page_title: Same-sex marriage in Maryland
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Same-sex marriage in Maryland / History
caption_attribution_description: Front of Maryland State House, Annapolis, MD.
context_page_description: Same-sex marriage has been legally recognized in the U.S. state of Maryland since January 1, 2013. In 2012, the state's Democratic representatives, led by Governor Martin O'Malley, began a campaign for its legalization. After much debate, a law permitting same-sex marriage was passed by the General Assembly in February 2012 and signed on March 1, 2012. The law took effect on January 1, 2013 after 52.4% of voters approved a statewide referendum held on November 6, 2012. The vote was hailed as a watershed moment by gay rights activists and marked the first time marriage rights in the United States have been extended to same-sex couples by popular vote.
  Upon the rise of the same-sex marriage movement in the early 1970s, Maryland established the first law in the United States that expressly defined marriage to be a union between a man and a woman. Attempts to both ban and legalize same-sex marriage in the 1990s and 2000s failed to gain enough support from central committees of the state legislature.
context_section_description: Maryland holds a unique place in the history of same-sex marriage in the United States. In 1973, it became the first state in the nation to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, expressly banning same-sex marriage. The General Assembly passed the law a short time after voters in the state ratified Article 46 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights, commonly referred to as the Equal Rights Amendment, in November 1972. The constitutional provision prohibited discrimination in equality of rights on the basis of sex.
  During the 1990s, attempts to both ban and legalize same-sex marriage did not pass through the Legislature. After a Maryland House of Delegates committee voted in March 2004 to reject a pair of marriage bills that would have submitted a constitutional amendment against same-sex marriage to voters and invalidated same-sex marriages performed in another state or foreign country, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Equality Maryland filed a lawsuit, Deane & Polyak v. Conaway, to challenge the existing law on behalf of nine same-sex couples and one bereaved man whose partner had died. The lead plaintiffs, from whom the case received its name, were Gita Deane, a learning specialist at Goucher College, and her partner Lisa Polyak, an environmental engineer for the U.S. Army Medical Department. The plaintiffs had applied for marriage licenses in several different Maryland counties but were denied by court officials. In their complaint, the plaintiffs argued that the state's statutory ban on same-sex marriage violated constitutional protections of due process, equality, and prohibitions against sex discrimination in Articles 24 and 46 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights.
  In January 2006, Baltimore Circuit Court Judge M. Brooke Murdock granted summary judgment to the plaintiffs, writing that "Family law §2-201 violates Article 46 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights because it discriminates, based on gender against a suspect class, and is not narrowly tailored to serve any compelling governmental interests." She added that "tradition and social values alone cannot support adequately a discriminatory statutory classification," because "when tradition is the guise under which prejudice or animosity hides, it is not a legitimate state interest." The judge immediately stayed the decision pending an appeal by the Attorney General of Maryland, which occurred later that day.
  While the decision was favored by the plaintiffs, gay rights groups and their supporters—including more than 100 religious leaders and child welfare advocates across the state who filed amicus briefs—other local religious leaders and evangelical ministers were upset by the decision and looked to state legislators to propose a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. Such an amendment was favored by then-Governor Bob Ehrlich who said "my politics on this are very clear. We're going to protect marriage. Traditional marriage." In February 2006, the proposed ban was rejected after opponents successfully amended it to legalize civil unions.
  Consequently, Delegate Don Dwyer introduced a resolution to impeach Judge Murdock in 2006, alleging "misbehavior in office, [willful] neglect of duty, and incompetency" for her trial court decision; in 2007, he introduced a law that would ban discussion of same-sex unions in public schools. One lawmaker said "It is a clear attempt to intimidate judges and to make the judiciary subservient to the legislature," and Michael Conroy, former President of the Maryland State Bar Association, said that "No basis in fact or law exists to support any suggestion to impeach Murdock for her recent decision on same-sex marriage." David Rocah, an attorney for the ACLU, called the resolution "a frivolous, dangerous and extremist response from the lunatic fringe." Both of the measures failed to pass through committee.
caption: The Maryland State House. It is the meeting place of the Maryland General Assembly located in Annapolis, Maryland.
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