Maryland?s Court of Appeals today declared that marriage must be between a man and a woman, reversing a Baltimore City Circuit Court ruling that said such prohibitions are unconstitutional.
In their ruling, judges said the state?s interest in “fostering procreation” and “encouraging the traditional family structure” is a legitimate governmental interest. The ruling comes after court clerks in Baltimore and elsewhere in the state denied the marriage licenses of nine same-sex couples in 2004.
A gay man also filed suit, expressing a wish to apply in the future for a marriage license.
A House committee in March rejected Republican-backed legislation trying to ban gay marriage. The new ruling does not preclude legislators from revisiting the issue.
“?Our opinion should by no means be read to imply that the General Assembly may not grant and recognize for homosexual persons civil unions or the right to marry a person of the same sex,” it says.
Click here to read the full opinion of the court.
