Maryland presents a Bill for Gay Marriage

Lawmakers in Maryland presented a gay-marriage bill on Thursday. Their Governor, Martin O'Malley supports the bill.

"I have long believed the way to craft a compromise is civil unions," he told WTOP radio while campaigning last summer. "But if [the legislature] were to reach a compromise in another way, I would sign a bill like that."

Maryland's gay-marriage bill, HB 55, was introduced by Delegate Luis Simmons and 16 co-sponsors. The Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act uses the same language as previous bills - establishing that a marriage between "two individuals" who are otherwise permitted to marry would be "valid in the state."

The bill also states that Maryland clergy need not perform marriages that violate their religion's tenets.

I'm sure the religious freaks in Baltimore will fight this tooth and nail.

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