Tag: Maryland

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Maryland: Marriage equality begins at midnight

When the clock strikes midnight tonight, it will mark more than simply the start of a new year for some couples in Maryland — it’s also when Maryland’s new marriage equality law officially takes effect. Some same-sex weddings are already planned for the first moments of 2013.

Since New Year’s Day is a government holiday, courthouses across Maryland are closed. But that didn’t stop Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake (D) from taking steps to ensure that same-sex couples won’t have to wait any longer for marriage equality. Rawlings-Blake will open Baltimore’s city hall tonight to allow at least seven same-sex couples to get married, and the mayor plans to serve as an official witness for the wedding ceremonies:

“New Years Day will have a new meaning for the hundreds — if not thousands — of couples who will finally have the right to marry the person they love,” said Mayor Rawlings-Blake.
“It is a remarkable achievement for Maryland, and we are excited to open City Hall to host some of the first wedding ceremonies in our great state. Newly married couples will stand before their friends and family to profess their love and commitment to each other. This is what we worked for, and I am looking forward to take part in this historic and jubilant day.”

The first couple to be married at City Hall will be a longtime aide to the mayor and his partner of 35 years. And even though the courthouses in other Maryland cities may not be open, the early marriage licenses that some same-sex couples in the state were able to begin applying for in December will become official at midnight tonight.

Being on West Coast time, trust and believe that at 9pm my time I’ll raise a glass to the fabulous couples who waited so long but won the right to marry the person they love.  That alone will make my New Year’s Eve fabulous.

In advance of all the celebrations, I want to congratulate all the newlyweds.  Enjoy, take it all in and celebrate!

Forward!

(source)

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Maryland: Same-sex couples can marry Jan. 1, 2013

Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler

Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler said on Thursday same-sex couples can begin to marry in the state on Jan. 1.

He wrote in a 19-page opinion that clerks can begin to issue marriage licenses to gays and lesbians as soon as Dec. 6, as long as they don’t take effect until the same-sex marriage law takes effect at the start of the new year. A 1999 law states a marriage license is not valid until 6 a.m. on the second calendar day after a clerk issues it.

Gansler concluded this requirement does not “expressly prohibit licenses becoming effective after that time.”

“Although there is a legal reason why same-sex couples cannot be licensed to marry before midnight on Jan. 1, 2013…, there is no such legal reason why they should not be licensed to marry at any time after the moment the law takes effect,” he wrote.
 
The same-sex marriage law voters approved by a 52-48 percent margin earlier this month is scheduled to take effect on a legal holiday when clerks’ offices are typically closed. It was previously believed the earliest a same-sex couple would have been able to legally marry under Maryland law was 6 a.m. on Jan. 4.

(via Washington Blade)

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States to reap income windfall from marriage equality

JoeMyGod points out an Associated Press report on the three states about a boom in business due to same-sex weddings:

Add the coast of Maine, the banks of the Chesapeake Bay and the shores of Lake Washington to gay wedding destinations.

Next month and in January, laws go into effect in Maine, Maryland and Washington that allow same-sex marriage. They’re the first states where voters approved such laws, rather than legislators or courts. Nearly 18,000 same-sex couples in those states will exchange vows in the first three years after the new laws are in effect, estimated The Williams Institute, a national think tank at the UCLA School of Law, and the laws should generate at least $166 million in wedding spending in the three states over the next three years from in-state couples alone, boosting tax revenues and creating new jobs.

Wedding-related spending for in-state couples is projected be about $16 million in Maine, $63 million in Maryland and $89 million in Washington. The numbers go up when figuring in out-of-staters who travel to those states to be wed.

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When marriage equality begins in Washington, Maryland and Maine

Thanks to the American Foundation for Equal Rights, here is the timeline for implementing the recently passed marriage equality initiatives:

  • Maine: December 6 at the earliest. This date may change. The initiative goes into effect 30 days after the governor makes a “public proclamation of the result of the vote,” within 10 days after the result has been determined.
  • Maryland: January 1, 2013. This date was included in the original legislation passed by the state’s General Assembly, which was approved by voters.
  • Washington: December 6. All referendums that are approved by voters in the Evergreen State go into effect 30 days after the election.

A response from the US Supreme Court on Prop 8 and DOMA challenges is expected November 26th.

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Yes! Marriage equality passes in Maryland!

Marriage equality has won in Maryland, with the Question 6 ballot measure succeeding!

With 92.7% Reporting – 51.7% approved the measure and 48.3% opposed it.

Voters approved Question 6, the Civil Marriage Protection Act, paving the way for gay and lesbian couples to receive a marriage license beginning in January.

Tonight is the first time in history any state has voted on and passed marriage equality on the ballot. Fairness and equality under the law won tonight,” said Josh Levin, campaign manager for Marylanders for Marriage Equality. “We’re sure to feel the ripples of this monumental victory across the country for years to come.”

Question 6 protects religious freedom of churches and clergy. No church or clergy member will have to perform any marriage they don’t want to. Legislatures and courts have legalized marriage equality in six states and the District of Columbia.

Maryland is the first state to legalize same-sex marriage through a vote of the people. “This victory would not have been possible without the unparalleled leadership of Governor O’Malley, resolve of the LGBT Caucus in the legislature, and the full-court press by the Human Rights Campaign, which has been here day in and day out for more than a year working for full equality.”

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Maryland marriage equality fight gets $250K from GOP billionaire

The Maryland campaign for marriage equality continues to see money coming their way.

From Marylanders for Marriage Equality:

Republican Paul Singer today gave $250,000 to Marylanders for Marriage Equality, the lead group working to pass marriage equality in Maryland. Singer runs the firm Elliot Management in New York City and has given more than $10 million to marriage equality efforts across the country.

“Paul’s leadership on marriage equality continues to amaze and sets an example for other fair-minded members of the Republican Party,” said Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, a founder of Marylanders for Marriage Equality. “His investment in the equality and dignity of Marylanders reflects the growing bipartisan support to get Question 6 over the finish line in these critical final weeks.”

(source)