Florida Agenda

By JOE HARRIS

In November, voters in four states will be asked to make permanent— more or less—their jurisdictions’ treatment of marriage equality (or reasonable facsimiles thereof). Ballot initiatives in Maryland and Washington will determine whether marriage equality laws signed this year will stay on the books. In Maine, voters will decide once and for all, they presume, whether to allow gay marriage back into the Pine Tree State (where it was already signed into law—and overturned at the ballot box—in 2009). And in Minnesota, a constitutional amendment would enshrine marriage as the union of a man and a woman.

The Maine Event

AUGUSTA, MAINE – In 2009, state lawmakers enacted marriage equality, but it was overturned in the voting booth. Supporters of ballot Question 1 want to reinstate same-sex marriage. Both they and their opponents criticized the wording of the ballot question (“Do you want to allow same-sex couples to marry?”) as being too simplistic. Although Gov. Paul LePage, a Republican, has been silent about his position on the issue, in May he criticized the teachers’ union for endorsing it, and later vetoed the union’s pay bill. Polls suggest that most voters (58 percent) support the marriage equality referendum.

Freedom to Marry in the Free State?

ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND – Supporters hope to pass an initiative repealing the state’s Civil Marriage Protection Act, which was enacted earlier this year in support of marriage equality. Survey data shows strong support for same-sex marriage in Maryland.

The Veep, the General, and the Gays

ST PAUL, MINNESOTA – Although gay marriage isn’t legal there, Republican lawmakers and conservative activists support a constitutional amendment to prohibit it from ever rearing its head in the North Star State. The ballot measure asks, “Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to provide that only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Minnesota?” (Republicans want you to answer, “Yes.”)

The question’s opponents include former Vice President Walter Mondale (D-MN), Fortune 500 corporation (and Minnesota-based) General Mills, Thomson Reuters, Target, and U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-MN).

Ever-Pink in the Evergreen State?

OLYMPIA, WASHINGTON- The state’s Referendum 74 would repeal the marriage equality law signed in February by Gov. Christine Gregoire, a Democrat. The referendum question asks voters to approve or reject the law, which “allows same-sex couples to marry, applies marriage laws without regard to gender, and specifies that laws using gender specific terms like husband and wife include same-sex spouses.”

The law also says that “After 2014, existing domestic partnerships are converted to marriages, except for seniors. It preserves the right of clergy or religious organizations to refuse to perform or recognize any marriage or accommodate wedding ceremonies. The bill does not affect licensing of religious organizations providing adoption, foster-care, or child placement.”

Major supporters of Washington state marriage equality include Amazon.com, Google, Microsoft, Nike, and Starbucks.

ANNAPOLIS, MD – The Speaker of Maryland’s House of Delegates told clergymen and laypersons this week that marriage equality is “clearly an issue of civil rights.”

Speaker Michael Busch (D-Anne Arundel) spoke on Tuesday morning in Annapolis, at a prayer breakfast that included members of the clergy, about his own transformation into a supporter of same-sex marriage.

“I think I reflect a lot of people who have come a long way on the issue,” said Busch, who became a supporter of marriage equality during last year’s legislative session.

The question to legalize same-sex marriage in the Old Line State began in earnest this week at a Tuesday hearing in the state Senate. That chamber passed marriage equality legislation last year, but it failed to pass in the House of Delegates. Gov. Martin O’Malley, a Democrat, has sponsored a reworking of the bill this year.

BALTIMORE, MD – Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley told proponents of legalizing gay marriage in Maryland to prepare for a long battle and urged them to work hard throughout the state to persuade voters to support equal rights. O’Malley sponsored legislation proposing same-sex marriage, a bill to be decided in next year’s state legislative session.

A spokesperson for Equality Maryland said successfully changing the state’s law that marriage must be between a man and a woman will require a coalition of supporters working in every Maryland county.

BALTIMORE – Maryland Sen. James Brochin of Baltimore confirmed last Thursday his intention to vote for a samesex marriage bill, putting supporters of the legislation within striking distance of the State’s Senate passage. Brochin said at a news conference that while he has been willing to support civil unions between gay couples previously, the word “marriage” was a “stumbling block”. “It’s my stumbling block, and it’s my problem,” said Brochin, who issued a press release saying he was rethinking his position. Broch in said his change

in position was a result of a bill hearing in front of the Judicial Proceedings Committee, on which he serves. The panel is expected to vote next week to send the bill to the floor. Brochin went on to say that the testimony from same-sex marriage opponents was “appalling and disgusting … I just heard hate and venom coming out of that hearing.”