Senate committee to take up same sex marriage bill next week

Next week a senate committee in Annapolis will take up the controversial issue of same-sex marriage.

Meanwhile thousands of people are in town this weekend, keeping a close eye on that debate.

The 24th annual Conference on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equality opened Thursday at the Hilton in Baltimore.

The goal of the more than 3000 attendees is to end what they see as injustice and discrimination against same sex couples.  In Maryland, they say that would mean allowing those couples to get married.

“It's about getting over prejudice and making sure that we protect families,” said Baltimore City Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.

Support has been hard to come by among African-Americans.  Last year, dozens of ministers from around the state gathered to speak out against same sex marriage.

The head of the NAACP appeared at the conference Thursday night in support of Maryland’s same sex marriage bill.

One of the chief opponents in Annapolis is Delegate Don Dwyer of Anne Arundel County, who told ABC-2 News:  “I'm going to try to kill this bill in the House (of Delegates).  There's no question about it."

Dwyer says he would favor a bill allowing same sex couples to enter into so-called "civil unions" -- not marriages.  “That’s what it's really all about,” he said.  “That's the reason they won't settle for anything short of the term ‘marriage.’  It's not about rights and benefits it's not about love, it's about educating children into the homosexual life style.”

He said he believes that would have a negative impact on children.  “We know traditionally what works, we know what was intended,” he said.  “We know what a human, normal, civil society is based on. It's not based on same sex relationships."

Maryland First Lady Katie O'Malley also spoke at the conference.  Like her husband, she supports same sex marriage -- saying it's about fairness, not the fears of Delegate Dwyer.

“Nobody teaches marriage in school anyway, it's just a right that we have,” she said.  “Him bringing this into school and saying that we're going to teach our children to become gay; he's very ignorant on that issue.”

The governor says this year's version of the same sex marriage bill has more protections for religious organizations.

Delegate Dwyer says there will be a rally outside the State House on Monday night made up of same sex marriage opponents, in advance of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee hearing on Tuesday.