Baltimore City Council urges legislators to pass same-sex marriage bill

At its meeting yesterday evening, the Baltimore City Council passed a resolution urging the state to pass and enact the same-sex marriage bill currently before the General Assembly.

The resolution to support the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act passed the Council by a 9-3-3 vote. Voting for the resolution were Council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Council Members Mary Pat Clarke, William Cole, IV, Belinda Conaway, Robert Curran, Nicolas D'Adamo, Jr., Bill Henry, Sharon Green Middleton and Ed Reisinger. In opposition were Warren Branch, Rikki Spector and Bernard "Jack" Young, while Agnes Welch abstained and Helen Holton and Jim Kraft were absent.

Of the 24 state legislators from Baltimore City, at least 11 have committed to voting for the bill.

Baltimore becomes the fourth Maryland jurisdiction to pass such a resolution, joining College Park, Kensington and Takoma Park.

"Marriage is a unique institution on many levels: religious, spiritual, and social,” Council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said in recently submitted testimony to the House Judiciary Committee. “Marriage is also a civil institution that affords many economic and contractual benefits that are not afforded to people as individuals. I do not believe that people should be denied any of these rights just because they do not fall under the legal definition of marriage."