A group of religious leaders in
Maryland on Wednesday launched an effort to oppose a proposed bill
that would make Maryland the seventh state to legalize gay marriage,
The
Washington Post reported.
Maryland Marriage Alliance is led by
Pastor Derek McCoy, executive director of the Maryland Family
Alliance.
“We will not lie down in the face of
renewed efforts to redefine this institution,” McCoy said at an
early morning Wednesday news conference. “Marriage is defined as
between one man and one woman.”
A gay marriage bill ran aground earlier
this year in the House of Delegates after it narrowly cleared the
Senate.
Democratic Governor Martin O'Malley has
pledged to shepherd the bill through the Legislature during the
upcoming legislative session, which opens in January.
The new coalition enjoys the support of
the Maryland Catholic Conference and the National Organization for
Marriage (NOM), two groups which strongly opposed the legislation
this year.
Rev. Victor Kirk, senior pastor of
Sharon Bible Fellowship in Temple Hills in Prince George's County,
said he was prepared for a second round.
“With all humility, let me say: Bring
it on,” he said.
Lawmakers in nearby New York approved a
gay marriage bill since Maryland's defeat in the spring, possibly
boosting the bill's chances of passage next year.