Maryland Delegate Don H. Dwyer Jr.
continues his campaign to end the state's practice of recognizing the
out-of-state marriages of gay and lesbian couples even as lawmakers
appear poised to legalize such unions.
Last week, Senate
Majority Leader Rob Garagiola and Senator Rich Madaleno, the
chamber's only openly gay member, introduced a gay marriage bill in
the Senate. A House version is expected as early as this week.
The push to legalize the institution
comes nearly a year after Maryland Attorney General Douglas F.
Gansler's opinion directed state agencies to recognize out-of-state
legal gay marriages over the objections of a state law that bans such
unions. Gansler's opinion arrived a week before a gay marriage law
took effect on March 3, 2010 in neighboring District of Columbia.
After failing last year in an attempt
to impeach Gansler over his directive, the Republican offered an
amendment to a bill that would end the practice. Democrats threw out
the amendment on technical grounds. Dwyer has also previously
introduced bills that would define marriage as a heterosexual union
in the Maryland Constitution.
The
Baltimore Sun is reporting that Dwyer is preparing to make
yet another attempt this year.
“This morning, Del. Don H. Dwyer Jr.,
an Anne Arundel County Republican, was talking to fellow colleagues
about a bill he will soon introduce to counteract Maryland's new
policy of extending marriage protections to same-sex unions that were
lawfully performed in other states,” the paper wrote.