Maryland’s highest court today upheld a state law that defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
Nine gay couples, who had been denied marriage licenses, filed suit with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union, claiming that Maryland’s law defining marriage as solely between one man and one woman was unconstitutional. A lower court overturned the law in 2006, saying it amounted to “sex discrimination” and violated the state's Equal Rights Amendment. But the Court of Appeals, the state's highest court, set the record straight in a split decision.
Jenny Tyree, associate marriage analyst for Focus on the Family Action, called it a significant decision.
“The Maryland court upheld two important ideas — that the marriage laws do not discriminate, and that procreation is a rational basis for the Legislature to protect marriage in the state," she said. “It's an especially heartening decision as we see evidence that children do best with a married mom and dad. This decision confirms that marriage is not a legal institution for the purpose of equality; it's a social institution with children at its heart."
Today's ruling sends the matter back to the Legislature.
Judge Glenn T. Harrell Jr. wrote that the court’s decision “should by no means be read to imply that the General Assembly may not grant and recognize for homosexual persons civil unions or the right to marry a person of the same sex.”
State Sen. Richard Madaleno has announced he will introduce a bill to allow same-sex "marriage." That's why Doug Stiegler, executive director of the Association of Maryland Families, said the state needs a constitutional amendment protecting marriage.
“While we are delighted that the court made the ruling,” he said, “our job is still cut out for us.”
