From the Washington Blade

Md. high court hears gay marriage case

State argues that change should come from legislature

by Joshua Lynsen

Monday, December 4, 2006

Nine gay and lesbian couples seeking marriage equality took their case to Maryland's highest court Monday, where they asked judges to overturn a law that bans same-sex marriage.

The couples, along with a gay man whose partner died, hope the seven judges on the Court of Appeals will issue a decision that allows Maryland to join Massachusetts and New Jersey in providing equal marriage rights to same-sex couples, though it's unknown when the ruling will come.

"They don't want the state of Maryland to redefine what a legal marriage means," said Equality Maryland Executive Director Dan Furmansky. "They want the state of Maryland to open up legal marriage to them, and to let them be a full part of their communities and of this state."

The couples asked the court to review a lower court's decision earlier this year that struck down a 1973 state law limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples. Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge M. Brooke Murdock ruled Jan. 20 that denying same-sex couples the right to marry violates the state constitution's Equal Rights Amendment, which bans discrimination based on gender.

The decision is on hold while the higher court reviews the ruling. The case, known as Deane vs. Conaway, stems from a July 2004 lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and Equality Maryland, the state's largest gay rights organization.

"We're not here to make life uncomfortable for our neighbors in Maryland," Furmansky said. "But the times have changed."

State attorneys countered in court Monday that changes to state law should come from the state legislature, not the courts. They also argued that the Equal Rights Amendment does not apply to marriage licenses.

"You just can't change the state's family law overnight by a court decision," said Robert Zarnoch, who represented the state in court.

But in comments to reporters after the one-hour hearing, Zarnoch declined to predict the court's ruling.

"I don't think you can read the court one way or the other," he said. "I think the judges' questions didn't help a lot. There weren't as many as you might usually see."

But other people in the crowd outside the Annapolis courthouse were less reserved. Republican Del. Don Dwyer predicted the lower court's ruling granting equal marriage rights would be overturned.

"I think that, quite honestly, as we look at this issue, I think the court will ultimately send it back to the legislature for a decision, since we're dealing with the definition of marriage," he said. "It's clearly been the indication from other states across the country that it is a matter for the legislature to decide, and not the court, and I think that we're going to see the outcome of that here in Maryland, as well."

Furmansky, however, said he hoped the judges would "look toward fairness and justice for our families.

"We ask our fellow Marylanders today to walk a mile in our shoes," he said. "We ask you to open up your hearts, and to help us to protect our children, to help us to live longer, to help us to be happier and healthier and to help us to know the stability and serenity that you know in your marriage."

It was unclear Monday when the Court of Appeals would issue its ruling. American Civil Liberties Union attorney Kenneth Choe, who represented the 19 gay and lesbian plaintiffs in court, said his clients were given no timetable and can only wait.

"There is no deadline by which the court must issue its ruling," he said. "These cases tend to take longer than other cases, because they are somewhat more complex and provocative than other cases."