Initiatives
proposed in several U.S. states to ban same-sex marriage

A vote is planned Thursday on a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in Maryland, and both sides in the emotional dispute say they expect the amendment will fail in the house judiciary committee. "It would be unfortunate if that were to happen," Del. Don Dwyer, sponsor of the bill, said Wednesday. He said he was still working to round up support but expected that Democratic leaders would bury his constitutional amendment in committee. A ruling last month by a Baltimore judge striking down Maryland's 33-year-old law limiting marriage to one man and one woman gave antigay conservatives a new sense of urgency in determining whether Maryland should amend the constitution to ban same-sex marriage. In other developments, a coalition of religious and family groups kicked off a drive in Denver on Wednesday to amend the Colorado state constitution to ban same-sex marriage. Coloradans for Marriage submitted a proposed amendment that defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman to the state legislative council office, the first step toward getting it on the ballot this fall. The group will need the secretary of state to approve the wording and 68,000 valid signatures from registered voters to get the measure on the ballot. An opposing group, Coloradans for Fairness and Equality, argues that the proposal does not strengthen or protect marriage and enshrines "discrimination into the language of the constitution." Elsewhere Wednesday, Florida4Marriage.org, a group that wanted to amend the Florida constitution to define marriage as a union of one man and one woman, said it had failed to gather enough signatures to get the measure on the November ballot. There are currently 18 U.S. states with constitutional amendments against marriage equality. Most of those amendments were adopted after Massachusetts's highest court legalized same-sex marriage in 2003. (AP)