Same-sex Marriage in Maryland - Recognition of Out-of-state Marriages

Recognition of Out-of-state Marriages

State Senator Richard Madaleno requested in 2009 that the Attorney General answer the question of whether same-sex marriages could be recognized by the state. In February 2010, Doug Gansler issued an opinion after a nine-month analysis of state laws stating that valid same-sex marriages performed in other states that permit same-sex marriage could be recognized under Maryland law. Gansler stated that the opinion was not binding on the courts and state agencies could begin immediately to recognize out-of-state same-sex marriages. He said that he expected the opinion to be quickly challenged in court.

The opinion garnered negative reactions from some Republicans, socially conservative Democrats, and several African-American lawmakers, including delegates Emmett C. Burns, Jr. and Don Dwyer, who spoke out against the opinion and promised to initiate impeachment proceedings against Gansler. "It is not up to the attorney general, and that's the reason I will be bringing charges of impeachment," Dwyer said in statement where he described the attorney general as usurping the law. The Roman Catholic archbishops of Washington and Baltimore and the bishop of Wilmington also took "strong exception" to the decision.