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| Del. Gareth E. Murray (D-Montgomery County)
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HOME > NEWS > LOCAL
By: JOE CREA COMMENTS
 
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that would have prohibited Maryland from recognizing
gay marriages performed in another state. His marriage bill was killed in a
House committee last month.
Maryland State Sen. trong>John A. Giannetti failed to co-sponsor a hate crimes
bill, despite a promise to do so following his vote to kill a similar measure
last year. |
Murray conceded that in politics “you go along to get along” but
expressed concerns about the “long run” of a bill that’s
open to all. He also questioned if it will pass a second House floor vote and
if Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich would sign the measure. A spokesperson for
Ehrlich, said the governor would not comment on pending legislation. The governor
has said in the past that he opposes gay marriage rights.
“In the long run, you lose because people still have not been given
the respect that is due,” Murray said.
The House version of the hate crimes bill, stripped of protections based on
gender identity and expression, passed this week, 95-40. The measure sailed
out of the House Health & Government Operations Committee last week, 16-6,
with three Republicans joining Democrats in support of the legislation.
Furmansky reiterated that his group will not support legislation that does
not offer protections based on gender identity and expression.
A separate hate crimes bill sponsored by Sen. Sharon Grosfeld (D-Montgomery
County), which would add protections based on gender identity to the statute,
is now dead, following the approval of the House measure.
Sen. John A. Giannetti (D-Prince George’s County), whose committee vote
killed a bill last year seeking to add sexual orientation to the state’s
hate crimes statute, said at the time that he would co-sponsor the measure
in 2004.
But the only sponsor of the now-defunct Senate bill is Grosfeld.
According to Grosfeld, Sen. Robert J. Garagiola (D-Montgomery County) planned
to sponsor the legislation minus the gender identity protections.
Giannetti said he wanted to co-sponsor the Garagiola measure, but backed out
because the measure did not include the gender identity provision. Giannetti
added that Grosfeld “put the bill out there without<
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