The Maryland Senate voted 25-22 to give final approval Thursday evening to legislation legalizing same-gender marriages, sending the Civil Marriage Protection Act to Gov. Martin O’Malley for his signature.
The vote makes Maryland the eighth state to approve same-gender nuptials — and the fourth state legislature to do so in the past 12 months.
The approval in Annapolis caps years of failed attempts by advocates to gain equal access to marriage, and the hundreds of legal protections that accompany the union. The governor, a Democrat, plans to sign the bill “within a week,” a spokeswoman said.
Nevertheless, implementation of the measure is far from certain. Even supporters concede that the law will likely be petitioned to referendum, and they expect Maryland voters to have the final say in November. The legislation has an effective date of January 2013 — well after the November election.
Recent polls have shown that Marylanders are evenly split on the issue, so it is difficult to predict what will happen at the ballot box.
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