The Issues:
Marriage Equality
Organizations opposed to a constitutional amendment
Click here to join a growing list of social justice organizations (listed below) in the religious, civil rights, environmental and labor communities taking a stand against attempts to write one group of Marylanders out of our constitution. There is no doubt that we need your organization's important voice to help ensure our constitution remains free from overt discriminatory tampering.
As you may know, the ACLU and Equality Maryland filed a lawsuit, Deane and Polyak v. Conaway, on behalf of nine same-sex couples and a widower seeking the ability to legally marry in Maryland. The lawsuit charges that excluding same-sex couples from marriage violates the state Constitution's guarantees of equality. On January 20, 2006, Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Brooke Murdock issued a written opinion that Maryland's statutory prohibition against same-sex marriage cannot withstand this Constitutional challenge "because it discriminates, based on gender against a suspect class; and is not narrowly tailored to serve any compelling governmental interests." The appeal by the State is scheduled for oral arguments before the Court of Appeals this December.
Several anti-gay state legislators have called for a constitutional amendment to short-circuit the judicial process and ensure that rights are permanently excluded from loving families and their children. Never in the history of our state has our constitution been amended to deliberately limit the rights of one group of people. We cannot and should not travel down this road now.
We are asking your organization to join your peers in signing the Allied Organizations Statement of Support. We need your help to ensure fairness and justice for all Marylanders and prevent activists from sullying the Maryland Constitution and all that it stands for.
Thank you, in advance, for your consideration. We welcome the opportunity to discuss this issue further and answer any questions you may have.
In partnership and equality,
Dan Furmansky
Executive Director
Equality Maryland
(301) 587-7500
dan@EqualityMaryland.org
The following organizations oppose any amendment to the Maryland Constitution that would ban civil marriage and its vital protections for same-sex couples:
Alliance of Baptists
American Friends Service Committee Middle Atlantic Region
American Catholic Church of the United States
American Civil Liberties Union
Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Anti-Defamation League
Baltimore Ethical Society
Bar Association of Baltimore City
CASA of Maryland, Inc.
Central Atlantic Conference of the United Church of Christ
Central Conference of American Rabbis
Chesapeake Bay Unitarian Universalist Association of Ministers
Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington
League of United Latin American Citizens
League of Women Voters of the United States
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
Maryland Latino Coalition for Justice
Maryland Chapter of the National Organization for Women
Maryland Episcopal Diocese
Maryland State Conference of the NAACP
Maryland State and District of Columbia, AFL-CIO
National Coalition of American Nuns
National Council of Jewish Women - Annapolis Chapter
National Council of Jewish Women - Howard County Chapter
Progressive Maryland
Public Justice Center
Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association
United Farm Workers Union
Union for Reform Judaism
Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of Maryland (UULM-MD)
United Workers' Association
The Washington Region for Justice and Inclusion
To add your organization to this list, click here.
Click here to return to the Supporters main page.