From The Gazette

Symbolic support for gay marriage
Takoma Park becomes first in state to back same-sex unions

by Sean Sands, Staff Writer

July 14, 2004

Declaring efforts to put a same-sex marriage ban in the U.S. Constitution as "repugnant," Takoma Park this week became the first jurisdiction in Maryland to formally support marriage for gays and lesbians.

Although Monday's City Council action, which came in the form of a non-binding resolution, is largely ceremonial because state law vests the authority to issue marriage licenses with the 23 counties and the City of Baltimore, local lawmakers hailed the measure as an important step in creating grassroots support for the issue.

"This is the first step of this community standing behind you," Councilwoman Heather Mizeur (Ward 2) told an audience of same-sex marriage supporters both gay and straight, "and we will continually look for progressive and creative ways to stay on-record and keep our community at the forefront of this debate."

The timing of Takoma Park's action is important, Mizeur said, because of same-sex marriage developments at both the state and federal level.

In Baltimore last week, 19 people filed suit against the state because of their inability to get licenses for same-sex marriages. And the U.S. Senate is expected to vote today on the Federal Marriage Amendment which, if passed by the Senate and then approved by the legislatures of three-fourths of the states, a 28th amendment to the Constitution would be added formally defining civil marriage as being exclusively between a man and a woman.

Although the same-sex marriage resolution in Takoma Park is primarily symbolic, "it's a push back to both what the Congress is discussing right now ­ to have us go on record in what we believe as a community," Mizeur said, and "it's an ability ... to help with the lawsuit that's pending in Maryland."

The resolution, sponsored by Mizeur and Councilman Bruce Williams (Ward 3), both of whom are gay, also calls on the city attorney to file a "friend of the court" brief in the Baltimore lawsuit.

"The most important message of this resolution is that we, as a community, value equality and diversity," Williams said. "I disagree with many national political figures who've jumped on the bandwagon proclaiming that this country needs a constitutional amendment to protect marriage."

Dozens of city residents turned out for Monday's meeting on the marriage resolution, including several same-sex couples who have traveled to other U.S. cities and counties or Canada to get legally married in recent months. Sharon Gervasoni, who said she legally married her partner Risa Shaw in Multnomeh County, Ore., earlier this year, supported the City Council's stance.

"It has been extremely painful to be a lesbian and listen to what has been happening in the public discourse over the last number of months," Gervasoni said. "The things that people are saying are horrific, and I appreciate that there is a public body that is going to make a public statement to weigh on the other side of the [same-sex marriage issue]."

Ruti Berger-Kadish, who traveled to Canada last October to wed her partner Nicole, said she is proud that the couple's three sons can now say their mothers are legally married in Canada, but that she wants that same right in the United States.

"I know my kids now can say their moms are married because they were there and we have the certificate, but I'd like for that to be a non-issue for them," she said.

And Dan Aibel said that Takoma Park has been a place where he and David Pittman, Aibel's partner of 25 years, have been able to live comfortably, without fear of prejudice. "We live here because it's a safe place. We've been through so many years when David was my 'special friend,' and I'd like to be able to stand up and describe him as easily as my husband as [a previous speaker] talked about his wife, and here in Takoma Park, that's possible."

Not everyone at Monday's meeting supported addressing the city's support of the issue through a City Council resolution. Resident Mary Carter-Williams said that, given the significance of marriage in western civilization, it is important to ensure that the council speaks for the entire city, not just the group of residents who attended the meeting.

"I don't want anyone to be denied the right," she said, "but I want time for those persons of voting-rights age to think about the issues that we're addressing. ... I truly believe in my heart in the humanity of each of us, but as a government, when we're talking about considering options, I think we need time."

In addition to receiving a standing ovation at the end of the marriage discussion, the City Council also drew praise from Dan Furmansky, executive director of Equality Maryland, the state's largest civil rights group focused on issues facing the gay and lesbian community.

"I think it's enormously significant for an entire community of individuals to come together and make this kind of statement," Furmansky said last week, noting that other statewide gay and lesbian issues, including domestic partner benefits for government workers, got their start in suburban Maryland. "The more progressive areas there are going to have to lead some of the more rural areas along. ... A groundswell of support from these jurisdictions is what's necessary for all Marylanders to see that there is broad support for this."