ANNAPOLIS – Maryland lawmakers used racism and religion to argue over whether to allow same-sex marriage in the state in a House hearing Thursday.
“Heterosexualness is in danger,” said Del. Emmett C. Burns Jr., D-Baltimore County. “I never thought I would live to see this day.”
Burns held up a copy of Thursday’s Washington Post and pointed to a picture of two men kissing.
Del. Benjamin S. Barnes, D-Anne Arundel, sponsor of a bill that would legalize gay marriage in Maryland, asked Burns: “Does it make you angry to see two men kissing?”
“It’s disgusting,” Burns replied.
Several gay couples in the packed hearing room gasped; others shook their heads.
Del. Don H. Dwyer Jr., R-Anne Arundel, meanwhile, nodded his head.
Dwyer is sponsoring a bill that would place a mandate outlawing gay marriage on November’s ballot for Maryland citizens to vote on.
“We put slots on the ballot,” Dwyer said Thursday. “If marriage doesn’t reach that same level of importance I would be very, very surprised.”
Charles Blackburn, a Maryland resident in a relationship with another man, begged the House Judiciary Committee to give him the benefits of a heterosexual couple.
“Please don’t twist the tolerant, compassionate message of Jesus to deny us civil rights,” he said.
Del. Todd L. Schuler, D-Baltimore County, compared the decision to allow gay marriage with the Supreme Court’s ruling to allow interracial couples. He said equality should be respected across the board.
Burns said gay couples couldn’t be compared with interracial couples.
“I cannot hide my color,” Burns said. “Gays and lesbians can hide their relationships.”
Del. Heather Mizeur, D-Montgomery County, told the committee of her California wedding to her partner in 2008.
But, she said, the certificate means nothing in her home state.
“We give over 400 rights to families who are married in this state,” she said. “But because we don’t live [in California], we get no rights associated with this piece of paper.”
