"Government deals with marriage as a civil status . . . "

Opponents of the civil rights of gay Marylanders often argue from Scripture that marriage is about one man and one woman. So says the Knights of Columbus through a spokesman: "We are one with the church on the subject of preserving traditional man-and-woman marriage."

Marriage is man-and-woman marriage. And that's it.

But that is not it. Not everyone in Maryland reads Scripture. 

Not everyone in Maryland reads Scripture in just the same way.

In the United States we do not call in the prosecutor to enforce religious beliefs.

Judge Dennis Jacobs, a conservative federal circuit judge, yesterday (Oct 18 2012) made this clear. 

Civil rights in the United States are not regulated by any one religion. 

Judge Jacobs issued a decision in the three judge decision in the Windsor case stated:

". . . law (federal or state) is not concerned with holy matrimony. Government deals with marriage as a civil status . . . A state may enforce and dissolve a couple’s marriage, but it cannot sanctify or bless it. For that, the pair must go next door [to the Church]."

In Maryland, this year, civil marriage equality is on the ballot. 

The question we are asked to decide on Nov. 6 is whether all the citizens of Maryland enjoy the same civil right to marry the one you love.

In our society, there can be only one fair answer to this question: 

Everyone who believes in equal protection under law should vote FOR Question Six on November 6.

Source: 

Judge Jacobs strikes down DOMA section 3 | Maryland for All Families

DOMA Ruled Unconstitutional by Federal Appeals Court

A federal appeals court on Thursday ruled that gay Americans are a class of people who deserve the same kinds of constitutional protections as many other victims of discrimination. - NY Times