Maryland Delegate Carter Says She Is Now Prepared To Vote In Favour Of Civil Marriage Protections Act; Concern That Other Members Of House Judiciary Committee May Now Vote Against Same Sex Marriage Measure

WBAL-TV reports on the damaging antics of Maryland Delegate Jill Carter (Democrat-Baltimore) who walked out of a House committee Tuesday, withholding her vote on the Civil Marriage Protections Act, saying she wanted to focus attention on education funding and a child custody bill she sponsors. Wednesday, having secured that attention, she tells the television station that she is ready to vote in favour of same sex marriage, but now it appears that other members of the House Judiciary Committee may be reconsidering their votes. Carter said she skipped the vote because she wants $15 million in funding restored to Baltimore schools and passage of her bill that would more evenly divide child custody for divorced parents."I was always ready to vote for the bill," she told Collins on Wednesday. "There were some things that I wanted to have discussed and I knew if we took the vote first, they wouldn't be discussed. They were discussed (Tuesday). I was happy. I'm content and ready to vote for the bill."Carter said she was not attempting to stop the bill but to focus attention on school funding for all of Maryland's school systems, along with what she called a "children's civil rights issue." Same sex marriage advocates said Wednesday they have secured the support of the Judiciary Committee after receiving assurance from a Prince George's County lawmaker, Delegate Tiffany Alston that she will vote on the bill. Alston forced the Judiciary Committee to delay a vote on legalizing same sex marriage Tuesday after she deliberately skipped a voting session. Alston is a co-sponsor of the bill, and released a statement late Wednesday saying, in part, that she needed a little more time to weigh her final decision, saying "I have resolved that, and I will be ready to vote based on what I believe to be right." She did not say what that vote would be. Delegate Heather Mizeur (Democrat-Montgomery), one of the chamber’s six openly gay members, said same sex marriage advocates have the 12 committee votes they need to advance the bill to a final vote. The debate over recognizing same sex marriage intensified Thursday, the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property demonstrating about a mile from the State House doors. The Maryland Senate passed the Civil Marriage Protections Act last week, and Governor Martin O'Malley has said he would sign it into law.