70 MD PASTORS READY FIGHT AGAINST SSM: From the Baltimore Sun

Spurred by the passage of anti-gay-marriage ballot measures in 11 states, about 70 pastors gathered in Rosedale's Mount Pleasant Baptist Church yesterday pledging to renew efforts to keep same-sex marriage from becoming legal in Maryland.

Calling itself the largest interdenominational group of clergy assembled statewide to fight gay marriage, the group said it hopes to assemble 100,000 protesters for a march on the State House in Annapolis on Jan. 27.

The goal of the "Defend Maryland Marriage Rally" is to pressure legislators to strengthen laws against same-sex marriage, even though two such legislative bills were defeated by wide margins last session. ...

In July, nine gay couples sued the state after court clerks in Baltimore City and several counties refused to issue marriage licenses to them. The lawsuit contends that Maryland's ban on gay marriages is unconstitutional.

The American Civil Liberties Union and Equality of Maryland collaborated on the lawsuit, and a hearing is scheduled in Baltimore Circuit Court on March 14. The group of ministers plans a march on March 10 to draw attention to the hearing. ...

Last session, the General Assembly defeated two bills that would have shielded the state's legal definition of marriage from same-sex couples.

One would have reinforced a 1973 state law that defined marriage as between a man and woman and would have prevented the state from recognizing same-sex marriages from outside of Maryland. The other was a state constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.

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