Tag Archives: Maryland

A federal appeals court has agreed to re-hear a challenge on whether Baltimore can force fake “pregnancy crisis centers” to post signs admitting that they do not perform abortions. Such sham clinics lure in desperate young women all over the country. Once inside “faith counselors” then try to talk women out of having abortions or using birth control. A lower …

Marylanders For Marriage Equality are thrilled at the wording and the measure’s title: The Civil Marriage Protection Act. “The wording is accurate and straightforward and will serve as another way to educate voters” said Josh Levin, campaign manager for Marylanders for Marriage Equality. “This referendum is about equality under the law and protecting religious freedom, and we know the more …

Documents uncovered by Mother Jones reveal that NOM has made (at least) a $20,000 payment to notorious carpetbagger Bishop Harry Jackson, whom you may recall tried to oppose DC’s marriage law as a city resident even though he actually lives in Maryland. From Mother Jones reporter Adam Serwer: As internal documents released during Maine’s investigation into the group’s finances asserted, …

The National Gay & Lesbian Task Force has sent a mailer to Maryland voters telling them to oppose placing a vote on casinos on the ballot because anti-gambling forces will turn out at the polls and those voters also oppose marriage equality. Chris Geidner at Buzzfeed: “If the gaming bill is on the ballot, opponents are likely to spend millions …

Politico has the details: The HRC funds, which are being unveiled Monday, are $250,000 apiece for Maine, Washington, Maryland and Minnesota, all of which have ballot measures in November on gay marriage. Officials said there will be more spending coming, and that it makes the total spent by HRC in 2011 and 2012 on marriage-related efforts to $4.8 million. “These …

Press release from Maryland’s marriage activists: Marylanders for Marriage Equality today released a new poll showing voters approve of marriage for loving, committed gay and lesbian couples by a 14-point margin (54% to 40%). The poll was conducted by Hart Research last week. “We continue to have the momentum,” said Josh Levin, campaign manager for Marylanders for Marriage Equality. “Voters …

And Matt Barber follows the lying cue of lying liar Tony Perkins. As I noted yesterday, Maryland’s petitions are BY LAW public record. (Via Good As You)

The Washington Blade writes: The names of some 110,000 Maryland residents who signed a petition to force the state’s new marriage equality law onto the November ballot are now publicly available online. The Washington Blade obtained a database of the names from the Maryland Board of Elections and posted the names here. The list is searchable and includes names, addresses …

From yesterday’s editorial: Are all Maryland families entitled to the same protections under the law? Are all children, no matter who their parents are, entitled to the same kind of support? We think they should be, if for no other reason than that it’s important for Maryland to be a welcoming place for families of all kinds. The only reason …

The state of Maryland has certified the marriage equality repeal petitions turned in by a coalition of hate groups. “We’re excited, we’re on the ballot,” said Dereck McCoy, executive director of the Maryland Marriage Alliance, a church-led group pushing to repeal the law. “We’re glad that we were able to have a loud say.” The Maryland Marriage Alliance submitted 162,224 …

And lots of people still don’t have power. The number of households without power dropped Thursday, but for the half a million people still in the dark after last week’s heat-driven storms, life was just as uncomfortable. The thermometer was still hovering around the 100-degree mark in many places, and it’s not likely to move much until the start of …

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 …