Equality Maryland Vows to Keep up the Fight for Marriage
in the Free State
Statement by Equality Maryland Executive
Director, Morgan Meneses-Sheets on the Loss in Maine
MARYLAND - Our hearts go out to the families in Maine who
will continue to be denied equal rights and protections, and
have to continue to fight against inequality and second-class
status. It is profoundly wrong to eliminate rights, and all
Americans are harmed when any of us is treated differently under
the law.
Still, we must remember that
hundreds of thousands of Mainers voted yesterday to support the
freedom to marry for same-sex couples. This support was a
result of the campaign’s tireless efforts, strong heart
and determination. People from across Maine and
the country, stood up and told their stories and got involved,
and this work lends to the continuing movement in public opinion
toward support of equality for all.
It is only a matter of time before
Mainers achieve marriage equality. Meanwhile states like
Maryland
will move forward to ensure marriage equality and the broad
chorus of voices, gay and allies who believe in protecting
families and equality for all will continue to swell.
Equality Maryland
would like to personally thank those Marylanders who gave of
their time, especially the volunteers and students who spent all
day helping to turn out voters this past Sunday. We are
also grateful to the people who dug deep and contributed to the
“No on 1” campaign!
We will win in Maryland! We will win
because more and more people understand that providing equal
protections to gay and lesbian couples is simply the right thing
to do. But it is going to take a lot of hard work.
It is also going to take a strong, well organized effort, like
the one that was waged by the “No on 1”
campaign. That means that we are counting on LGBT people
and our allies to invest in the work that we are doing to ensure
marriage equality in the Free
State
Equality
Maryland is working hard to pull together a
savvy and ambitious plan not only to win on marriage equality,
but to enact anti-discrimination legislation to protect the
rights and dignity of transgender Marylanders and to build a
stronger, more effective grassroots network throughout our state
to ensure that all of the voices of the LGBT community are
heard.
With the dedication of
Maryland’s LGBT community, the strength of our partners
and the passion of our allies we will succeed not only in
ensuring the right of all LGBT Marylanders to marry the person
they love, but also in our important work to protect transgender
Marylanders from discrimination in the workplace, housing and
public accommodations. We have important questions before
us as a state, but we are confident that equality will win out
in the end!
###
Equality Maryland is Maryland's largest LGBT civil rights
organization, focused on making life better for gay, lesbian,
bisexual and transgender citizens of Maryland.
Equality Maryland works to secure and
protect the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender
Marylanders by promoting legislative initiatives on the state,
county and municipal levels and educating the public about the
issues faced by our diverse community.
Equality Maryland
can be found online at www.equalitymaryland.org.
