Same-sex marriage ban discriminates - Maryland

The State of Maryland has had a judge rule the state's 33-year-old law banning same-sex marriage discriminates on the basis of sex, violating the 1972 Maryland Declaration of Rights, referred to as Maryland's Equal Rights Amendment. The jJudge's ruling is the result of a case brought to the Courts by the American Civil Liberties Union.

Judge M. Brooke Murdock wrote in the decision: "The court concludes that the prohibition of same-sex marriages is not rationally related to the state interest in the rearing of biological children by married, opposite-sex parents."

also

"unable to find that preventing same-sex marriage rationally relates to the [sic] Maryland's interest in promoting the best interest of children."

and then

"the General Assembly may have assumed that opposite-sex marriages less frequently end in divorce, that opposite-sex couples are better parents, or that opposite-sex couples focus more on their children's education." But, he said, "these assumptions are not rational speculation; they are broad unsupported generalizations that do not establish a rational relation between same-sex marriage and the state's interest in promoting procreation, child-rearing, and the best interest of children."

Of course this decision has ticked a few poeple off, like Mathew D. Staver, the president and general counsel of the Christian Right organization Liberty Counsel, said it was "outrageous for a judge to morph into a legislator."

Liberty Counsel is endorsed by none other that Christian Right mega star Jerry Falwell, he states "I can think of no greater work being done right now in America for the sake of our religious freedom and Christian heritage than that being done by Liberty Counsel and its founder and president Mathew Staver. - Dr. Jerry Falwell, Chancellor, Liberty University

From the release ACLU has posted on their site we have this

The court ruled, “When tradition is the guise under which prejudice or animosity hides, it is not a legitimate state interest.” The opinion further noted, “The Court is not unaware of the dramatic impact of its ruling, but it must not shy away from deciding significant legal issues when fairly presented to it for judicial determination. As others assessing the constitutionality of preventing same-sex marriage note, justifying the continued application of a classification through its past application is ‘circular reasoning, not analysis,’ and that it is not persuasive.”

Finally a Judge in the United States has made rational argument against the tradtional marriage garbage of the Christian Right leadership. Just think, the Traditional case against treating Blacks equally also relied on two things, one the Bible and second the will of the majority.

“This is truly an historic moment for the State of Maryland. Same-sex couples across the state just came a giant step closer to the day when they won’t have to worry that life partners will be ignored in discussions about emergency medical care, or about the hurt and confusion their children feel when forced to explain why their parents can’t marry.” - Dan Furmansky, Executive Director of Equality Maryland.

The Washington Post reports that Nineteen gay men and women filed a lawsuit in Baltimore arguing that the state's ban on same-sex marriages violates the guarantee of equal rights under the state constitution. The state passed a law in 1973 specifying that marriage is a union of one man and one woman.

Marriage equality, marriage, Gay Marriage, Christian, Evangelical