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NEWS RELEASE EQUALITY MARYLAND FREE STATE JUSTICE CONDEMNS INTRODUCTION OF ANTI-FAMILY LEGISLATION IN MARYLAND LGBT CIVIL RIGHTS GROUP SAYS MARRIAGE EQUALITY FOR SAME-SEX COUPLES IS A CIVIL RIGHTS ISSUE BALTIMORE - Free State Justice, Maryland's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, decried today the introduction of anti-family legislation in the Maryland General Assembly, calling it "salt in the wound" for countless thousands of committed couples -- many with children -- that already are not considered family in the eyes of the State. The pre-filed legislation, House Bill 16, would amend the Maryland Constitution to say "only a marriage between a man and a woman is valid in this State." A section of Maryland Family Code already contains this language. Sponsored by Delegate Charles R. Boutin (R-Cecil & Harford Counties), HB 16 would require passage by three-fifths of the legislators in both Houses of the General Assembly and ratification by voters on the November 2004 ballot in order to succeed. "Del. Boutin may feel he is defending marriage, but in actuality, he is tearing down families that the State already discriminates against," said executive director Dan Furmansky. "Furthermore, he proposes to sully our most sacred State document with outright discrimination against his own constituents." A marriage license confers more than a thousand federal, and hundreds of state-level, rights and responsibilities, including the right to visit a spouse in the hospital; make medical decisions for a spouse if he or she is ill; take leave Family and Medical Leave to care for a sick spouse; file joint tax returns; and inherit property, disability and social security in the event of a spouse's death. "Marriage equality is a matter of equal protection under the law. The option to marry - or not to marry - is a fundamental right, and to deny us that right is myopic and anti-family," said Furmansky. "Maryland should follow the leads of Connecticut, New Jersey, California, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Hawaii. These states have taken steps to remedy discrimination against families headed by same-sex couples, and each in its own way has provided much-needed recognition to these families." Free State Justice plans to work with allies in the General Assembly to further legislation in 2004 that will recognize committed same-sex couples in Maryland, in addition to the group's efforts to defeat any proposed anti-marriage equality bills. The organization will announce its legislative agenda and plans for a formal Lobby Day in the coming weeks. # # # Free State Justice is Maryland's largest LGBT civil rights organization, focused on making life better for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender citizens of Maryland.
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