Posted by
Defend America on Thursday, February 25, 2010 9:42:29 PM
Maryland to recognize gay marriages from other places
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler (D) declared Wednesday
that Maryland will recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere and
that its agencies should immediately begin affording gay married
couples the same rights as heterosexual ones.
With Gansler's decision, Maryland in effect joins the District and a
handful of states including New York that recognize same-sex marriages
performed in four New England states and Iowa. The District also has its own measure legalizing those unions that is expected to take effect next week.
Gansler, a supporter of legalizing same-sex marriages, was asserting
his authority as the top legal adviser to state agencies to answer a
question that experts say had been left unclear by Maryland law. He was
responding to a legislator's request that he issue an opinion.
The attorney general's opinion unleashed a torrent of emotions from
both gay rights advocates and those opposed to same-sex marriage,
adding a potentially explosive issue to election-year politics in
Maryland. It is likely to be quickly challenged in court, Gansler
acknowledged.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/24/AR2010022405686.html?hpid=moreheadlines