Maryland First Lady: "Cowards" Preventing Gay Marriage Bill

If Maryland's same-sex "marriage" bill was controversial before, then the Governor's wife just poured gasoline on the fire. In a speech last week, Catherine O'Malley certainly didn't help her husband's cause when she was caught on tape calling leaders "cowards" for supporting traditional marriage. "We didn't expect the things that happened to the House of Delegates to occur," the First Lady said, "but sadly they did, and there were some cowards that prevented it from passing." Interestingly enough, Mrs. O'Malley is also a district court judge--making her comments even more inappropriate. Although she now regrets the slur, liberals say the damage has already been done. With so many Marylanders opposing the bill, her office is desperately trying to mend fences.

Meanwhile, people across the state, including Maryland officials, are using the insult to galvanize voters. If contempt is how the Governor defines "tolerance," then locals want none of it. Delegate Jay Walker (D) told reporters that he and several colleagues were shocked by O'Malley's remark. "Call me a coward, but I'm going to stand by my faith and my principles, as well as on my constituents' beliefs," said Walker, who opposed last year's counterfeit marriage bill. "Forget politics... when you start name-calling, you cross the line of respect."

In a sea of more than 1,000 protestors, which included FRC's own Bob Morrison, Peter Sprigg, and Pierre Bynum, lawmakers wore buttons that read, "Proud to be a coward. Defend marriage." Church leaders turned out in droves to rally against the bill yesterday, many of them promising not to be bullied by people like the Governor's wife. Others want the government to focus on the issues at hand. "We ask the Governor to fix the problems we already have, not create new ones," Rev. Michael DeAscanis told the crowd, which exploded in applause.

Yesterday's event was meant to coincide with today's Senate's Judicial Proceedings Committee hearing, where FRC's Peter Sprigg testified in opposition. "[L]egalization of same-sex 'marriage' would mean that, for the first time in history, society would be placing its highest stamp of official government approval on the deliberate creation of permanent motherless or fatherless households for children," he warned. (Read his full testimony here.)

In Minnesota, where voters have the chance to define marriage at the ballot box this November, the money from outside groups is pouring in. At least $1.2 million has been raised by the other side, and judging by the latest polling, they'll need every penny. Surveys by the Democrats' own pollsters show that voters support the amendment by a 48% to 44% margin. And although we're still a long way from the actual vote, it should be an encouragement that marriage is holding its own, even in liberal states.

The march for marriage continues in North Carolina, and according to the latest numbers, even 64% of the state's Democrats support the ban. But these are just polls. Even though 31 of 31 states have voted in favor of traditional marriage, we can't afford to get a false sense of security about these measures. The Tar Heels still need to show up and vote. After all, we don't want to just pass it; we want to pass it overwhelmingly and show America where the country really stands on marriage.