The marriage proposal in August from his longtime partner was a surprise for Harford County resident Stephen Formwalt. Tuesday's affirmation of the law giving gay Marylanders the right to marry was just the icing on the wedding cake.
Perennially outgunned Maryland Republicans hoped the strategy of using the Internet to petition laws to the ballot might help make the minority party relevant in state politics again.
The fight over Maryland's same-sex marriage law is being waged not just in the state but throughout the country, as campaigns on both sides are courting national groups and out-of-state donors to take part in a battle that could set the tone for other states.
The Baltimore Ravens football team has become a case study for the First Amendment over the past month.
Gay rights activists, religious leaders and politicians are gearing up for two months of campaigning on the Maryland referendum to strike down same-sex marriage legislation that passed in March.
Same-sex-marriage advocates are unlikely to challenge a petition forcing the issue to referendum and are gearing up for a campaign battle stretching to Election Day.
Gay marriage dominates the list of "social-issue" ballot measures going to voters this year, with amendments for and against same-sex unions up in four "blue" states:
Organizers of a petition against Maryland's same-sex marriage law have collected enough valid voter signatures to send the law to a November referendum, state election officials said Thursday.
Leaders of a traditional-marriage group turned in more than 200,000 signatures Wednesday to allow voters a say on the gay-marriage law passed by lawmakers earlier this year.
