Photo by M.V. Jantzen

Though they succeeded in the Senate, proponents of same-sex marriage in Maryland simply couldn’t muster the votes in the General Assembly last year. This year, they hope that a stronger coalition and support from Gov. Martin O’Malley will make Maryland the eighth jurisdiction in the country to allow same-sex marriage.

Maryland’s 90-day legislative session kicks off tomorrow in Annapolis, and same-sex marriage will again be on the agenda. This year, though, O’Malley, likely learning from New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, has pledged to push the measure through, while proponents have put together what they say is a stronger and broader coalition.

“We’re really hopeful about it, we’ve built a much stronger coalition for it,” said Melissa Goemann, the legislative director for the ACLU of Maryland and a member of Marylanders for Marriage Equality. Earlier this month, labor leaders from the AFL-CIO and SEIU joined the coalition. Late last year, Baltimore’s mayor appeared in a video supporting marriage equality.

Still, they face an uphill battle, just as they did last year. In November, religious leaders came together to create the Maryland Marriage Alliance, which is supported by the National Organization for Marriage. And in a throwback to the District’s own fight for marriage equality, a recognizable figure has re-emerged in Maryland — Bishop Harry Jackson, who moved from Silver Spring into the District for the sole purpose of stopping same-sex marriage back in 2009.

In related news, Delano Hunbter, a Ward 5 resident who was backed by the National Organization for Marriage in 2010, may run to fill the seat once held by Harry Thomas, Jr.