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KEVIN NAFF
Friday, September 21, 2007
As Maryland gays mourned Tuesday’s high court ruling upholding a ban on same-sex marriage, some said they were equally stunned and upset by the remarks of Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley, who in private, had repeatedly assured plaintiffs in the case that he supports gay unions.
After this week’s ruling, O’Malley said he backs civil unions as a compromise. Further, he invoked his Catholic religious beliefs, in a reference to “the sacraments.”
“I look forward to reading the Court’s full opinion, but as we move forward, those of us with the responsibility of passing and enforcing laws have an obligation to protect the rights of all individuals equally, without telling any faith how to define its sacraments,” O’Malley said in a statement following a request from the Blade for comment. “I respect the Court’s decision.”
The remarks were assailed by plaintiffs in the case, some of whom worked for O’Malley’s gubernatorial campaign and claim O’Malley told them he backed their cause. Lisa Polyak, one of the plaintiffs, shared with the Blade her private e-mail exchanges with O’Malley during the course of the court fight.
In one message, O’Malley responds to an e-mail from Polyak thanking the then-mayor of Baltimore for his support of same-sex marriage. O’Malley writes, “You are most welcome, Lisa. However, I’m just supporting something I strongly believe in. I wish you and your family nothing but the best.” That message is dated Oct. 22, 2004.
In August 2005, Polyak had another exchange with O’Malley. She wrote, “I know that this question will be probably be posed to you at some time in the near future. Even though you are not the judicial officer, I realize that you are equally on the hot seat, given your role as a public official. When that time comes, I hope that you will be able to reassert the fantastic response that you gave on camera to WJZ in Oct 2004.”
She was referring to an interview O’Malley gave to the CBS affiliate in Baltimore at that time, which is available online at www.wjz.com. During the interview, O’Malley stated, “I’m certainly not opposed to it. I don’t see how we can deny governmental protection to those sorts of contracts. I know that churches will certainly have different views. And that certainly is their right and no one should infringe on that. But ... I’m not opposed to civil marriages.”
On Aug. 31, 2005, O’Malley, still mayor and preparing for a gubernatorial race against incumbent Republican Robert Ehrlich, responded to Polyak’s message. He wrote, “Thanks for the update. I do stand by my earlier comments. Government should protect the rights of individuals equally. I’m interested to see what the Court decides. All the best.”
But just four months later, O’Malley was singing a different tune.
After a Baltimore Circuit Court judge ruled in January 2006 that it is unconstitutional to ban gay couples from marrying, he said publicly, “I was raised to believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. This is a fundamental issue of the state’s public policy, and a decision that ultimately should not be made by a single trial court judge. The Court of Appeals should review this matter and any legislative action would be premature until the court acts.”
That statement angered gay rights activists, who demanded a private meeting with O’Malley shortly afterward, according to sources who attended.
During the meeting, held at the home of Vic Basile, a longtime activist and member of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s board, O’Malley disavowed his previous statements in support of marriage, multiple sources at the meeting told the Blade this week.
“I’m sorry you thought that I supported civil marriage,” O’Malley reportedly said in response to Polyak’s questions during the meeting.
Despite the reversal, Basile, executive director of Moveable Feast in Baltimore, said he’s confident O’Malley is a gay-friendly politician.
“I think O’Malley is a friend of the community,” Basile said. “It’s not helpful for him to interject [the sacraments] into the discussion, but I’m confident he supports equality.”
In addition to the e-mails sent to Polyak, sources said O’Malley endorsed marriage equality for gay couples during a 2004 meeting of the Baltimore mayor’s LGBT task force. One attendee at that meeting, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said he was surprised O’Malley endorsed gay marriage in an open meeting and that it represented a welcome moment of candor, free of political considerations.
Dan Furmansky, executive director of Equality Maryland, attended the 2004 meeting and confirmed the source’s version of events.
“During his tenure as mayor of Baltimore, O’Malley did seem to be supportive of full legal equality for gay and lesbian couples,” Furmansky said. “It’s not a surprise when politicians backtrack from positions or fine-tune rhetoric when they move into different positions.
“Our concern is making sure our governor doesn’t close the door on a civil marriage bill that protects the right of clergy to refuse to marry couples they don’t want to.”
Furmansky said Equality Maryland registered its displeasure with O’Malley’s office over the “sacrament” comment.
“I’m always disappointed when legislative allies not only take positions against full equality but also muddy the issue in the minds of the public when they know better,” he said. “As much as I’m displeased with the governor’s comments, I still view him as someone who seeks to advance rights for gays and lesbians.”
Polyak said she and other activists were willing to overlook O’Malley’s shifting positions because they preferred to see him win the governor’s race over Ehrlich. But after his statement this week, which referenced religion, Polyak and others expressed outrage over O’Malley’s record.
“He’s a liar and purely for political calculus,” Polyak told the Blade. “Elected officials at the highest level of Maryland understand that our families experience unnecessary harm because of the current state of the law. They go so far as to express private support for us, raise our expectations and then disavow us when there is public scrutiny.”
A spokesperson for O’Malley’s office requested the Blade submit questions on the gay marriage issue via e-mail. His office did not respond by Blade deadline.
Glen Dehn, another plaintiff in the marriage case, echoed Polyak’s sentiments.
“We went door-to-door for him, he should know better than to confuse civil marriage with religion,” Dehn said. “It’s ignorant pandering to the religious right.”
Charles Blackburn, Dehn’s partner of nearly 30 years, agreed.
“O’Malley’s comments are appalling,” he said. “Marriage is a civil institution.”
But their anger doesn’t end with O’Malley. Polyak further asserts that Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown also privately expressed support for same-sex marriage. In May, Polyak claims that her daughter’s fifth-grade class from Bryn Mawr School took a field trip to Annapolis, during which the students and their teachers had a private audience with Brown.
After explaining the function of the lieutenant governor’s office, Polyak said Brown took questions from students. Her daughter asked Brown, “My moms want to get married. Do you support them?”
Polyak claims that Brown responded that he did support the right of the girl’s moms to marry and added that the question was currently before the Maryland Court of Appeals. There were several adults in the room, including teachers from Bryn Mawr and Brown’s staff. Polyak was not in the room.
“I followed up to Brown with an e-mail to his web site and several phone calls to his office to confirm his remarks since they were distinctly at odds with what he said during the election campaign,” Polyak said. “I finally got a call back from Brown’s press secretary, who among other things, told me that Brown only said that to avoid embarrassing my daughter in front of her classmates.”
Brown said in a radio interview on WYPR during the campaign last year that he opposes civil marriage for gays and that he was raised to believe marriage is between a man and a woman.
O’Malley’s record on gay issues is mixed. As Baltimore mayor, he signed a bill barring discrimination based on gender identity in 2002. In January 2001, O’Malley’s housing commissioner, Paul Graziano, drew fire for making anti-gay remarks at a Baltimore bar. O’Malley said the incident was “out of character” for Graziano and he was not fired.
During his Democratic primary race against former Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan, O’Malley sidestepped the issue of whether he would support a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage in the state. Some gay rights advocates criticized him for failing to denounce the amendment effort, which ultimately
died in committee. Progressive Maryland, a “grassroots advocacy organization,” endorsed Duncan over O’Malley in part because of the amendment flap.
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