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MsTinkerbelly · 01-16-2012, 08:50 AM

Maryland Senate President will allow vote on marriage equality, but calls it “an attack on the family”By Jacob Combs

Mike Miller, the Maryland Senate President, is not an ally of marriage equality–he recently called same-sex marriage “an attack on traditional families”on the Marc Steiner Show, and has promised to vote against any bill that comes up in his chamber to legalize gay marriage. “I don’t want to sound like one of the Republican candidates for President,” Miller also said on the program, “but I am what I am.”

Nevertheless, Miller has also made clear that he will allow an open vote on the issue in the state Senate, where he expects the bill will pass, as it did last year. It subsequently failed in the House of Delegates and was withdrawn after votes that were expected in favor of the measure disappeared, and the entire debate was put on hold until the 2012 legislative season.

Miller plans to hold the vote during the early parts of the Senate’s session. The bigger hurdle, as last year, will be the House, even though the chamber has traditionally been the more socially liberal than the Senate. Current preliminary vote counts show the measure five votes short in the House. If the bill does pass the legislature and is signed into law, it will most likely face a ballot challenge in the 2012 election.

While Miller’s comments on marriage equality are divisive and extreme, it is to his credit that he will allow the measure to come up for a vote rather than simply killing it based on his own personal convictions. In Rhode Island, one of the principal roadblocks to marriage equality has been Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed, who personally opposes gay marriage and has refused to let marriage equality bills even come up for a vote in her chamber. Also, Miller’s decision to hold a vote early in the session is also good news, so that the marriage equality debate doesn’t get pushed to the end of the legislature’s business and then face the threat of being ‘not important enough’ for the end of the session, as some lawmakers claimed in New York this summer. These are good signs, but certainly not definite ones, for the success of marriage equality in Maryland this year

01-16-2012, 08:50 AM	#857
MsTinkerbelly Timed Out - TOS Drama How Do You Identify?: ... Preferred Pronoun?: ... Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: ... Posts: 6,573 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 30,737 Thanked 22,908 Times in 5,019 Posts Rep Power: 0	From the prop 8 blog Maryland Senate President will allow vote on marriage equality, but calls it “an attack on the family”By Jacob Combs Mike Miller, the Maryland Senate President, is not an ally of marriage equality–he recently called same-sex marriage “an attack on traditional families”on the Marc Steiner Show, and has promised to vote against any bill that comes up in his chamber to legalize gay marriage. “I don’t want to sound like one of the Republican candidates for President,” Miller also said on the program, “but I am what I am.” Nevertheless, Miller has also made clear that he will allow an open vote on the issue in the state Senate, where he expects the bill will pass, as it did last year. It subsequently failed in the House of Delegates and was withdrawn after votes that were expected in favor of the measure disappeared, and the entire debate was put on hold until the 2012 legislative season. Miller plans to hold the vote during the early parts of the Senate’s session. The bigger hurdle, as last year, will be the House, even though the chamber has traditionally been the more socially liberal than the Senate. Current preliminary vote counts show the measure five votes short in the House. If the bill does pass the legislature and is signed into law, it will most likely face a ballot challenge in the 2012 election. While Miller’s comments on marriage equality are divisive and extreme, it is to his credit that he will allow the measure to come up for a vote rather than simply killing it based on his own personal convictions. In Rhode Island, one of the principal roadblocks to marriage equality has been Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed, who personally opposes gay marriage and has refused to let marriage equality bills even come up for a vote in her chamber. Also, Miller’s decision to hold a vote early in the session is also good news, so that the marriage equality debate doesn’t get pushed to the end of the legislature’s business and then face the threat of being ‘not important enough’ for the end of the session, as some lawmakers claimed in New York this summer. These are good signs, but certainly not definite ones, for the success of marriage equality in Maryland this year