Proud Parenting

LGBTQ Parents - Lesbian Moms & Gay Dads

Jesse Jackson wants marriage equality

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The Rev. Jackson Jackson is urging Maryland citizens to vote in favor of marriage equality this fall. Governor Martin O’Malley signed a marriage equality bill, passed by the legislature, but the voters will decide in November.

“The culture has had to expand,” Jackson said at the DNC in an interview with Michelangelo Signorile for his SiriusXM OutQ radio program. “For so long we thought it was a sin for blacks to have freedom. We thought it was a sin for black and white men and women to interrelate. We’ve grown in our appreciation of the fact that we live in our faith, and our faith may live under the law. All citizens deserve constitutional protections. You know, you have a right not to agree with interracial marriage but no one should be denied rights under the law.”

[via HuffPo]

Maryland governor: Marriage equality protects children

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Gov. Martin O’Malley (pic) says legalizing gay marriage in Maryland is a matter of protecting children. O’Malley said his proposed bill will offer certain legal protections to children of gay couples, providing parity with children of married, heterosexual parents. He testified before the Senate Judicial Proceeding Committee. Last year, the Senate passed a version of the bill, but it stalled in the House over a few legislators’ religious beliefs. This year’s bill offers additional protection to religious institutions that do not support same-sex unions by adding language that draws on similar legislation passed in other states.

[via The AP]

Marriage equality may become reality in Maryland

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Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley (pic) announced his support for a marriage equality bill in Maryland. “At the end of the day, I think all of us need to look at this issue from the eyes of children of gay, committed couples and ask ourselves how one family could be protected less in the eyes of the law than another family,” O’Malley said at a news conference in Annapolis. “I don’t think that’s an injustice that can be allowed to stand.”O’Malley (D), a Catholic who supported civil unions earlier in his political career, said an equality bill would be “one of the handful of bills that will be an administration priority” in January.

[via The Washington Post]

Maryland moves closer to marriage equality bill

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A state House committee narrowly backed legislation to give same-sex couples in Maryland the same full marriage rights as heterosexuals. The 12-10 vote by the House Judiciary sends the bill, which already has been approved by the state Senate, to the full House of Delegates, which could vote on the measure next week. Gov. Martin O’Malley has said he would sign the measure if it passes. Morgan Meneses-Sheets, executive director for Equality Maryland, an advocacy group for gay and lesbian Marylanders, described the committee vote as an important step forward while acknowledging the vote could be close in the full House. “It’s not a done deal, so we’re just going to keep working,” Meneses-Sheets said.

[via BostonHerald.com]