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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, February 6, 2008

City Of College Park Passes Resolution In Support Of The Religious Freedom And Civil Marriage Protection Act


CONTACT:
Carrie Evans, Policy Director
Phone: (301) 587-7500
Cell: (443) 514-4999
Email: Carrie@EqualityMaryland.org

College Park, Md. – In the week before the first hearings in the Maryland General Assembly on the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act, another Maryland jurisdiction has passed a resolution supporting this legislation. The city of College Park located in Prince George's County, joins the town of Kensington and the city of Takoma Park in formally supporting the expansion of civil marriage to same-sex couples. The Council passed the resolution by a 7-1 vote at its Tuesday meeting.

Recently elected Councilmember Patrick Wojahn, who together with his partner was a plaintiff in the lawsuit challenging marriage discrimination in Maryland, commented, "I am proud to represent a city willing to take a stand for fairness for all families. Thousands of Maryland residents suffer because they are denied the basic rights that come through marriage. I hope that legislators in Annapolis will take the same stand for families."

One of the other seven Council members supporting this resolution was Mark Cook, who views this as "the civil rights issue of the 21st century. It seemed only right that our city, which offers domestic partnership benefits to its employees and has stood for fairness in the past, would continue down the path to equality for same-sex couples."

"It is invigorating to see more and more elected officials across the state supporting fairness. And to have this resolution pass just days before hundreds of our supporters come to Annapolis for Lobby Day is extra special," commented Equality Maryland's Policy Director Carrie Evans.

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Equality Maryland is Maryland's largest LGBT civil rights organization, focused on making life better for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender citizens of Maryland. Equality Maryland works to secure and protect the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Marylanders by promoting legislative initiatives on the state, county and municipal levels and educating the public about the issues faced by our diverse community.