“Proposition 8 deprives the children of same-sex couples of the benefits of being raised in a secure, protected family unit with two married parents. In doing so, it works against the states’ efforts to ‘strengthen the modern family in its many variations.’ The states favor – and therefore encourage – marriage over transient relationships because marriage promotes stable family bonds, fosters economic interdependence and security for members of the marital household, and enhances the physical and emotional wellbeing of both the partner to the marriage and any children they may raise. … All of these interests are furthered by ending the exclusion of same-sex couples from the institution.”
— Maryland attorney general and potential 2014 gubernatorial candidate Doug Gansler (D), who joined several attorneys general in filing a friend-of-the-court brief Thursday opposing Proposition 8, which is before the U.S. Supreme Court. Gansler also filed a separate amicus brief Friday, March 1, challenging the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which bans federal recognition of same-sex relationships, and will also be taken up by the Supreme Court this spring.
[Photo: Doug Gansler/Metro Weekly]
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