Lobby Day - February 11

Equality Maryland Lobby Day

It's that time of year again where the Maryland queers go down and try to convince their state delegates and senators to support same-sex marriage. Depending on the district we live in determines how much of an uphill battle we face.

I live in District 23, I expect that the story will go the same way it has the last two years that I have gone to Lobby Day. Del. Anne Healy will be on the fence about whether or not to support same-sex marriage, but is likely to support equal rights. Del. Justin Ross will be supportive of equal rights, but does not want to call it same-sex marriage, civil marriage would be better. The discussion will center around how to frame the issue so that it's palatable to everyone. Del Tawanna Gaines will be stuck in a committee for the third year in a row and be unable to meet with us. Sen. Paul Pinsky will meet with us and reiterate how supportive he is.

JH is not so lucky, he gets to deal with Del. Don Dwyer, who likes to introduce a bill every year to change the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage. I bet the man won't even meet with the Equality Maryland folks that day.

What I hope is different this year is that because there was the decision handed down by the Maryland Court of Appeals which essentially said to let the state legislature figure out how to deal with rights for same-sex couples. However, it's been a few months since that decision, and there are other priorities on the table for Maryland, such as balancing the budget and making sure we're not going to make the Chesapeake Bay dirtier than your sister's underwear on prom night.

I'll still keep some cautious optimism that when I talk to my delegates this year they'll be more receptive to the idea of gaining rights. I don't give a shit whether it's called marriage or not, as long as it's the same rights applied across the board to all couples. It really won't help me now anyway because my employer conveniently hides behind the shield of the Federal DOMA so they don't have to extend benefits to same-sex couples. What it will do though is bring increased pressure on said employer to extend these benefits as many of its employees do live in Maryland. Besides, it would be a nice fuck you to NoVA if Maryland pulled it off.

Anyway, my whole point was to put it out there that this event was coming up and that I hope to see you there, no matter who you are.