Push For Maryland Marriage Equality Sees More Legislators Come Out Including Democrat Delegate Peter Murphy, Democrat And Republican Member Of Kansas House Judiciary Committee Decide To Allow Law Barring Consensual Homosexual Acts To Remain On Books Despite Statute Being Ruled Unconstitutional, Bail Denied To Massachusetts Man Accused Of Murdering Husband

The Washington Post on an interview given Wednesday by Maryland Delegate Peter Murphy (Democrat-Charles) with The Washington Blade, in which he came out. His announcement brings to seven the number of openly gay delegates in the 141-member House. The 47-member Senate has one openly gay member, Senator Richard S. Madaleno Jr. (Democrat-Montgomery). Murphy told The Blade that he is not worried about any backlash from making his sexual orientation public in the media."I'm not concerned," he said. "People who know me know that I represent everyone in the district. I work hard to make sure that everyone has a voice and an opportunity to be heard." All seven other openly gay members of the legislature have played an active role in advocating for the same-sex marriage bill. Madaleno testified about the legislation at a Senate hearing, and the House hearing featured a panel of all six House members. Murphy told The Blade that he believes the bill will pass on Friday."As I have said all along, I think it's a strong civil rights bill," he said.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports on a decision made Wednesday by Representative Lance Kinzer (Republican-Olathe) and Representative Jan Pauls (Democrat-Hutchinson) to leave in Kansas statute books an unconstitutional law criminalizing gay sex. The state law was indirectly nullified by a 2003 decision by the United States Supreme Court when it struck down a Texas law imposing criminal sanctions for homosexual conduct. Kansas law books contain language limiting sexual acts by gay and lesbian partners, and it will remain on the books unless removed by the Legislature. Thomas Witt, state chairman of the Kansas Equity Coalition, said the decision by Kinzer and Pauls to remove a provision repealing the law from a cleanup bill sent a frightening message to homosexual couples living in Kansas. He said House leadership should remove Kinzer as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and oust Pauls from her position as ranking Democrat on the panel. Pauls made the motion to delete the sodomy repeal, arguing the issue could be addressed in a Senate bill. "Representative Pauls' endorsement of an unconstitutional statute that's used to threaten and discriminate against law-abiding Kansas citizens is an outrage," Witt said. Kinzer defended his decision, saying the sodomy statute was not being enforced in Kansas and no evidence exists that homosexuals were being threatened by police officers with arrest under the law. "It's a tempest in a teapot," Kinzer said. "I don't think it would make any difference. The statute is unenforceable." Pauls said she concurred that repeal of the outmoded statute was unnecessary. House members unhappy with content of the bill produced by the committee can offer amendments on the floor, she said. She said this controversial provision related to homosexual activity might have prompted the Legislature to reject the entire bill, which was a risk she didn't want to take. Jon Powell, chair of the Hutchinson chapter of the Kansas Equality Coalition, said gays and lesbians in Pauls' district won't be "bullied" by reluctance of some legislators to stand tall for the Kansas Constitution. Both Kinzer and Pauls are lawyers. "Jan Pauls was trusted to be a judge before becoming a state representative and should know better than to support unconstitutional laws," Powell said, adding that his chapter of the organization was planning a March 17th demonstration in downtown Hutchinson to register opposition to Pauls' position on the bill.

An update on a previous post, the Boston Herald reports that 41 year old Michael Losee of Malden, Massachusetts was held without bail today after being arraigned on charges of murdering his husband, a case that has stunned friends who called the pair devoted. Losee pleaded not guilty in Malden District Court a day after the body of his longtime partner, 55 year old Brian Bergeron, was found in the Clarendon Street apartment neighbours say they had just moved into. Losee allegedly telephoned a friend in Florida and confessed to the murder, Middlesex County District Attorney Gerry Leone said Wednesday. The friend then notified authorities. Police found Bergeron’s body wrapped in a blue tarp in a small room off the dining area in the couple’s second-floor apartment, according to court records. Losee was arrested at 250 Summer St. in South Boston after police made contact with his lawyer, who told them Bergeron had agreed to turn himself in.