ANNAPOLIS, Md.– March 11, 2011 – Today the Maryland Family Council celebrates a victory for Marriage in Maryland today! The longstanding definition of marriage was upheld today as the Civil Marriage Protection Act was sent back to the House judiciary committee, where it will likely not come back up for the remainder of the session. The House of Delegates debated the bill over two hours on the floor and as time progressed it became clear that the proponents of the bill did not have the votes. Today’s victory is about Marriage and upholding that definition for the generations to come and esteeming the sanctity of the marriage union between one man and one woman.
“I am thrilled to see the bill return to the committee, however, I remain fully engaged for the battle to preserve marriage ahead” says Derek McCoy, President of the Maryland Family Council.
Victory is ours today as the House of Delegates did not have the seventy-one votes to pass Same Sex Marriage in Maryland. This would have made the state of Maryland the sixth in the U.S. to allow gay marriages. The House of Delegates voted to send the bill back to the Judiciary Committee, which will not be revisited until next year. Delegate Maggie McIntosh, one of seven openly gay members seems to believe that “If in the general election we had retained all of the Democratic seats I think we would be declaring victory today”. Even though, Democratic Party holds 98 of the 141 seats in the House, they still didn’t have enough votes. Marriage has an incredible social value and today’s decision shows that this issue cuts across party lines. We applaud the efforts of many people who were engaged and contacted delegates to allow their voice to be heard! There are champion delegates like Alston, Dwyer, and Braveboy who were not silent about things that matter! Their efforts are to be commended.
The Maryland Family Council will continue to work to preserve the longstanding definition of marriage between one man and one woman and we must not be silent.
ABOUT THE MARYLAND FAMILY COUNCIL
The Maryland Family Council is the legislative action arm of the Maryland Family Alliance. We work as a state- wide organization committed to seeing families excel. With a combination of education, advocacy and engagement we work to actively engage in the public square to be a voice on issues of concern in society.