Source: Baltimore Sun
Gay and lesbian activists thought they had a friend in Maryland governor Martin O'Malley.

As a progressive mayor in Baltimore, O'Malley attended gay pride parades and signed into law a measure to protect transgender people from discrimination. When he ran for governor, he said he supported civil unions and wanted to extend benefits to same-sex partners of state employees, as he had done for city workers.

But two years into O'Malley's first term in Annapolis, neither has happened. He largely stayed out of the debate over legal recognition for same-sex unions that fizzled in the General Assembly, and aides say his financially strapped administration probably won't grant benefits for at least another year, Baltimore Sun reports.

O'Malley plans to sign two bills this month that would grant same-sex couples some rights of married couples, including the ability to visit each other in the hospital and an exemption from certain property taxes.

But activists had hoped for much more.

The lack of momentum for gay rights in the State House is the latest disappointment for activists after a lawsuit to force the legalization of same-sex marriage failed in state courts. While O'Malley's allies say he has done as much as he can in the face of significant hurdles, activists say they feel sidelined.

O'Malley might have been stymied in forwarding gay rights as governor by budget battles that forced him to expend political capital to get tax increases and spending cuts approved.

A measure that LGBT activists had hoped to see passed by now is one to offer health and other benefits for domestic partners of government workers. Lobbying for the law has been under way in Maryland for more than 15 years.

A spokesman for O'Malley said action by the governor to grant the benefits would have been unnecessary had legislation recognizing same-sex unions passed during the session. He said it is too late now for money to be set aside for the benefits in the next fiscal year.

The fate of statewide transgender protections is also unclear. The governor's Commission on Human Relations had planned to file the bill, but Del. Peter A. Hammen, a Baltimore Democrat and committee chairman, declined to consider it unless the governor lobbied to rally support in the Senate, where it failed in committee last year. In the end, the administration did not introduce it.

It is also unclear whether activists can build enough support for legislation recognizing civil unions or same-sex marriage. Many say the biggest obstacle would be the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, where some had hoped that Sen. C. Anthony Muse, a Prince George's County Democrat and evangelical Christian bishop, would provide the key vote for such legislation this year. He did not.

"I would like to see civil unions, and we've got one vote in the Senate to change, and that's it," said Del. Maggie L. McIntosh, a Baltimore Democrat who is openly gay. "But it's going to be hard to push for civil marriage in the next two years. You can't just get people to roll easily on these votes."

Former Gov. Parris N. Glendening, a Democrat whose gay brother died of AIDS after an Air Force career during which he remained closeted, said that budget problems also consumed his early years before he could focus on progressive measures, such as a statewide prohibition on discrimination based on sexual orientation.
"What you're seeing now is a political reality," Glendening said.

But Senate Minority Leader David R. Brinkley, a Republican representing Carroll and Frederick counties, said inaction on gay rights measures in Maryland reflects the public's greater interest in other issues such as the flagging economy and education. He opposes same-sex unions as institutions that undermine traditional marriage.

Full article: Gay rights at standstill | Baltimore Sun