Gay Marriage

The bill legalizing gay marriage in Maryland has been signed into law. It is a wonderful expansion of the civil rights Marylanders are entitled to. It's nice that Maryland has joined the ranks of those who support civil rights. Unfortunately, the bill will undoubtedly be challenged in a referendum. I'm not against the referendum process per se, but the rights of anyone should never be put up to a popular vote.

But what about the argument that marriage is a religious institution and thus protected by the separation of church and state? That would be just fine if the state had never gotten into the habit of recognizing a religious institution and giving married couples numerous subsidies and special legal rights. Idealistically I think the state shouldn’t recognize marriage at all. And if it would like to give certain relationships special privileges it could do so through civil unions that anyone can join into with any number of people (yes, I’m saying polygamy should be included). In return the state should have no say in what a religious group wants to define marriage as or who they wish to marry. What should that matter to a religious person? Shouldn’t the material benefits be of little consequence? If a religious couple wants the best of both worlds they can enter into a civil union and marriage.

But since the state has decided to use the same terminology, it cannot discriminate based on religious grounds. At this point allowing gay couples to have “the same” rights and benefits under a different name is a blatant use of “Separate but Equal”. The people who are against gay marriage for religious reasons should therefore be against the state recognizing marriages at all. But, in large part they support the government effectively endorsing their religious interpretations. In doing so, they're supporting an over-powerful government so long as it serves their purposes.

The state should accept the people who compose it as who they are. The people of the state should accept that there is diversity. And in order to live prosperously and peacefully the state should be limited to ensure the freedom of individuals to be who they are. And arguments about the harm gay marriage will do are ignorant, hateful bullshit.


Anyway, back to the positives, here are some people  of note that got this bill passed:

Governor Martin O'Malley, who, after the bill was tabled last year, at last firmly put his support behind its passage

State Senator Allan Kittleman, who, stepped down as Minority Leader in the senate because (to paraphrase his own words on WAMU last winter) he wasn't conservative enough to represent the Republican Caucus, and vocally supported and voted for the bill. 

Delegate Wade Kach, a Republican, who, after sitting next to the witness table during a hearing on gay marriage was swayed to change his vote and support the bill. In his own words, "I saw with so many of the gay couples, they were so devoted to another. I saw so much love. When this hearing was over, I was a changed person." Many well known Republicans who support gay marriage played a role in campaigning for his vote including former Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman and Dick Cheney (yes, that Dick).

Delegate Robert Costa, a Republican, who, subject to the same lobbying that Kach and other moderate Republicans received, voted in support of the bill. Without his or Kach's vote, it would not have passed the House.

Obviously numerous other people dedicated themselves to this and deserve praise and admiration. But these are the elected officials who made the marginal difference to pass the bill.