Once A Certainty To Pass The Maryland Same Sex Measure Dies In House

Incredibly, the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protections Act died in the Maryland House Friday, supporters saying they could not locate enough votes to pass the measure, The Washington Post reporting that House leaders avoided a final vote on the bill and returned it to the House Judiciary Committee after it became apparent they did not have the 71 votes needed for approval. The bill to make Maryland the sixth state to allow same sex marriage had already passed the Senate, and the governor said he would have signed it. House Speaker Michael Busch (Democrat-Anne Arundel) said they would try again in 2012, adding that "The vote would have been very close, make no mistake about it.” Although Democrats hold complete control over both chambers of the General Assembly and the governor's office, extending full marriage rights to same sex couples did not appear possible before this year. The Senate narrowly approved the measure two weeks ago, voting 25-21 to send the bill to the House after adding language to protect religious groups from being forced to perform same sex weddings. While Democrats hold an overwhelming 98 seats in the 141-seat House of Delegates, the addition of six seats by Republicans in the last election helped erode support, said House Environmental Matters Chairwoman Maggie McIntosh, one of the chamber's seven openly gay members, "If in the general election we had retained all of the Democratic seats I think we would be declaring victory today," a dismayed and tearful McIntosh said. The move Friday ends weeks of intensely personal debates and lobbying on the measure, much of it dramatic. Governor Martin O’Malley expressed disappointment over Friday’s outcome, saying that "I would have hoped that we could have resolved this issue and then let the people decide. I think an issue like this was bound to go before the people in a referendum, and I would have hoped that we would have been able to have accomplished that today." Opponents said the decision Friday was a victory for defining marriage as being between one man and one woman, House Minority Leader Anthony O'Donnell (Republican-Calvert) saying "We took a position to support the existing definition as being between one man and woman and that prevailed. I think it was the appropriate action."