Senate panel opens testimony on same-sex marriage debate

Proponents of the same-sex legislation are hoping that this is the year — when progressive issues are taking center stage nationally — that the bill will be passed in Annapolis. To improve their chances, the legislation’s sponsors have included a provision in the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act freeing any religious official from condoning any type of marriage they do not agree with.

‘‘We have to put aside any specific faith and see if we can establish a civil law to everyone in our community no matter what their faith, that’s why no church will have to recognize a civil marriage,” said Sen. Richard S. Madaleno Jr., one of the bill’s sponsors. ‘‘Everyone wants to have a happy wedding day and I don’t think I’d want to have to go to court and sue someone to perform it.”

Proponents of the bill, including Equality Maryland, have said that the law is necessary to allow same-sex couples to receive almost 400 state-level protections, benefits and responsibilities tied to marriages and granted to spouses. An additional 1,100 provisions exist on the national level.

Madaleno (D-Dist. 18) of Kensington and Sen. Jamie B. Raskin (D-Dist. 20) of Takoma Park proposed the same-sex marriage bill in place of the late Sen. Gwendolyn Britt, who was slated to sponsor the bill before her death in January. Since then, 49 legislators have co-sponsored the same-sex legislation.

And since then, Republican opponents have proposed their own legislation to uphold the state statute and are collecting signatures to put forth a referendum on traditional marriage, to have voters weigh in — similar to an upcoming slots referendum in November.

‘‘Time has come to vote it one way or another,” said Del. Donald H. Dwyer, who opposes civil marriage because ‘‘there would be nothing standing between teaching it to children in public schools as a normal sexual relation.”

Dwyer (R-Dist. 31) of Glen Burnie is one of the leading GOP lawmakers, along with Sens. Janet Greenip (R-Dist. 33) of Crofton and Alexander X. Mooney (R-Dist. 3) of Urbana, who are pushing for a traditional marriage referendum. Currently there are 27 states with a constitutional amendment outlining marriage. Sponsors of the same-sex marriage bill have not proposed a constitutional amendment for their issue.

Proponents for either side will have an uphill battle on getting either same-sex marriage or a traditional marriage constitutional amendment passed. In addition to overcoming Republican challenges, same-sex proponents are also working to change the minds of several Democratic legislators who are opposed to civil marriages for religious and moral reasons, including Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Dist. 27) of Chesapeake Beach. Of the legislators co-sponsoring the same-sex bill, in the more conservative Senate only nine senators have signed on.

On their side is Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler (D).

‘‘I believe [eventually] we will have gay marriage in Maryland and the United States,” said Gansler, who testified in support of the same-sex bill. ‘‘The question is how do we get there? I don’t know if we have the political courage to pass it in Maryland. I think we will settle on civil unions,” first before moving on to full same-sex marriage.

Madaleno and Raskin have maintained that they are pushing for the full rights and language of marriage that would be guaranteed under civil marriage, instead of what has been deemed ‘‘second-class citizenry” of civil unions.

Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) and House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Dist. 30) of Annapolis support civil unions.

When asked whether he supported putting the same-sex bill up for a referendum, Gansler said it would be up to lawmakers to make the change.

‘‘It’s going to take a legislature to fix it,” Gansler said. ‘‘I think if you put it to voters right now, it would probably lose.”

Also at issue is the religious underpinnings associated with marriage. Although proponents say the clergy provision removes the potential mix of church and state, the two are intertwined for many opponents.

‘‘When the label marriage can be stamped on any kind of romantic entanglement, it loses all meaning,” testified Gaithersburg resident Dean Nelson, director of the Network of the Politically Active Christians.

The Rev. David Gaines of Baltimore testified that among his members there is a tremendous decay among the black community, ‘‘and to further the deterioration would only subject what is clearly the final blow to the family, and the black community can ill afford that blow.”

Along with these two bills, the Senate committee is also debating Republican-sponsored legislation that would provide for covenant marriage, a voluntary provision in which couples would participate in premarital counseling, make all reasonable efforts before filing for divorce and waive the right to a no-fault divorce. Also on the agenda is a separate Madaleno and Raskin bill regarding domestic partnerships.

Staff Writer Alan Brody contributed to this report.