Jul 15, 2005  |  By: ELIZABETH WEILL-GREENBERG  | COMMENTS     

The Baltimore Circuit Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments July 27 in a Maryland lawsuit seeking to legalize same-sex marriage.

The suit, Deane and Polyak vs. Conaway, was filed in July 2004 by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of nine same-sex couples and a gay man whose partner died. It is challenging the constitutionality of a 1973 provision that limits marriage to a man and a woman, according to David Rocah, an attorney with the ACLU working on the case.

New Jersey, California, New York and Washington also have pending same-sex marriage cases, according to the gay rights group Lambda Legal. Massachusetts is the only state to recognize same-sex marriage.

“Gay and lesbian families are not being treated equally,” Rocah said. “We believe that the fundamental right at issue is the right to marry and it is being arbitrarily denied to gay and lesbian families.”

Because of Maryland’s progressive legal history, he said, it is an “appropriate place to be pursuing the road to equality through the judiciary.”

Maryland courts have a tradition of not discriminating based on sexual orientation in custody cases and of approving second parent adoptions for same-sex families, Rocah said.

Religious groups back gay couples
Even though it is still early in the Maryland case, several local organizations, including the Maryland chapter of the National Organization for Women and the National Lawyers Guild-Maryland, have authored amicus briefs in support of the couples. The couples have scheduled a news conference the day before the hearing to announce which religious organizations have signed on to support their case.

Rev. Andrew Foster Connors of the Brown Memorial Park Avenue Presbyterian Church in Baltimore, said it is especially important for the Christian community to speak out in support of same-sex marriage.

“The voices of opposition that have been the loudest have come from the religious community — the right wing part of the Christian faith,” he said. “Not all Christians speak with that kind of voice.”

Rick Bowers, chair of Defend Maryland Marriage, which has worked to stop the recognition of gay marriage in Maryland, said he is concerned that Maryland judges may “jump on the bandwagon” and legislate from the bench.

“I think any decision that would tear at the fabric of family should be looked at closely,” he said.

But the couples in the lawsuit said that allowing them to marry would only strengthen and protect their families. Jodi Kelber-Kaye and Stacey Kargman-Kaye felt it was important to join the suit because of their vulnerability during medical emergencies.

“To have this question — it adds another layer of hysteria that’s not needed,” Kelber-Kaye said.

When their younger son was born prematurely and Kelber-Kaye, the birth mother, was unable to make decisions, the nurses didn’t recognize Kargman-Kaye as a co-parent. The nurses finally listened to her when the midwife came in to explain who Kargman-Kaye was.

“We’re at the mercy of nice nurses,” Kargman-Kaye said, adding she hopes her involvement in the suit will leave a legacy for her children.

Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg can be reached at eweill-greenberg@washblade.com.