Maryland to approve same-sex marriage; no exemption for Catholic adoption agencies

February 24, 2011

Following a 25-22 preliminary state senate vote, Maryland is on the verge of become the sixth state to allow homosexual marriage.

“Measures were defeated that sought to allow religiously affiliated adoption agencies to refuse services to same-sex couples, to allow clerks of courts to refuse to conduct marriages based on religious objections and to exempt public school teachers from teaching materials that ‘promote’ gay unions,” the Washington Post reported.

The Maryland Catholic Conference has lobbied against the bill.

“Our opposition to this bill does not rest on a simple concern for the interests of religious institutions only,” the conference said in a recent statement. “Our fundamental concern about redefining marriage is for the sake of our whole society, and particularly for children and their elemental desire to know, and ideally to be raised and loved by, their biological mother and father. Stripping marriage of its unique connection to parenthood erases from law the right of a child to a mother and father, and ignores an essential question of why government favors marriage between one man and one woman over all other relationships.”

Same-sex marriage has been granted legal recognition in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, New Hampshire, and Vermont, as well as the District of Columbia.

 

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Further information:

• Gay marriage wins initial approval in Maryland Senate (Washington Post)
• Protect Marriage in Maryland (Maryland Catholic Conference)