The battle over same-sex marriages brews in Baltimore. Almost 200 people attended a forum in Baltimore to support same-sex marriages and denounce any legislation that would ban such unions.
Equality Maryland, a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization, is hosting town hall forums throughout the state. The group held a forum in north Baltimore at Johns Hopkins University's Homewood campus Thursday night.
Baltimore attorney Mark Scurti and Michael Myers attended the forum. The two recently returned from San Francisco where they got married at City Hall, with their luggage in tow.
"It was wonderful experience! There were not a bunch of activists there doing it for the spite of doing it, there were a bunch of very loving couples there. Some [couples] had the means to fly in, some hitchhiked and took the last penny they had to get marriage licenses because that's what they wanted to do," Scurti said.
The couple -- whose appointment number was unlucky 13 -- said volunteers were on hand to help them through the process, including calling florists who donated flowers. Myers said no couple was without a bouquet of flowers and he explained that he and Scurti didn't get married to make a political statement, but instead to express their love for each other.
But their marriage isn't recognized where they live.
Maryland law recognizes a marriage as a union between a man and a woman, and there's a push to make that definition part of a state constitutional amendment. The forum came one day after a House Judiciary Committee hearing in Annapolis to review legislation that could toughen the state's laws regarding same-sex marriage.
Civil rights supporters said the new state bills are government-sanctioned discrimination.
"We're the fabric of American society just as much as any other citizen in this country and it's wrong to try to codify discrimination against us. All we're asking for is equal rights and protection under the law," Equality Maryland's Executive Director Dan Furmanski said.
He told TheWBALChannel.com that Equality Maryland will continue to work on defeating antigay legislation and educating people of gay issues.
"We -- as families -- have children, we have property, we have some the same sorts of things around the state that married couples across the state have, and we need the same sort of protections and benefits," Montgomery County Delegate Richard Madaleno, D-District 18, one of two openly gay members of the General Assembly, said at the House hearing Wednesday.
The other openly gay member of the Legislature is Baltimore City Delegate Maggie McIntosh, D-District 43.
But the cause isn't limited to homosexual legislators. Baltimore City Delegates Sandy Rosenberg and Salima Marriott attended the forum and were warmly welcomed by the crowd when they spoke.
Rosenberg, D-District 41, stressed the importance of people testifying in Annapolis, sharing personal experiences. Marriott, D-District 40, told TheWBALChannel.com that discrimination is not an unfamiliar issue to her as an African-American woman.
"Being born black, female and poor, I know what discrimination is about and I've fought against discrimination all of my adult life. This is just another fight. Couples should have equality, gay and lesbian couples should have equality. It's just another form of discrimination to deny them that," Marriott said.
She said her conviction as a straight-ally to support the homosexual community will stay strong.
"There was a time in our history when it was not legal to be married if you are an African-American. So, it just brings it full circle for me as an African-American," Marriott said.
Gay and lesbian couples also shared stories of hardships they have experienced as couples who cannot legally marry. They said they do not have access to health care, Social Security and inheritance benefits that heterosexual couples have.
Gita Deane is a lesbian woman who is originally from India. She explained how difficult it was for her to find a sponsor to live in the United States because her partner wasn't eligible to do so.
"I really think it's important for the American public to know of the struggles that we have. We're talking about family issues, we're talking about being able to take care of each other and take care of our children, and that's really what this fight is about," Deane said.
And she has a message for President George W. Bush: "Don't leave our families behind, that's what I would say."
The president announced Tuesday his support for a constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriages. Meanwhile, some state lawmakers have said same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions proves that Maryland needs protection from other states' laws.
"I believe that it's a moral issue that we have to fight from a legal basis, a historical basis and from a moral basis," Anne Arundel County Delegate Donald H. Dwyer Jr., R-District 31, said.
"I say to gay couples: 'Whatever floats your boat is fine. But please, don't come to the courthouse,' " Baltimore County Delegate Emmett Burns, D-District 10, said. He is the lead sponsor House Bill 728.
Kathleen E. Morris and her partner, Dorothy Harris, spoke at the forum and said Burns' comments anger them. They also attended the hearing Wednesday and heard what Burns said.
"How dare you say you don't want to live next to [a gay person]?" Morris said. "Because I have to deal with being a black person being discriminated against, that I have to crawl from under the heel of my brother, how dare you?"
Burns' bill would keep Maryland from recognizing same-sex marriages performed outside the state.
"The one law specifically says [about] state marriages, such as those occurring in San Francisco right now, will not be recognizable," Carroll County Delegate Carmen Amedori, R-District 5A, said.
But that doesn't discourage the newlyweds, Scurti and Myers. They said they will watch the legislative developments very carefully.
"We hope that Maryland will recognize our marriage," Scurti said. "We saw this as a window of opportunity where we can become married, and in our eyes, that's exactly what we are."
"The best thing we can hope for is nothing negative," Myers said.
Stay with TheWBALChannel.com and WBAL-TV 11 News for the latest Session 2004 updates in Maryland's debate over same-sex marriages.
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