Gay Marriage In Maryland – Part One
This is going to be a two part post. Today, in Part One, a more positive post. Tomorrow’s will deal with an editorial in the Washington Post by someone who made – in my opinion – some ridiculous arguments. But today will be non-confrontational.
Today there was a fund raiser for Equality Maryland – the lobbying group trying to get the referendum on the gay marriage bill to pass. Originally it was supposed to be a screening of a movie with some comments by the State Attorney General, Doug Gansler. Attorney General Gansler was one the first high profile elected official to support same sex marriage in Maryland. His office took the position that Maryland HAD to recognize same sex marriages from other states under the state constitution. That position was recently upheld by the courts in Maryland. By the time we arrived, the Governor, the Lt. Governor and the Congressman from that district all agreed to speak. The event raised a fair bit of money, though probably not enough given how much money is being spent by opponents.
One thing that struck me, we were the only couple to bring their child. Granted, ‘lil q is not quite a year and we didn’t want to get, nor did we have handy, a sitter, but we figured other parents would bring their children. We had more than a few people come up to see ‘lil q.
While the speeches were going on, I took ‘lil q to the back to keep her from interrupting the speakers. Standing back there I met a member of Governor O’Malley’s cabinet, a very nice man who talked to me about his granddaugher who is about ‘lil q’s age. I also met a very nice woman who was very taken with ‘lil q. She took our picture to put on her Facebook accounts as ‘the face of Marriage Equality in Maryland.’ Turns out this nice woman is State Delegate Aruna Miller. ‘lil q and I had our picture taken so it may end up on her page. Check it out and leave Delegate Miller a note telling her thanks for her support.
The event was arranged by the Mayor of Kennsington Peter Fosselman and his partner Daune Rollins among others. We were invited because we’re friends with Pete and Duane. Duane arranged for us to get our picture taken with Governor O’Malley. I believe Gov. O’Malley might have plans to run for President in 2016. If he ever becomes President, ‘lil Q will have her picture taken with him. If not, it’s still pretty cool to have her picture taken with the Governor of Maryland who signed the bill into law that will – hopefully – let her daddies get married. Thank you, Governor O’Malley for all your support!
Mike, ‘lil q, me and Governor O’Malley
A milestone in itself Andy. But i have to say, Lil Q is the star. lol. precious
She usually is Joann, but honestly, Gov. O’Malley is the star. He has fought extremely hard for the passage of this law and referendum. We were glad to get a chance to say thanks in person.
Wow! What a neat experience. The analysis I’ve read seems to indicate that Maryland has a fighting chance of being the first state to approve marriage equality in a state referundum. I’d say that alone validates your decision to move from VA.
As for as ‘lil Q, she will always steal the pic. However, for a guy who doesn’t often like his picture, I think this one of you, Mike, the baby and the Gov turned out pretty decent.
I think this one turned out okay too, probably cause ‘lil made us all look better, or maybe everyone just can’t see past her 😉
Great picture, and yes, Lil Q does steal the show, and makes you and Milke look much better. Wow, there are some pretty big supporters of the cause. Having your picture taken with the Governor is a big deal. Best wishes on the campaign as well.