On March 1, 2012, Governor of Maryland Martin O’Malley signed the equality bill, legalizing gay marriage in Maryland. Maryland is the eighth state to legalize same-sex marriage. The state follows Connecticut, Iowa, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Washington state, and the District of Columbia.
“Religious freedom was the very reason for our state’s founding and at the heart of religious freedom is the freedom of individual conscience,” O’Malley said before signing the bill.
Opponents are pushing to overturn the marriage equality law. Right wing and religious groups are investing a lot of money to keep the referendum from being approved.
Supporters remain optimistic despite measures to overturn the bill, “We remain confident that voters will echo Governor O’Malley’s support for full equality,” said Mike Thompson, Acting President of GLADD.
Thanks Governor Martin O’Malley!
With Love,
Hudson Grove & Co.
New Jersey Legislatures approved gay marriage rights, giving it the chance to be the eight state with equal marriage rights. Although Gov. Christie says he will veto the bill, the LGBT community of NJ is still celebrating the historical step taken. The Huffington Post quoted:
“Steven Goldstein, chairman of the gay rights group Garden State Equality, echoed the speaker’s sentiments.
‘Today, the Legislature has brought us to the promised land,” said Goldstein. “We know the governor won’t let us enter, but we finally behold the view of our dreams and we will never turn back.’”
Congratulations New Jersey on being one step closer!
With Love,
Hudson Grove & Co.
North Carolina native, and Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes has written a letter against the constitutional amendment that would ban marriage, civil unions and domestic partnerships between same-sex couples.
Hughes is openly gay and argues that this restriction would hurt businesses in North Carolina and his letter has been distributed to the media and the 170 members of the North Carolina General Assembly. The proposed anti-LGBT constititutional amendment is one of many that will come up for debate in the special fall session.
“As the co-founder of Facebook, I have some experience with the challenges of attracting the kind of driven, dynamic and diverse employees it takes to build a fledgling start-up into a fullfledged economic success story,” Hughes wrote. “Companies like Facebook, Google and Apple are the future of our global economy. But the proposed anti-gay constitutional amendment signals to these and other major employers, as well as their mobile, educated employees, that North Carolina does not welcome the diverse workforce that any state needs to compete in the international marketplace.”
He also wrote about his own experience growing up gay in Tar Heel, North Carolina, saying, “Growing up in a conservative atmosphere in Hickory, North Carolina, I felt first-hand the stigma of being different in a Southern state—a feeling that made it clear to me that I was not welcome in North Carolina,” he said. The next Facebook or Apple or Google could be created by another North Carolinian. Be mindful of how you treat them and their families.”
We really hope that this amendment does not get passed. It would completely restrict the freedoms of many North Carolina natives who are already likely experiencing the same difficulties that ChrisHughes had and they shouldn’t have to be driven outside of their home state to live happily with the partner of their choosing.
<3 HG&Co.
"I cannot prevent anyone from getting angry, or mad, or frustrated. I can only hope that they’ll turn that anger and frustration and madness into something positive, so that two, three, four, five hundred will step forward, so the gay doctors will come out, the gay lawyers, the gay judges, gay bankers, gay architects … I hope that every professional gay will say ‘enough’, come forward and tell everybody, wear a sign, let the world know. Maybe that will help."
— Harvey Milk (1978)
