Marriage equality in Maryland in 2011 looks promising

Advocates for same-sex marriage in Maryland, including the seven gay and lesbian members of the state legislature, are optimistic that the legislature will pass a marriage equality bill in 2011 but they are less certain about the prospects for a transgender rights bill. The gains in the number of supporters of a same-sex marriage bill in the November election and commitments by top leaders of the legislature to name marriage equality supporters to the committees that must clear them appear to have tipped the balance in favor of the bill passing, according to advocates and lawmakers. "We remain cautiously optimistic that we've got the votes to push this bill through in this session, and that's what we intend to do," said Del. Heather Mizeur (D-Montgomery County), a lesbian. News surfaced last week that the main bottleneck in preventing the bill's passage during the past few years - its blockage in the state Senate's Judicial Proceedings Committee - would be lifted when the legislature convenes in January. Changes in the committee's makeup due to the election and a decision by one marriage equality opponent to move to another committee make it nearly certain that the committee will vote to send the bill to the Senate floor.

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