By TOM MCPARLAND
ANNAPOLIS (January 24, 2012) - Gov. Martin O'Malley touted increased religious protections as he promoted a new same-sex marriage bill Tuesday that supporters hope can overcome the objections raised last year.
Flanked by lawmakers, religious leaders and union members, the governor repeatedly invoked the values of equal rights and religious freedom, which, he says, the legislation protects.
"Yesterday we submitted a marriage equality bill which balances equal protection of individual rights with the important protection of religious liberty and religious freedom," O'Malley said, at a press conference in front of Government House. O'Malley hosted same-sex couples at a breakfast before the announcement.
Supporters of same-sex marriage see more explicit language regarding religious exemptions as a key part of their 2012 campaign.
Last year's bill said ministers and churches "may not be required to solemnize any marriage in violation of the right to free exercise of religion guaranteed by the First Amendment."
The new bill, SB 241, includes broader language that, among other guarantees, ensures that each religious entity "has exclusive control over its own theological doctrine, policy teachings, and beliefs regarding who may marry within that faith."
"We expanded the language to include provisions from other states that have passed marriage equality with religious exemptions, just to take away any ambiguity about whether or not religious exemption applied in certain circumstances," said Delegate Heather Mizeur, D-Montgomery, who is openly gay. "It's just a more wordy way of providing for religious exemption."
Opponents said the reworked provisions offer no protection to faith communities that oppose same-sex marriage.
"You can't protect the religious community from same-sex marriage," said Delegate Emmett Burns, Jr., D-Baltimore County, a minister and staunch opponent of the legislation.
The introduction of the Civil Marriage Protection Act marks the resurfacing of a divisive issue that polarized lawmakers and generated heated debate at the State House last year.
Bill supporters have partnered with Marylanders for Marriage Equality, a wide-reaching coalition that includes labor voices, lobbyists and a range of faith leaders.
Opponents are looking to religious groups such as Progressive Clergy and Laity in Action to pressure delegates who remain on the fence.
"We are targeting black delegates who came to our churches and said how much they loved us and then voted against us," said Burns, the organization's founder, who plans to hold rallies in Prince George's County. "They will be held accountable."
Other measures, he said, include delivering petitions and holding a "massive rally" in Annapolis on Jan. 30.
While last year's same-sex marriage bill was assigned only to the House Judiciary Committee, the bill this year will be jointly assigned to the Health and Government Operations Committee.
"I'm getting some people that are calling me to say they don't support it, and they're coming from churches, mainly the Catholic Church," said Delegate James W. Hubbard, D-Prince George's, a bill supporter and member of the Health and Government Operations Committee and chair of the Public Health and Long-Term Care subcommittee.
"I listen to everybody, and I've been here 20 years. Those who really get wound up on these things are the ones who call. The people who support these things don't call," he said.
Opposition from constituents and religious communities was central to derailing the bill in the House last year.
"With every passing Sunday, where the preachers in some of the conservative districts were working really hard on this issue from the pulpit, we would see our vote count slip each Monday," Mizeur said.
With the bill expected to pass again in the Senate, supporters say they are looking for four or five new votes in the House, a goal complicated by the strong feelings surrounding the issue.
"Certain issues, you could have great marketing, you could have all these people stand behind it, but people have their own thoughts about it," said bill co-sponsor Delegate Shawn Z. Tarrant, D-Baltimore. "You're not going to be able to bring up any type of strategy that's going to swing them one way or the other."
The bill passed the Senate last year by a 25-21 margin, but stalled in the House when supporters could not garner the 71 votes they needed.
Cosponsors of the House version of the bill balked as they moved toward a vote. Delegates Jill Carter, D-Baltimore, and Tiffany Alston, D-Prince George's, were notably absent for an important vote during a March Judiciary Committee hearing.
Carter eventually voted in favor in committee, while Alston, who now faces unrelated theft and misconduct charges, voted against.
Fellow cosponsor and committee member Delegate Sam Arora, D-Montgomery, who campaigned on behalf of, and received donations from, the gay and lesbian community, went back and forth late before voting for it in the Judiciary Committee.
Should the bill become law, it will likely go before voters in a referendum, which has historically meant a dead-end for same-sex marriage legislation across the country.
According to a January poll by Gonzales Research & Marketing Strategies, 49 percent of Marylanders favor same-sex marriage, while 47 percent oppose it.
Currently, the District of Columbia and six other states allow same-sex couples to marry.