Monday, December 31, 2012
Numerous key laws passed in 2012 by the Maryland General Assembly take effect on Jan. 1.
Same-sex marriage, a first-in-the-nation arsenic ban for chicken feed and a law designed to protect children's credit reports are among the Maryland laws taking effect on Jan. 1. Some, including the marriage law and a Baltimore City charter amendment, were passed by voters in November. Others tweak existing rules, like renewable energy credits and car insurance. Here are the key laws you need to know about that take effect, according to a Maryland General Assembly document. Same-sex marriage: The Civil Marriage Protection Act, passed in the 2012 session, petitioned to referendum and ratified by Maryland voters in November, takes effect as scheduled on Jan. 1. Maryland was one of the first three states to ratify same-sex marriage at the …
Friday, December 7, 2012
Kim Hinken and Adri Eathorne plan to frame their license and hang it on the wall of their home.
An Edgewater couple became the first people to register for a same-sex marriage license in Anne Arundel County on Thursday. "I went in the office and she just prints out the license and hands it to me. It was like the most normal thing ever," Kim Hinken said. "It felt fantastic. It felt like a piece of history. I know that so many people have fought so hard to have this law be passed and it means everything to me." Hinken, 52, and her fiancé Adri Eathorne have been together for nearly 10 years, but they never thought they would be able to marry. "When we fell in love with each other I knew that she was going to be with me for the rest of my life, and if I could have married her then I would have," Hinken said. "This is really just …
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
The younger you are, the more likely you are to support same-sex marriage. What does this mean for Maryland?
Based on Maryland's age distribution and a changing national attitude on same sex marriage, one could expect–surprise–a close referendum fight in November. Earlier this week, you may have read that increasing acceptance of same-sex marriage is not the result of a nationwide change of heart, but because those opposed tend to be older and are literally dying off. A study by the Pew Forum on Religious and Public Life found that the increase of acceptance for same-sex marriage is the result of changing, aging demographics and "generational replacement," defined by Pew as "the arrival of younger, more supportive generations making up a larger share of the population." Nationally, 48 percent of Americans support same-sex marriage, up from 35 …
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
In an interview on ABC News, the president says he supports same-sex marriage. The issue is likely to go to referendum in Maryland this fall.
President Barack Obama picked the day after a decisive vote in North Carolina to announce that his "evolution" on the issue of same-sex marriage was complete—he now supports it. In an interview with ABC News on Wednesday, Obama said: I have to tell you that over the course of several years, as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors, when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that Don't Ask Don't Tell is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage—at a …
Michelle L
10:55 am on Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Wow....we actually needed a law to ban arsenic in our food supply. more ›