Christianists Begin to Mobilize Against Maryland Marriage Bill

With a potential gay marriage bill in the works in neighboring Maryland, the Christofascists are mobilizing to bring their phony "protect marriage" lies to that state and intimidate elected officials into subverting the U.S. Constitution and the Maryland Constitution each of which claim to guarantee freedom of religion to all citizens. The Christianists, however, true to form want special rights that would inflict their religious views on marriage on every citizen of Maryland. By definition, this is an effort to subvert the aforesaid constitutions and any politician who joins the "protect marriage" bandwagon ought to be forced to resign from office on the basis that they have breached their oath to support constitutional government. The image below depicts some of the bullshit already being disseminated by the Christofascists. Meanwhile, here are highlights from the Washington Blade on legislative developments in Maryland:
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Equality Maryland announced today its anticipated timeline for moving two key pieces of LGBT rights legislation in the coming months, including a marriage equality bill.
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The marriage bill is up first and has already been introduced in the Senate; it will be introduced in the House on Jan. 25. Sources said a Senate hearing will likely be held either Tuesday, Feb. 1 or Thursday, Feb. 3. Then, observers expect a three-day fight on the Senate floor during the week of Feb. 7, culminating with a cloture vote, which requires 29 votes. Twenty-four votes are needed to pass the Senate bill; there are 18 co-sponsors.
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Senate leadership reportedly wants to wrap debate and voting on the marriage bill before budget legislation is considered on Feb. 21. The measure would then move to the House for consideration in March, where it is widely expected to pass. Final passage is expected in early April.
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The other bill, a measure barring job discrimination based on gender identity and expression, is expected to be introduced first in the House during the week of Jan. 24 and see a hearing in the House Government & Operations Committee in mid-February.
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[T]he National Organization for Marriage is now active in the state in opposing the marriage equality bill. NOM hasn’t yet aired TV ads opposing marriage equality, but has begun an online and telephone campaign against the bill.
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Obviously, if Maryland joins the District of Columbia in allowing same sex marriage, additional pressure will be put on Northern Virginia in the competition for affluent same sex couples and progressive businesses that may prefer to relocate to Maryland where all citizens will be treated as full citizens should the marriage bill pass the Maryland Legislature. I hope the Maryland marriage initiative succeeds and that it makes Virginia pay a price for its anti-gay bigotry and the special rights it grants to theocratic bigots who would undermine freedom of religion for all.