile couples and non-nuclear families should be banned from marriage. They're taking lucrative sperm/eggs out of the taxable gene pool!
Screw Maryland. When they're not letting teh gheys marry, they're banning Santa or banning smoking outdoors or rounding up "illegal" monkeys. And you just know those Maryland cops are dressing the chimps in Santa outfits and teaching them to smoke.
Bastards.
That's still not as bad as it is in Virginia, where it's illegal to be gay, period. Thank God that law hasn't been actively enforced in decades.
Color me surprised. Kidding! The sad thing is, I know a lot of people who have been working on this in MD, and they're really disappointed right about now.
I still don't get where people get off thinking they can dictate their values to other people. Why don't they understand that it's the SECULAR position of the government that gives them their right to be religious, and gives others not to be?
I would have expected this decision in most states, but, (mistakenly), I had held Maryland to a higher standard....
Agreed with #4... i had high hopes for Maryland. This is a sad, sad decision. We had been considering moving to MD from the District if they ruled in favor.
@Everett
I think all religion is retarded and would love to see the "institution of marriage" apply to homosexuals without caveat or ambiguity.
That said, I think society would fall apart without people dictating values to other people. I just wish, in this case, it was better values.
Like mine.
At least in Virginia, you can get a concealed carry permit and shoot fagbashers with relative impugnity. In Maryland, they require you to have proof of death threats.
And what's DC's excuse? J. Edgar Hoover and Clyde Tolson were shacked up for decades. They were practically common law husband and wife. Kinda sad the old queen couldn't be buried next to his beloved. This monkey thinks we should honor their unspoken passion and bring gay marriage to DC.
California has passed measures (twice!) to allow for gay marriage. It's just that the governor keeps vetoing it. This is the same mistake that Mitt Romney (probably intentionally) made. California does have civil partnership laws that are strong as you indicate.
ah fuck, why hasn't anyone commented on the fact that that map is terrible?
two things:
1) you've got virginia's eastern shore dangling off the end there....that ain't right.
2) there's no chunk cut out for DC!
c'mon, dcist, there are at least a few cartographers around here you could consult with concerning maps...
aw heck, Monkey, you can go all the way up the Federal foodchain and say let's have gay marriage in the name of President Buchanan. I wonder what he would have made of all of the fuss about same-sex marriage.
Sorry IMGoph, I grabbed that image in haste preparing for the voting rights debate. You're right, it's kinda dumb looking. I'll try to replace it when I have time.
@IMGoph
The map is intentionally approximate. Given the imprecise nature of the outline, there's no need for cutting out DC or Virginia's eastern shore; in fact, it'd just stand out as an angular peculiarity if you did.
Nine other states, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Vermont and Washington, have passed measures giving formal spousal rights for same-sex couples, though not explicitly through the institution of marriage.
So, too, has the District of Columbia.
It may be worth mentioning, what with this being DCist and all.
monkey:
Tolson is buried a few yards away from Hoover in the Congressional Cemetery
(according to Wikipedia)
Uhhh, I'm not aware of those same-sex couples rights, cminus. What are you talking about?
Come on, don't you all know that if you allow the gays to marry, you're just giving carte blanche to the creepy guy who wants to screw his seven year old daughter or his dog? {Plus, being gay is just so GROSS.
(Just joking, in case the sarcasm doesn't come off so well...)
I too had higher hopes for Maryland - I don't know why, though, it IS one of the few states that allow first cousins to marry...
Ev: cminus is talking about the DC domestic partner registry. It's not quite the same thing yet, though it's getting closer as the Council slowly expands the rights (and responsibilities) available under the domestic partner statute.
gotcha. yeah, I wouldn't put it in the category as the other states at this point. thanks, moose.