A Queer Reckoning in Maryland: Democrats and Same-Sex Marriage

This article is the first in a new series called A Queer Reckoning in Maryland. This first issue will discuss Maryland’s efforts to legalize same-sex marriage in 2012 and how it revealed how many Democrats (including those still in elected office) opposed basic rights and protections for same-sex couples.

Same-sex marriage was not a universal priority for Maryland Democrats when it was legalized in 2012. For many, it was actually their priority that basic marriage protections not pass the state legislature at all.

While the story is always told as Maryland narrowly legalizing same-sex marriage through a ballot initiative, this is not actually the complete picture. The uncomfortable truth is that the state legislature, which had a massive Democratic supermajority in both chambers, tried and failed to consider marriage equality in 2011. One year later, advocates once again pushed and barely won, with HB438 (the Civil Marriage Protection Act) being signed into law. Their victory was challenged by stiff opposition from Democratic lawmakers, whose rhetoric contributed to the veto-referendum process we all hear about.

The vote for HB438 in the House in 2012. Blue squares represent Democrats who voted no, and red squares represent Republicans who voted yes.

In 2012, there were 98 Democrats in the House of Delegates and 35 Democrats in the State Senate, but HB438 passed the House by only five votes and the Senate by three votes. While the Democratic Party is known for having a “big tent” of progressives, moderates, and even some conservatives, it’s hard to imagine that tent used to include people who blatantly refused to acknowledge that LGBTQ+ people had the right to marry whoever they wanted.

The vote for HB438 in the Senate in 2012. Blue squares represent Democrats who voted no, and red squares represent Republicans who voted yes.

We ultimately know that marriage equality became the law of the land in Maryland in 2013, but we know very little about the Democrats who stood in opposition to marriage equality and why. Nearly one decade later, it might be good to get a refresher about who they were and if they remain in political office.

I’d like to start with a personal anecdote of what these “nay” votes represent for me. I decided to write this article after seeing that my State Senator at the time, Mac Middleton, had voted no. Middleton was defeated in a primary by current incumbent Sen. Arthur Ellis in 2018, six years after this vote took place.

I am bisexual, and this is the first time I am putting this in print and widely distributing it to people who may not know this. I didn’t know this when I was in 5th grade at the time of this political battle, but I would be impacted by its consequences. Only one of my four state representatives from my home county of Charles voted in favor of same-sex marriage. Delegate C.T Wilson is the only legislator from 2012 still in the General Assembly, and he voted no. They didn’t know it, but those three politicians were sending a very clear signal to me a few years later: not everybody supports you. Votes are more than just a binary outcome of the yeas or the nays prevailing, they send a message.

There were other Democrats I saw opposing the Civil Marriage Protection Act that I happened to recognize. One was the current States Attorney of Prince George’s County, Aisha Braveboy. She is widely considered a top candidate for Prince George’s County Executive in 2022 if incumbent Angela Alsobrooks runs for Governor. Not only did Braveboy vote against HB438 on the House floor, she had also proposed an amendment to it on the floor, a tactic usually done to delay consideration of a bill or to attach “poison pills” that make it a weaker law.

The following current elected Democratic officials voted against the Civil Marriage Protection Act in 2012:

• Del. Talmadge Branch, Majority Whip of the House of Delegates

• Aisha Braveboy, States Attorney of Prince George’s County

• Del. Dereck Davis, chairman of the Economic Matters committee and candidate for Speaker in 2019

• Del. Valentino-Smith

• Del. C.T Wilson

• Del. Jay Walker

• Sen. Melony Griffith, Senate President Pro Tempore

• Sen. Douglas J.J Peters, who was in contention for Senate President in 2019

There were so many others that voted against this critical law and made the margin for error so low. I’m thankful to those who pushed for equality over poll numbers that rapidly began to shift after this historic law was considered.

However, as previously discussed, HB438 would not automatically become law just yet. Opponents of same-sex marriage, bolstered by their supporters in the General Assembly, immediately launched a petition drive for a “veto referendum” of the law. In Maryland, there are no citizen-led referendums and all legislation on the ballot must come from the General Assembly in one form or another. There are legislatively referred constitutional amendments or legislation, and then there are veto referendums of legislation the General Assembly has passed. Voters in 2012 had two options: vote in support of the proposed same-sex marriage law or vote against it. Thankfully, they chose the former.

Question 6 passed in 2012 by a narrow margin of 4.8 percentage points while President Barack Obama won Maryland by a whopping 26 points. Only six out of twenty-four counties/county-equivalents voted in majority of the law: Montgomery, Frederick, Howard, Anne Arundel, and Baltimore County and Baltimore City.

It really was that close in the gorgeous Prince George's! My perception of this vote was that it was a landslide "no", but after research this obviously isn't what happened.

It’s worth noting that Prince George’s County, where a large amount of Democratic opposition emerged from, only rejected same-sex marriage by 3,039 votes (or just under 0.5%). If the justification for a vote against same-sex marriage was that it was “very unpopular” in Prince George’s County, that’s just plain wrong. If the opponents of the law used their energy to campaign for the measure, we could have seen Prince George’s narrowly support same-sex marriage. Instead, they continued to campaign against basic protections for LGBTQ+ people.

My home county, Charles, voted 55% against same-sex marriage, which meant many of my friends and family members took that position. That vote was almost a decade ago, and the Supreme Court broadly legalized same-sex marriage in 2015. However, I still wonder where the politicians who opposed this measure stand today. Can they be trusted to enact truly equal rights for LGBTQ+ people? What does the process for redemption look like when bad votes are had? Does it exist at all?

I have many questions about the history I’ve discussed in this article, and I don’t intend to answer all of them. I’d rather hear from other people about what they took away from this brief history and if they learned much at all about Maryland and our tenuous relationship with progress. My only conclusion is that Maryland, a state frequently discussed as a “progressive bastion,” barely enacted this measure and that many politicians that remain around to this day almost defeated it. A decade later, I hope we can do better because we must.