Maryland lawmakers on Tuesday will hold
a public hearing on a gay marriage bill.
The Senate Judicial Proceedings
Committee will consider the bill at its 1PM meeting. Testimony will
be limited to 2 hours per side.
If approved, Maryland would become the
seventh state to legalize gay marriage. The state currently
recognizes the legal marriages of gay and lesbian couples performed
outside its borders.
At a rally Sunday in support of the
measure, Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler told roughly 200
activists that he believes the bill will pass, but added that
opponents were certain to challenge it at the ballot box, gay weekly
Metro
Weekly reported.
“Obviously the law that we have –
marriage between a man and a woman – is unconstitutional,”
Gansler said. “It defies the equal protection, it's against due
process, and it will change.”
“I think we're going to pass it this
year. It'll go to referendum,” he added. “That's where we're
really going to need your help. And then, at the end of the day,
it's going to go to court.”
Opponents of the bill will hold a
counter rally at Lawyer's Mall on Monday at 6PM in Annapolis.
(Related: Governor
Martin O'Malley reiterates support for transgender protections, gay
marriage.)