I support what the people of Maryland want. Are the politicians representing the people or themselves?

When objections to marriage equality are looked at logically, prejudices are unmasked for what they are. We live in momentous times and equality is about to arrive. Marriage equality hurts NO ONE but redresses discrimination. Anyone interested in equality, please read the link to the latest court decision. Justice, long denied, is coming: http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/doma-opinion.pdf

Passing this bill is going to put a majority of delegates in the unemployment lines,
when they are up for reelection...but, with their generous severance package...they won't mind...

You can have your "gay rights" if I can have my constitutional right bare arms which INCLUDES the right to carry.

This bill needs to pass. It is long overdue. Beleive it or not the world will not end because the state of Maryland passes the Same Sex Marriage bill. The State and the country should be more worried about the price of gas the overall ecomony, war, child abuse, race relations, big companies stealing from the average consumer, etc. etc. etc., not the marriage of one loving person to another loving person. Just get it done.

Equal protection under the law applies to women, blacks, Latinos, everybody. Once you start saying it is ok to pass laws which discriminate or not pass laws that remove discrimination, where does it end? Discrimination is NOT acceptable and it should not be legally sanctuoned. Being gay or transgender is not an illness. Next they'll start sanctioning discrimination against obese people like in Japan, or people who consume alcohol with some convoluted reasons like they take up too many public resources. We have a seperation of church and state. Religious views are not an acceptable or legal reason to discriminate. Where does discrimination end?

I want this bill to pass. I agree with Tea L that discrimination of any form is wrong.

The best way to keep religion out of this is to remove the word "marriage" from the bill and replace it with civil union. In many European countries, couples (m/f, m/m and f/f) are granted a civil union by the government, then if they wish to have a religious ceremony then they can and that is called a marriage. I think that is how it should be here also. If your church believes marriage is one man and one woman, that is fine by me but if your church believes marriage is one man/one woman, two men or two women then that is fine by me also.

Once this happens and we start to use the term 'civil union' for all government reasons that we now give benefits to the married then I think we will be able to move on.

I don't want my gay friends to have to carry around multiple documents to prove that their partner should have the benefits that my husband has just because I can say there he and I are married.

Please remove religion out of this bill and call it what it is .... a civil union. I would be more then happy to have my marriage know as a civil union for government purposes. Did I get married in a church? Yes because that was a choice I had. I could have gotten married by the justice of the peace or here in SC where I now live, I could have had a notary public perform the service (and where is religion is that?).

Thanks for letting me speak my piece.

"For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended."
The ultimate authority is God. You will be held accountable for the choices you make. We are warned of the times when evil will be seen as good and good as evil ... unfortunately, we may be seeing the evidence of God's truth in that now. I pity the men who put that on their own heads. Flee from evil and do what is right – not in the eyes of man, but in the eyes of God.

The Liar walks among us. Thanks for expressing my thoughts, Cindy Davis.

Live and let live!

I'm not scared of "God"... because I don't believe in that concept, in any way whatsoever. Civil law trumps religion in this country. We are not a theocracy.

Seems that a lot of people jump on the discrimination bandwagon when it suits them. The whole issue is when will people start using the common sense God gave animals...when?

The Constitution says all are equal before the law & that there will be NO laws imposing OR restricting religion. This means that NO ONE can force churches that object to same-sex marriage to perform them. The bill approved last week by the house of delegates complies with that. But the Constitution also says there shall be NO religious tests & NO laws imposing religion. What does that mean? It means that the USA is NOT a theocracy or government based upon religion. That means that marriage laws restricting marriage that are based upon religious considerations ARE unconstitutional. Therefore, objections to marriage equality MUST BE BASED UPON NON-RELIGIOUS REASONS. Can anyone who opposes marriage equality name ANY non-religious objection?

Allowing homosexuals to marry is simply not a civil rights issue. It is not a struggle
for freedom. It is a struggle of already free people for complete social acceptance
and the sense of normalcy that follows thereof-a struggle for the eradication of the
homosexual stigma.

David, I stand firm on my comment. A Medical Power of Attorney is a legal instrument that allows you to select the person that you want to make healthcare decisions for you if and when you become unable to make them for yourself(my family has one for our mother and we are not married to her).
Joint Tenancy-at the death of one-ownership of the remaining property passes to the
surviving tenants or successors who assert the right of survivorship (you don't have to be married to have this).
Advance Directive- one can name anyone to carryout funeral wishes as well as a
Do Not Resucitate Order(my family also has this for our mother).
I will NEVER condone the abnormal perverted behavior of homosexuals.

Cynthia, how would you like to have to spend thousand$ in attorney & court fees getting all those "legal" documents you speak of when a simple $25.00 marriage certificate does the job much better? Having to jump all those legal hurdles & obstacles, spend all that $ so people still put roadblocks & difficulties enforcing them. Just go across state lines, have a car wreck & all that $ spent is useless because the other state doesn't recognize their validity. Or have a medical emergency & find out you didn't carry the bucketful of documents with you, so you're out of luck! Joint tenancies can be contested & anyhow only leave you a residence right, it doesn't imply inheritance rights, so the house still gets sold-off to pay estate taxes or else is inherited by the deceased's next of kin; spouses are much better protected because they cannot be bypassed for inheritance & minimizes estate taxation. If all those documents are so great, why don't you give up your marriage & get those documents instead? For you a $25.00 marriage certificate is an option. I want it too. As far as your acceptance, I don't care to have it. I just want my $25.00 marriage certificate. By the way, I think you spend TOO MUCH time wondering about the personal lives of people. I don't. WHY DO YOU?

DO ALL THE "SAME " RULES APPLY IN THIS BILL AS FAR AS IMMIGRATION & MARRIAGE. WILL YOU HAVE THE CHOICE TO FILE FOR THE SAME SEX BY WAY OF THE FIANC'E--- VISA? I WAS JUST WONDERING HOW THIS WILL CHANGE FOR SAME SEX MARRIAGE CONCERNING DISTANT COUSINS & ETC.. A LOT OF PEOPLE LIVE TOGETHER AS ROOM MATES, SO WHO IS TO SAY ITS NOT A RELATIVE YOU WANT IN THIS COUNTRY?? I KNOW MANY WILLING TO BE "MARRIED"..... TO COME TO THE GOOD OLE USA... I JUST THINK MORE TO THIS IN THE LONG RUN LIKE SOME CHRISTIAN HAVE SAID.SOME WILL BE ABLE TO MARRY JUST BECAUSE OF THIS BILL WHEN ITS LEGAL.