Question 6
Establishes that Maryland’s civil marriage laws allow gay and lesbian couples to obtain a civil marriage license, provided they are not otherwise prohibited from marrying; protects clergy from having to perform any particular marriage ceremony in violation of their religious beliefs; affirms that each religious faith has exclusive control over its own theological doctrine regarding who may marry within that faith; and provides that religious organizations and certain related entities are not required to provide goods, services, or benefits to an individual related to the celebration or promotion of marriage in violation of their religious beliefs.
Question 6 is a referendum about equal rights under the law, plain and simple. To ratify this law, Marylanders have an opportunity to help lead the nation toward reflecting its founding principles and promises—to embrace equal treatment of its citizens. We approve of ratifying this petition into law.
The siege against ratifying marriage equality in Maryland has been played out using the usual clichéd octaves of fear—that educational curriculums will embed the promotion of homosexuality, anyone opposing will be persecuted and that the rights of religious institutions would be infringed upon.
Often shrill, as in the widely publicized statement by Randallstown Colonial Baptist Church’s Rev. Robert Anderson, a Maryland Marriage Alliance panelist, “Those who practice such things [homosexuality] are worthy of death,” (in reference to the Old Testament Book of Romans), and with a widespread, inarticulate seething against change, opponents to Question 6 cast far and wide for examples to express their discrimination.
As pointed out in a recent Baltimore Sun editorial, the Maryland Marriage Alliance have used “isolated and spurious examples of supposed discrimination against those who oppose Question 6.
One example, used by Maryland Marriage Alliance in their advertising, cherry picks a story about Massachussetts parents, David and Tonia Parker, who in 2005 objected that their children learned in school about family structure diversity, and that, in fact, children in their school had same-sex parents. David Parker, who has been quoted that homosexuality is “a disease—later walked back as “an addiction”— echoes much of the misalignment with social science and common sense.
Massachussetts passed their marriage equality law in 2003, finding that an exclusion of equal rights was incompatible with the constitutional principles of respect for individual autonomy and equality under law and that barring same-sex marriage denied individuals “access to the protections, benefits, and obligations of civil marriage,” depriving them of “membership in one of our community’s most rewarding and cherished institutions.”
From the President to Maryland’s Governor, marriage equality has been endorsed as a pathway to open the door to equal rights and lift the gay community from legal and social discrimination.
Heather Mizuer (D-District 20, Montgomery County) articulates our position clearly.
“The Free State has the chance to be the first to uphold the freedom to marry at the ballot box this November. When Marylanders vote for Question 6, we take a stand to treat everyone equally under the law while also strengthening religious freedoms. Love makes a family, but a marriage license protects us in the toughest of times,” said Delegate Heather Mizeur
“I’m so proud of the diverse, bipartisan coalition of supporters working to assure basic fairness for all Maryland families. By taking on and solving generational challenges as difficult as marriage equality, we are proving there is no problem too difficult for Marylanders to solve.”
The wording of the law is clear: religious entities are specifically protected. No church or religious organization is asked or required to act contrary to their beliefs.
Voting Yes on 6 is an affirmation: that Maryland has the perspicacity, respect for the upholding of equal rights for all of its citizens and the courage to show the rest of the country that we will not tolerate civil laws that institutionalize discrimination.
End this discriminatory challenge to the Civil Marriage Protection Act approved this year— Yes on 6.
Jeff Morton says
It’s very simple to me. Take out the word gay and replace it with some others – Would anyone with an inkling of intelligence be able to say – “We can’t let them marry. They are (Fat – Ugly – Black – Jewish – etc. etc.)
A memorable bumper sticker I once saw – If God didn’t make Homosexuals, There wouldn’t be any
Paula Vlahovich says
Jeff Morton said it well. Everyone deserves the right to marry who they love. Our grandson deserves to have his two loving moms be married in the eyes of the law. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.