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Defend Maryland Marraige holds rally

About 1,500 people gathered in Annapolis on January 27 to call on the state’s lawmakers to pass a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in Maryland.

The Defend Maryland Marriage rally was the kick-off event in a campaign begun by Del. Don Dwyer in response to a lawsuit filed in Baltimore Circuit Court last July to legalize homosexual “marriage.”

Evangelical clergymen across the state brought members of their congregations in by the busload as a grassroots show of force.

The enthusiastic churchgoers overflowing Lawyers Mall in front of the State House withstood sub-freezing temperatures and an icy wind to demand that their legislators act on their behalf to uphold the sanctity of marriage.

Many held hand-printed signs with messages such as “Baltimore County says NO to same-sex marriage” and “Justices should not impose laws.”

A sign in Spanish read “La familia es una divina institucion.”

“Francis Scott Key, a devout Christian, saw the English crushed by little more than a thousand men when they tried to invade Maryland,” said the opening speaker, Bishop Harry Jackson, senior pastor of Hope Christian Church in Bowie.

“Like Key, we find ourselves in a battle of epic proportions:  what’s at risk is our families.  You and I cannot sit back – we must get involved.”

Reverend Jackson, an African American, said that black churches and white churches in Maryland need to come together at this pivotal moment in history.

“The eyes of America are on us!” he declared.  “Maryland is going to define what is going to happen next in this debate.”

Del. Emmett Burns, who is also an African-American minister, told the crowd, “There are those who claim that same-sex marriage is a civil rights issue; they have equated it with our civil rights movement.”

Many in the crowd, which contained a large contingent of African-Americans, responded with cries of “No!  No!”

About halfway through the two-hour rally, the crowd burst into cheers as plainclothes state troopers cleared a path for Lt. Gov. Michael Steele to make his way to the speakers’ platform.

“We are here to affirm the law of this state, and under that law it is very clear that in Maryland, marriage is between one man and one woman,” said Steele.

“We need your support, we need your prayers, and we need to make sure that it is clear where Maryland stands in defense of marriage.”

Rep. Roscoe Bartlett elicited laughter when he recalled that during a debate on the Defense of Marriage Act in the House of Representatives he had quipped, “God created marriage between Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve!”

On a more sober note, the Sixth District Republican called on his listeners to “defend an institution that has been established and protected for five thousand years of recorded history all over the world.”

In all, about a dozen speakers addressed the rally.

According to the January 13 Catholic Review, Richard Dowling, executive director of the Maryland Catholic Conference, encouraged Catholics to take part in the January 27 event.

But the crowd at the rally was overwhelmingly Protestant, and no Catholic clergy spoke or led the many prayers offered between speakers.

The lawsuit to legalize homosexual marriage was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of nine homosexuals who contend that Maryland law, which states that only a marriage between a man and a woman is valid, discriminates against them.

Defend Maryland Marriage organizers plan another rally in March.  In the meantime, they urge their followers to keep the pressure on their legislators through letters and phone calls.

The campaign website is www.defendmarylandmarriage.org.