Equal marriage rights for gay couples in Maryland took a HUGE step forward this morning. From the Baltimore Sun (registration required):
A Baltimore Circuit Court judge today struck down Maryland's 33-year-old law against same-sex marriage, ruling in favor of 19 gay men and women who contended the prohibition violated the state's equal rights amendments.You can download the case here (1 meg PDF file) and you can get a full background on the case here.
Anticipating that her decision eventually would be appealed to Maryland's highest court, the Court of Appeals, Judge M. Brooke Murdock stayed action on her ruling pending that appeal.
"After much study and serious reflection, this court holds that Maryland's statutory prohibition against same-sex marriage cannot withstand this constitutional challenge," Murdock wrote in her decision.
The American Civil Liberties Union, Equality Maryland and plaintiffs hailed the decision.
"This is such an exciting moment," said Lisa Polyak, who was one of the plaintiffs in the case along with her partner, Gita Deane. "Our participation in this lawsuit has always been about family protections for our children. Tonight, we will rest a little easier knowing that those protections are within reach."
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But in her ruling today, Murdock wrote that the law "discriminates based on gender."
"There is no apparent compelling state interest in a statutory prohibition of same-sex marriage discriminating, on the basis of sex, against those individuals whose gender is identical to their intended spouses," Murdock wrote. "Indeed, this court is unable to even find that the prohibition of same-sex marriage rationally relates to a legitimate state interest."
This case was supported by Equality Maryland and the Maryland ACLU.
