Maryland lawmakers pass gay marriage bill

WASHINGTON -- A chance shake-up of seating assignments in the Maryland House of Delegates brought Republican Wade Kach face to face with couples who had come to make the case for a gay marriage law, and might have proved decisive in its final passage through the state's General Assembly yesterday.

In an effort to get the bill onto the House floor, a special joint committee was formed and legislators were left scrambling for seats. Kach, who had previously backed attempts to define marriage as between a man and a woman, found a space right next to the witness table.

"I saw with so many of the gay couples, they were so devoted to one another. I saw so much love," he said. "When this hearing was over, I was a changed person in regard to this issue. I felt that I understood what same-sex couples were looking for."

A week later, Kach voted for the bill on the House floor, one of only two Republicans to do so. Their support proved vital, as the bill squeaked through the 141-member chamber, 72-67. The bill's passage through the Senate yesterday was 25-22, and Gov. Martin O'Malley, a Democrat, is expected to sign it soon.

Opponents of same-sex marriage now have until June 30 to collect the 55,736 signatures needed to put a referendum on the ballot in November.

There are now tens of thousands of same-sex couples in six states and the District of Columbia who are legally married where they live.

But because the federal government only recognizes marriages between one man and one woman, gay and lesbian married couples are denied some 1,138 federal benefits that derive from marriage.

They include such matters as Social Security survivor benefits, health insurance coverage, immigration status, veterans benefits, joint income tax filing and estate tax payments. With MCT