Gay marriage ban falls

[nickshepDEM]

Judge rules law unconstitutional; decision is stayed as state appeals

A Baltimore Circuit Court judge sided with nine gay couples yesterday, ruling that Maryland's law defining marriage as being between a man and a woman violates the state's Constitution.

It is the latest decision in an intense national debate over the rights of gay men and lesbians to marry. The ruling, however, will not allow gay couples to become immediately eligible for marriage licenses. Judge M. Brooke Murdock stayed the order pending an appeal, which was immediately filed by the state attorney general's office.

Murdock's decision spoke directly to what some would call the moral debate over gay marriage.

"Although tradition and societal values are important, they cannot be given so much weight that they alone will justify a discriminatory statutory classification," the decision states. "When tradition is the guise under which prejudice or animosity hides, it is not a legitimate state interest."

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-te.md.marriage21jan21,1,7450590.story?coll=bal-home-headlines