The AP via Baltimore’s WJZ-TV reports the issue of same-sex marriage rights in Maryland will pop up again next week. This time around, it’s the state legislature and not the courts who get to rule on the matter.

Back in September, the Maryland Court of Appeals ruled that laws banning same-sex marriages did not violate the state constitution. This contradicted a January 2007 ruling in the Baltimore Circuit Court that the laws were discriminatory and therefore unconstitutional. The case could not be further appealed in the court system and the ruling effectively passed the ball to Maryland lawmakers, who don’t think gay marriage will gain much traction.

Proponents of same-sex marriage plan to back the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act, which would make it clear that clergy are not obligated to perform gay marriages. In the past, opponents have said that laws allowing same-sex marriage would force clergy to perform marriages they disagreed with on moral grounds.

And now for a little fun with comparative media style, click over to the the Washington Times, which picked up the same AP story. Note the Times’ use of scare quotes when referring to same-sex marriage — you can just about picture the finger quotes the newspaper wants you to insert around the word marriage.

A show of hands: who’s got some fingers the WashTimes can quote?

Photo by graemeking