A Maryland Senate panel is expected to
vote Tuesday on Governor Martin O'Malley's plan to make Maryland the
eighth state to legalize gay marriage, ABC
affiliate WJLA reported.
The vote comes just days after the
measure narrowly
cleared the House of Delegates.
The Judicial Proceedings Committee is
expected to approve the bill and send it to the full Senate later
this week. A similar measure last year year cleared the Senate
before it fizzled in the House.
“I don't think anybody's vote is
going to change,” said Mary Ellen Russell, executive director of
the Maryland Catholic Conference, an opponent of the legislation. “I
think it would be unlikely. It's happened before but I would expect
that a majority of the Senate still supports it.”
Catholics lined up on Monday to discuss
the issue with senators.
“What's concerning so many people is
the haste with which this is happening and I think that's really
woken up their urgency to come down and say slow down for just a
second and think about this,” Russell said.
The committee held a
marathon public hearing on the proposed legislation earlier this
month.
The Senate could vote on the measure as
early as this week.