Free Republic

Same-sex marriage opponents counted black voters among their allies leading up to November’s election, expecting them to help overturn legislation allowing same-sex couples to marry in Maryland. Polls in the months before November’s referendum on same-sex marriage seemed to back them up, with black residents showing less support than whites. But as the months wore on, opposition softened, especially in the face of endorsements from President Obama and prominent entertainers, as well as a media campaign that included clergy, athletes and other public figures. By Election Day, voters in the state’s large, predominantly black jurisdictions — Baltimore and Prince George’s...

Gay marriage advocates cheered victories in voter initiatives in Maryland and Maine on Tuesday night and seemed poised to win in two other states. The votes were first setbacks at the ballot box for opponents of same-sex marriage after more than 30 victories. With 93 percent of the vote counted in Maryland, Ballot Question 6, which legalizes gay marriage in the state, was leading by 52 percent to 48 percent, and supporters were already claiming victory in the heated and expensive battle. “Today the marriage equality map expands to Maryland, giving thousands more loving couples the opportunity to make lifelong...

Next week voters in Maine, Maryland and Washington will vote on whether to redefine marriage to include same-sex couples. Given that there are good people on both sides of this issue, how are we to explain their opposing views? The primary explanation is this: Proponents and opponents ask two different questions. Proponents of same-sex marriage ask: Is keeping the definition of marriage as man-woman fair to gays? Opponents of same-sex marriage ask: Is same-sex marriage good for society? Few on either side honestly address the question of the other side. Opponents of same-sex marriage rarely acknowledge how unfair the age-old...

Proponents of same-sex marriage have attempted to reassure citizens that changing the meaning of marriage won't restrict the free-speech rights and religious freedom of those who oppose doing so. However, that's not the message sent by Gallaudet University's suspension of a top administrator simply for signing a petition to put the contentious social question directly to the people of Maryland, one of four states where marriage is on the ballot in November. The persecution of Angela McCaskill is just the latest telling indicator of the hostile climate surrounding those perceived as resisting efforts to redefine marriage. McCaskill, Gallaudet's chief diversity...

Voters in the District and Maryland overwhelmed election officials at several polling places Saturday when larger than expected crowds turned out on the first day of early voting to cast ballots. Officials said thousands showed up at voting sites, spurred on by President’s Obama plea to vote early — and concern about the threat posed by Hurricane Sandy. Several polling officials found themselves in a midday scramble to install more voting machines. Long lines and lengthy waits were reported at polling places in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, as well as in several of the District’s wards. Some voters, frustrated...

Some absentee ballots sent out to voters in Montgomery and Prince George's counties are missing the page that includes several contentious statewide ballot questions. The missing page, reported by NBC Washington, includes the ballot questions on the Maryland Dream Act, same-sex marriage, the state's new congressional districts and the expansion of gambling. It also includes all of the local ballot questions. In Montgomery County, for example, it's missing the question that would decide whether the county police union gets to keep its right to "effects bargaining," or the right to bargain almost any management decision.The Board of Elections has received...

Deaf Prof. McCaskill Bullied For Supporting Marriage Vote Speaks Out - YouTube

Maryland Republicans are driving efforts to overturn the state’s newly drawn congressional map in a referendum next month, but they are joined by a number of Democrats who say their own party has gone too far in crafting districts for political gain. Numerous Montgomery County Democrats are scheduled to hold a news conference Monday in Rockville during which they are expected to urge a “no” vote on ballot Question 5, which would reject the district map drawn last year by Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley and approved by the General Assembly. Critics have accused the map’s makers of lumping disparate communities...

Sixty-three former Roman Catholic priests in Washington state will announce on Thursday that they support Referendum 74, which would make Washington the nation’s seventh state to legalize marriage between same-sex couples. The stand comes as the state’s four Catholic bishops intensify a campaign of pastoral statements and videos urging parishoners to vote against marriage equality. In the latest pastoral letter, Bishop Joseph J. Tyson of the Diocese of Yakima told his 41 parishes that Referendum 74 “jeopardizes freedom rather than expands it” and “endangers our religious liberty and the rights of conscience.” “Once marriage is redefined as a genderless contract,...

It should come as no surprise that the National Football League supports the right of its players to share their opinions on important public matters, nor should it come as a surprise that I personally support my colleagues' rights to voice their opinions. But the conversation during the last few weeks on the subject of same-sex marriage has told a different story -- one that appears to be drawing a false connection between supporting true American values like free speech and the institution of marriage, our most fundamental and important social institution. I think it is important to set the...

A Maryland Democratic candidate quit her congressional race Monday after her own party told state officials that she had committed fraud by voting in both Maryland and Florida in recent elections. Wendy Rosen, a small-business owner running against freshman Rep. Andy Harris (R) in the Eastern Shore-based 1st Congressional District, released a statement saying that “with great regret, and much sorrow” she was resigning from the contest. “Personal issues have made this the hardest decision that I have had to make,” Rosen said Rosen’s announcement came the same day the state Democratic party released a letter to state Attorney General...

Former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin has made another foray into Maryland politics, endorsing GOP candidate Dan Bongino in what she calls his "uphill battle" for the Senate, his campaign announced Monday. In 2010, the former Alaska governor backed Republican Brian Murphy in his unsuccessful GOP primary bid against former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. Bongino, a retired Secret Service agent, is challenging first-term Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin. "Dan has seen what politicians have done to our country, and he's decided, 'If I'm not part of the solution, I'm part of the problem,'" Palin said in a statement released...

BALTIMORE — A coalition of African-American churches is holding a prayer vigil to highlight its members’ opposition to gay marriage and urge Marylanders to vote against it. Members of the National Black Church Initiative will gather to pray at Israel Baptist Church in east Baltimore on Wednesday.

ANNAPOLIS — The Senate voted Friday to approve a gambling expansion bill, sending the legislation to the House where floor debate is expected to begin Monday. The Senate voted 28-14 in favor of the bill, which would legalize table games at the state’s slots casinos and allow a new casino to be built in Prince George’s County, pending approval in a November referendum.

FREDERICK, Md. — Frederick police say vandals put stickers promoting marriage equality and a gay pride flag on the windows of a Chick-fil-A restaurant. Police say the vandalism was reported Sunday morning. Several homemade signs were also left at the restaurant.

Given the history of same-sex marriage referendums, poll results should be viewed skeptically There was a brief explosion of optimism from those supporting same-sex marriage in Maryland last week after a poll by Hart Research Associates indicated that voters in the state support it by a significant margin of 54-40. No state has ever approved gay marriage at the ballot box, but advocates here and elsewhere — The New York Times published a piece titled "Hopeful news from Maryland" — contend that the issue hasn't polled this well before either. They shouldn't get too excited just yet. Gay marriage is...

BALTIMORE - One of Maryland's most recognizable yet seldom-seen politicians publicly entered the same-sex marriage debate Tuesday. Former Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend made a rare public appearance to rally Catholics to uphold Maryland's same-sex marriage law at the polls. She urged Catholics, who are a major voting block, to buck church policy. "I learned from the nuns to love one another and that that was the most important commandment," she said, finding a way to reconcile her Catholic faith with her support of the idea. The daughter of civil rights stalwart Robert Kennedy said the law does gel...

Went to my local Chick-Fil-A here in Maryland(the Blue Liberal Bathtub) at Noon today and the store was already packed with customers just before Noon time today! The other location near Waldorf Maryland was just as busy from what I have been told. Today in my opinion was the successful defense of free speech as well as free will as I have the right to spend my money when and where I want, when a business shares my believes.

State police officers routinely scan license plates at toll booths to ensure emissions inspections are up-to-date. Portable cameras fine speeders practically everywhere in the state. In the name of safety, children of all heights and weights are now required to sit in a rear- facing car seat for their first two years, regardless of whether they fit in it. And legislators once again found new and creative ways to tax residents this year, in part by redefining rich. But, relax, the government doesn't control everything in this state ... yet. You can still freely sip sugary soft drinks of any...

ay marriage opponents in Maryland said Tuesday they’ve handed in more than double the signatures required to hold a ballot referendum to squash the state’s new same-sex marriage law. . . “What we’re finding is that people are just engaged and passionate about this, even after Obama and the NAACP came out” in support of gay marriage," McCoy said. “Anybody that was on the fence is no longer on the fence.” A similar effort is under way in Washington state, where legislation approving same-sex marriage was signed into law by the governor earlier this year. Six states and the District...