Thursday, May 9, 2013
Maryland state employees in a same-sex domestic partnership soon will be unable to include their partner or their partner's children on their health insurance, now that the state has legalized same-sex marriage.
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Thursday, May 9
By Lauren Kirkwood, Capital News Service Maryland state employees in a same-sex domestic partnership soon will be unable to include their partner or their partner's children on their health insurance, now that the state has legalized same-sex marriage. No new domestic partners will be able to enroll in state health benefits beginning in July, and in mid-2013, no domestic partners will be covered. About 280 active and retired state workers are covering a same-sex domestic partner, said Robin Sabatini, Maryland Department of Budget and Management chief of staff. Maryland voters passed the Question 6 referendum in November, which legalized same-sex marriage in the state by upholding the Civil Marriage Protection Act. Same-sex couples could …
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Licenses now may be obtained.
The Montgomery County Marriage License Office is accepting applications for same-sex marriages. Gov. Martin O'Malley signed a proclamation enabling Maryland courthouses to issue the licenses earlier in December so that same-sex couples could be legally wed as of Jan. 1, 2013, when the law recognizing same-sex marriage takes effect. “We got about 20 calls asking would we be taking marriage applications for same-sex marriage, so I was expecting at least 10 of them to come in," Montgomery County Circuit Court clerk Loretta Knight told The Gazette recently. Knight said one woman was at the office when they opened at 8:30 a.m. on Dec. 6—the first day it was legal to apply. However, those eager to wed at the courthouse in Rockville on the first …
Friday, November 9, 2012
Cake shops, wedding venues and an online wedding website are some of the Chevy Chase businesses that may benefit from the marriage-equality provision voters approved.
With voter approval of Question 6, Maryland's same-sex marriage law, some financial analysts say that Maryland’s economy could see as much as a $90 million boost, according to a recent Gazette story. Mark Yost, president of the Maryland Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, quoted research from UCLA's Williams Institute that there could be $3.6 million in sales and lodging tax revenue, and $21 million per year from wedding-related businesses. A reporter for the Baltimore Business Journal spoke with Mary Alice Yetskey, the marketing director of Duff Goldman’s Charm City Cakes, who believes that her business will see a “much busier January” than normal. The story also quotes Mark Scurti, an attorney specializing in LGBT issues at Towson’s …
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Believes gay marriage will affect the next generation.
Matt Birk, the starting center for the Baltimore Ravens and former player for the Minnesota Vikings, wrote an op-ed published this weekend in The Minneapolis Star Tribune that detailed the reasons why he is against gay marriage. In the op-ed, he wrote, “it is important to set the record straight about what the marriage debate is all about, and to clarify that not all NFL players think redefining marriage is a good thing.” Birk may have been referring to a controversy that ensued after a Maryland legislator wrote a letter to the Ravens’ ownership to silence Brendon Ayanbadejo, a linebacker for the team, after he came out in support of gay marriage. Birk wrote that he believes both a mother and a father play a vital role in raising a child…
Thursday, October 11, 2012
"Chefs for Equality" event will raise funds to support the campaign to win Maryland's referendum next month on same-sex marriage.
Gov. Martin O'Malley and "Project Runway" host Tim Gunn will be among the guests of honor later this month for an event to support same-sex marriage in a referendum vote in Maryland, reports The Huffington Post. Human Rights Campaign and food columnist David Hagedorn are co-hosting the $300-a-ticket "Chefs for Equality" fundraiser Oct. 24 at the Ritz-Carlton in Washington, DC. The event also features a special auction in which each table of eight will feast on a unique five-course menu prepared by a who's-who of DC chefs. Read more about it on The Huffington Post.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
The younger you are, the more likely you are to support same-sex marriage. What does this mean for Maryland?
Based on Maryland's age distribution and a changing national attitude on same sex marriage, one could expect–surprise–a close referendum fight in November. Earlier this week, you may have read that increasing acceptance of same-sex marriage is not the result of a nationwide change of heart, but because those opposed tend to be older and are literally dying off. A study by the Pew Forum on Religious and Public Life found that the increase of acceptance for same-sex marriage is the result of changing, aging demographics and "generational replacement," defined by Pew as "the arrival of younger, more supportive generations making up a larger share of the population." Nationally, 48 percent of Americans support same-sex marriage, up from 35 …
Monday, July 23, 2012
A fundraiser held at a private home in Chevy Chase last week raised about $250,000 in support of the state's same-sex marriage law.
About one-quarter of a million dollars was raised at a fundraiser in Chevy Chase—one of the most affluent communities in the country—last Wednesday in support of the campaign to uphold Maryland's new same-sex marriage law, according to the "Maryland Politics" blog on The Washington Post. "The money was tied to a fundraiser held in the Chevy Chase home of Susie and Michael Gelman, both of whom have long been active in Democratic politics and are supporters of Gov. Martin O’Malley (D)," The Post reported. About 70 people attended the event, Kevin Nix—a spokesman for Marylanders for Marriage Equality—told The Post. "The minimum contribution to Wednesday night’s fundraiser was $500 per person. Many guests gave $5,000, $10,000 or more," …
Monday, May 21, 2012
Ruling stems from divorce case filed by a couple married in California in 2008.
UPDATED (Friday, May 18, 5:12 p.m.)—Same-sex marriages legally performed outside Maryland must be recognized by Maryland Courts, according to a decision issued Friday by Maryland’s highest court. “Maryland courts will withhold recognition of a valid foreign marriage only if that marriage is ‘repugnant’ to State public policy,” wrote Court of Appeals Judge Glenn Harrell Jr. in the 7-0 decision. Legal experts and Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler said the decision has both immediate and long-term effects—even as the state moves toward a possible referendum on the recently passed law allowing same-sex marriage in the state. Gansler, who in 2010 issued what he called “a forecast” opinion predicting the court would ultimately recognize …
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
The issue could go before Maryland voters in November.
Facing pressure to take a stand, President Barack Obama said on Wednesday that he supports same-sex marriage. In an interview with ABC News’ Robin Roberts, Obama (D) described his “evolution” on the issue through talks with friends, and reflection on military personnel and members of his own staff who, he said, “are not able to commit themselves in a marriage,” adding that “at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married.” Excerpts of the interview were scheduled to appear on ABC’s World News with Diane Sawyer on Wednesday evening. The full interview is scheduled to appear on ABC’s Good Morning America on Thursday morning…
In an interview on ABC News, the president says he supports same-sex marriage. The issue is likely to go to referendum in Maryland this fall.
President Barack Obama picked the day after a decisive vote in North Carolina to announce that his "evolution" on the issue of same-sex marriage was complete—he now supports it. In an interview with ABC News on Wednesday, Obama said: I have to tell you that over the course of several years, as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors, when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that Don't Ask Don't Tell is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage—at a …
asd
9:14 am on Friday, May 10, 2013
Could someone enlighten me as to why this is a problem? I understand not everyone may wish to get married, but unmarried heterosexual couples cannot gain these types of benefits, why would unmarried homosexual couples expect different treatment? more ›