Advertisement

Maryland Senate President: Same-Sex Marriage Is ‘An Attack On The Family’

Maryland Senate President Mike Miller (D) spoke out against Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) push for marriage equality, describing the effort as “an attack on traditional families” this morning on The Marc Steiner Show. “I don’t want to sound like one of the Republican candidates for President,” Miller joked, “but I am what I am.” Miller said he would vote against any legislation allowing gays and lesbians to marry, but promised to hold an open vote on the issue and predicted it would pass in the Senate:

MILLER: I’m a father married for 50 years, I got 5 children, I got 13 grandchildren, I’m a traditionalist. But at the same time, I’m also a Democrat and in terms of allowing the majority view prevail — democracy, all voices heard at all times. […]

I’m a historian and I look at civilizations, I study civilizations, I read history every night. And I see it’s an attack on the family, I think it’s an attack on traditional families. That’s the way I see it.

Miller’s counterpart, Speaker of the House Michael Busch (D) called marriage equality an inevitable “civil rights issue” and said that proponents would have to convince “about 10 people that last year wanted more information on the initiative” to vote for the legislation in order to guarantee its passage. He added that he hasn’t seen any negative effects from the policy in D.C. — where same-sex marriage is legal — — or Maryland, which recognizes gay and civil unions performed in the District. Both men predicted that if the legislature approves the measure, it will go up as a petition to referendum on the November ballot. “I think a coming together of Evangelicals, Catholics, African Americans are going to go to the polls and I think it’s going to be defeated,” Miller added.

Advertisement

Listen to the exchange:

A marriage equality bill passed the Maryland Senate last year, but failed in the House.