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From Baynet.comGay Community Hopeful Same-Sex Marriage Bill Will Pass
by Heather Bartlett
Monday, February 11, 2008
Today Equality Maryland, Maryland's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) civil rights organization, will be lobbying for the passage of The Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act, also known as HB 351.
According to the organization, in recent years their rally has been one of the largest held during the legislative session, and they expect another big turnout this year with more than 500 LGBT individuals, their families, friends and clergy expected to participate.
There are several speakers who are scheduled to appear during the rally, including Reverend Andrew Foster Connors of Brown Memorial Park Avenue Presbyterian of Baltimore, Susan Goering, Executive Director of the Maryland American Civil Liberties Union and Travis Britt, husband of the recently departed Senator Gwendolyn Britt, the original senate sponsor for the bill.
Equality Maryland is a grassroots non-profit organization, which is focused on making lives better for the LGBT community. The organization is lead by the charismatic Dan Furmansky, who has been the Executive Director since 2003. Furmansky has an extensive background in public relations, advocacy and humanitarian efforts.
Furmansky told The Bay Net, "LGBT people are hopeful that legislators will do something to strengthen families headed by same-sex couples and understand that forcing a loving couple to remain legal strangers and denying their children two parents with a legal relationship is unfair and bad public policy."
If Maryland were to enact same-sex civil unions, instead of civil marriage, there would at least be some protections afforded to the same-sex couple that relate to all areas of life, from car ownership titles to the family courts. Under a civil-union however, same-sex couples would still not be entitled to things such as social security and disability benefits. Also, same-sex partners cannot sponsor a foreign born partner for a green card. In fact there are a plethora of rights that legally married couples take for granted every day that are denied to their same-sex peers, more than 1,000 state and federal rights.
Furmansky said, "Civil unions have shown to have flaws in the states that have enacted them. Specifically because they are a separate legal construct attempting to approximate the benchmark legal construct – civil marriage. Furthermore, by withholding civil marriage, civil unions specifically set apart same-sex couples and their children; and for what purpose?"
In fact, Furmansky said that there are 425 rights under Maryland state law related to marriage which range from having immunity from testifying against a spouse in court to having the right to sue for wrongful death of a spouse as well as other rights that many people may be unaware of like inheriting a crabber's license.
Maryland state employees are allowed to put a spouse on their health insurance and pension plan, but not a same-sex partner or the children of their partner. However, the school districts in Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Howard County, Montgomery County and Prince George's County do grant domestic partner benefits.
When asked what he would say to those who accuse the LGBT community of wanting special rights, he said, "Is it a special right to take family leave to care for a sick partner, ride in an ambulance with them, share a nursing home room, inherit property as family and not as strangers, make funeral arrangements and inherit social security? Is it a special right to have the law treat your family the same as everybody else's and not punish you just because of the gender of the person you love?"
Southern Maryland is noticeably absent from the list of sponsors for the bill. When asked about support from Southern Maryland, Furmansky told The Bay Net, "The LBGT community in Southern Maryland is to some extent less politically active as a community than in other parts of the state. There is no real local LGBT group like in Western Maryland and on the Eastern Shore. Still, as your readers know, the area is changing and becoming more of an ex-urb of Washington, DC, and as the demographic continues to change, so will the region's attitudes about the families who are part of the fabric of the community."
Furmansky suggests that one way to help move along change and acceptance is by becoming a more active part of the community.
"The more we don't hide who we are when we volunteer, join welcoming congregations, run for central committees, and are active in PTAs and associations, the greater the impact will be."