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Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler called same-sex marriage a ‘moral imperative’ and a ‘logical, historical inevitability.’ (Photo by Chris Gardner/AP)
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HOME > NEWS > LOCAL
By: JOSHUA LYNSEN COMMENTS
 
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agreed that voters should consider the amendment she’s proposed, Maryland’s Marriage Protection Act.
“I believe it’s time for us to pass this bill, put this on the ballot in November, because constitutional amendments get put on the ballot in November, and then let the people decide whether we should have the marriage the way we know it or have it changed,” she said.
Gansler and others, however, said the committee should instead move to let same-sex couples marry.
“I just think it’s wrong to discriminate,” he said. “I think it’s wrong to discriminate against people — any people — particularly because they think differently or because of sexual orientation or because of their gender. And that’s exactly what it is that we’re doing here.”
Sen. Rich Madaleno (D-Montgomery County), the state’s only openly gay senator, said marriage would give Maryland’s gay and lesbian families a new sense of security.
“Without marriage, instead of security, we have fear,” he said. “A fear that is always there. The fear that at the moments we are most vulnerable, afraid and alone, our state could step in and take everything away from us — just because we cannot have a civil marriage.
“That even one family lives in this fear is bad enough. But it is not just one family — not just my family. Thousands and thousands of Maryland families live with this fear. And when that fear is created by the laws of the state itself, that is untenable. That is unacceptable.”
Bernice Melov, 88, of Takoma Park, agreed. She repeated a request she made last year and asked the committee to let her gay son and his partner of 33 years marry.
Melov, who arrived in a wheelchair and was supported by her son when she stood to speak, described herself as “a very old lady.”
“Before I leave this earth, I want to celebrate fully equal civil marriage rights in Maryland,” she said. “My time is short and I’m in a hurry. Please don’t make me come back next year.”
Gansler cautioned legislators against enacting civil unions rather than same-sex marriage.
“Is civil unions a great fir
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