A gay marriage bill passed last evening in the Maryland House of Representatives, 72-67. A handful of legislators changed their minds in favor of the bill in the days leading up to the vote. The bill next moves on to the Maryland Senate where it is likewise expected to pass. Governor Martin O'Malley is a stong proponent of the bill. Maryland has some openly gay representatives.

The bill, if it passes the Senate, will not take effect until January, 2013, leaving time for an expected public referendum next November.

I hope it passes, but it is hard for gay rights to pass, even in a more liberal state, during an presidential election year. Those tend to bring out a lot of people who are not the most informed on all the issues.

Same sex marriage just passed in Maryland. The bill cleared the state senate this evening, 25-22. The governor will sign it.

A public referendum is still expected. I believe that 55,000 signatures are needed.

I misread that. I thought it still had to go up for a vote, in the public, I didn't realize they just needed 55,000 people to express their support.

Same sex civil marriage will be the legal in Maryland as of January 1st, 2013.

There will almost certainly be an attempt to overturn it via public referendum in November. That's what I was referring to. I'm not certain how the referendum will go. It will be interesting to see if the Mo church gets involved, or sits this one out.

On the East coast they usually send in their highly (but covertly) paid rabid dog: the National Organization for Marriage, a.k.a. NOM. The cult doesn't want another Massachusetts/California-style PR fiasco on their hands, so they will secretly funnel more $$$ to Maggie Gallagher and Brian Brown to do their dirty work for them.

Fingers crossed that it'll pass...now if only some other states would get with it.

This Marylander is all for it! Good job.

Great news. The balls keep rolling.