Amazing marriage equality news to pass along today … the Attorney General of the great State of Maryland, Douglas F. Gansler (a Democrat), has determined that Maryland will immediately begin recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other States where it is legal (Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire and the District of Columbia). As you may recall, Washington DC just legalized same-sex marriage back in December and will begin marrying same-sex couples in March … since DC and Maryland are close neighbors, it would seem that the Maryland Attorney General is merely taking action to prepare his State for the influx of new same-sex married couples:

Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler (D) declared Wednesday that Maryland will recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere and that its agencies should immediately begin affording gay married couples the same rights as heterosexual ones. With Gansler’s decision, Maryland in effect joins the District and a handful of states including New York that recognize same-sex marriages performed in four New England states and Iowa. The District also has its own measure legalizing those unions that is expected to take effect next week. Gansler, a supporter of legalizing same-sex marriages, was asserting his authority as the top legal adviser to state agencies to answer a question that experts say had been left unclear by Maryland law. He was responding to a legislator’s request that he issue an opinion. The attorney general’s opinion unleashed a torrent of emotions from both gay rights advocates and those opposed to same-sex marriage, adding a potentially explosive issue to election-year politics in Maryland. It is likely to be quickly challenged in court, Gansler acknowledged. Gay and lesbian groups said the decision put the state on track toward legalizing same-sex marriage and would embolden them to push more strongly for pending legislation to do so. Similar measures have died in the legislature in years past. The exact practical implications of Gansler’s decision were unclear. David Rocah, a staff lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland, said he thought that the opinion could have “hundreds, if not thousands,” of implications for same-sex couples married elsewhere. Rocah said the opinion could ensure same-sex spouses’ rights to health benefits, inheritances, child support and even divorce. Gansler said state laws have more than 1,000 references to spouses or marriage. Gov. Martin O’Malley (D), who has consistently voiced support for civil unions but stopped short of endorsing same-sex marriage, said his administration would be “guided” by Gansler’s legal opinion. Under O’Malley, Maryland has significantly expanded benefits to couples who register as domestic partners, but under Gansler’s opinion, same-sex couples married elsewhere would no longer have to go through that step to get many of the same protections. “I am confident that the Attorney General and his office will provide all necessary advice to state agencies on how to comply with the law,” O’Malley said in a statement. “I expect all state agencies to work with the Attorney General’s office to ensure compliance with the law.” Gansler’s opinion answered a question about recognizing same-sex marriage that was posed last spring by Sen. Richard S. Madaleno Jr., an openly gay Montgomery County Democrat. In a roughly 50-page opinion that took nine months to compose, Gansler says the starting principle in state law is that a marriage that is valid in the place of celebration remains valid in Maryland. And even though the state narrowly defines marriages performed within its borders as between a man and a woman, Gansler says, such restrictions don’t amount to a strong public policy argument that would override recognizing unions from elsewhere.

While this does NOT mean that same-sex couples can marry in Maryland, it does mean that couples who have been married in the 6 States and the District of Columbia, where same-sex marriage is legal, will be afforded the same rights and privileges in Maryland as would any heterosexual married couple. This is fantastic news. We live in a country, with United States, where the laws of the States are recognized as legal and binding in other States in the Union … this makes perfect legal sense. The tide towards marriage equality for all in the country continues to pick up steam. Little by little, bit by bit … we shall overcome and we will get there some day. Wee!!

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