Maryland judge rules in favor of gays seeking marriage
by Matt | January 20th, 2006 |According to an article published by the Washington Blade, a Maryland circuit court judge has today ruled that a 1973 Maryland law limiting marriage to unions of a man and woman only is unconstiutional.
According to the article, Circuit Court Judge Brooke M. Murdock stated in her ruling:
“Family law 2-201 violates Article 46 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights because it discriminates, based on gender against a suspected class; and is not narrowly tailored to serve any compelling governmental interests.”
The suit, Deane vs. Conaway, was file din July 2004 and brought by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of nine gay couples and one man whose partner had already passed away.
Arguments in the case had been originally heard in August. Both sides in the case expect it to be appealed to the Maryland Court of Appeals.
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YAY!!! Maryland might just find itself with marriage equality like Massachusetts!!! Watch out you radical, religious Right folks… equality is heading South!
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Matt, 21, is an LGBT activist and youth advocate working mainly within the cities of Greensboro & Winston-Salem and the State of North Carolina. He is the Owner & Editor of InterstateQ.com and has been active in LGBT advocacy work since the age of 14, now currently serving as the Executive Director/Co-founder of Activate! - The North Carolina Advocacy Coalition.
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