Tag Archives: Maryland

Huge chunks of Washington DC and its surrounding counties are going into a fourth day without electricity, with relief for hundreds of thousands not expected until Friday. Politicians may not have been happy Sunday when power companies told customers that their electricity may not return until the end of the week, but the severity of Friday night’s storm left utility …

Because of all the dough they spent on paid petition gatherers. The Maryland Marriage Alliance raised a mere $5,000 in the past month — and owes $88,000 to various vendors. The biggest unpaid bill, $74,000, is to MDPetitions.com, the outfit run by Del. Neil Parrott, a Washington County Republican. The group also owes about $5,000 in legal fees. [snip] McCoy …

The Maryland State’s Attorneys’ Association has named openly gay Rep. Luke Clippinger as its legislator of the year. You may recall that Clippinger fed us constant emailed updates directly from the House floor as Maryland battled for marriage equality. Hurrah!

“We turned in over 100,000 in excess of what we needed for our first turn-in. So we’ve turned in over 122,000 to date. Our full turn-in of what we needed to have to validate the entire thing was only 55,736. That just shows you that we’ve had incredible engagement of people all across the state. People from every walk of …

Marylanders For Marriage Equality has responded to the news that the anti-gay petition drive to force marriage onto the November ballot is all but assured its success. From their campaign director Josh Levin: Given the low bar for petitioning a law to the ballot in Maryland, we’ve always expected same-sex marriage opponents to meet that threshold and then some—up to …

Opponents of civil equality in Maryland must today submit one-third of the required 55,736 petition signatures needed to force marriage equality onto the November ballot. According to the bigots, they will easily make both today’s and the final requirement. Maryland Marriage Alliance officials said earlier this month they were more than two-thirds of the way to their ultimate goal and …

According to a Public Policy Polling result issued today, should Maryland’s pending marriage equality bill be forced onto the November ballot, voters would approve the issue by a 20 point margin. 57% of Maryland voters say they’re likely to vote for the new marriage law this fall, compared to only 37% who are opposed. That 20 point margin of passage …

You can’t yet get gay-married in Maryland, but you can get gay-divorced. The Court of Appeals ruled 7-0 that couples who have a valid marriage from another state can divorce in Maryland. The case involved two women who were married in California and denied a divorce in 2010 by a Maryland judge. “A valid out-of-state same-sex marriage should be treated …

“I have believed that the phrase ‘civil union’ was an appropriate definition of a relationship that is both different and the same between two people of the same sex. And I have believed strongly that such couples must be treated equally under the law. Because I believe that equal treatment is a central tenet of our nation, I believe that …

(Tipped by JMG reader Gregory)

Maryland’s Court Of Appeals will today hear the case of two lesbians who were legally married in California, yet denied a divorce in their home state. A Maryland judge declined to grant their divorce in 2010, basing his decision on the conclusion that their marriage is not valid under Maryland law. But lawyers for the women disagree, saying the state …

NOM pissed away $10,000 in Tuesday’s Maryland primary, hoping to punish U.S. Senator Ben Cardin for openly supporting marriage equality. Cardin scored a whopping 72% of the vote. NOM’s candidate: 16%. NOM’s blog is oddly silent about this…

People For The American Way reports that Maryland state Sen. Anthony Muse, one of NOM’s allies in the battle to repeal marriage equality, has published the above sample ballot in his bid to move up the to U.S. Senate. PFAW writes: Muse, an African American minister in the Washington suburbs, is challenging Sen. Ben Cardin in a Democratic primary election …

Hate groups yesterday began gathering the petition signatures to place a repeal of Maryland’s same-sex marriage law on the November ballot. Maryland Marriage Alliance officials announced Wednesday that they have launched the petition drive to collect the nearly 56,000 signatures needed to bring the law to referendum on the November ballot. The group, which is leading the referendum effort, is …

The Catholic priest who refused communion to a lesbian at her mother’s funeral has been suspended by the his diocese. But according to a spokesperson, the suspension is not directly related to the communion controversy. Specific details about why the Rev. Marcel Guarnizo was barred from ministry – a severe penalty – were not immediately available. The Post learned of …

“Maryland voters, not politicians, have the final say on marriage. The Maryland same-sex marriage legislation is a meaningless, symbolic act. The people of Maryland, not politicians, will have the final say on marriage. And they will overturn this act of the General Assembly.” – NOM president Brian Brownshirt on yesterday’s signing of Maryland’s marriage equality bill.