A little bit unusual

The legislature passed, and Gov. O'Malley signed, a bill to legalize same-sex marriage, and a petition to invalidate this law was filed by homophobic bigots. So you would think that a "for" vote would be for the petition; namely, to void the law. But in fact, the way the ballot question is worded, a vote "for" Question 6 will be to uphold the law. In fact, as is the case for two other referenda on the ballot, it seemes that when a referendum on a law is petitioned, the ballot will show the question as “FOR the Referred Law” and “AGAINST the Referred Law.” The question is worded:

Question 6

Referendum Petition

Civil Marriage Protection Act (Ch. 2 of the 2012 Legislative Session)

Establishes that Maryland’s civil marriage laws allow gay and lesbian couples to obtain a civil marriage license, provided they are not otherwise prohibited from marrying; protects clergy from having to perform any particular marriage ceremony in violation of their religious beliefs; affirms that each religious faith has exclusive control over its own theological doctrine regarding who may marry within that faith; and provides that religious organizations and certain related entities are not required to provide goods, services, or benefits to an individual related to the celebration or promotion of marriage in violation of their religious beliefs.

So a vote FOR is a vote to allow the law to take effect. And I wll be voting that way, and hoping that the majority goes that way.

There will be, as I stated, two other questions, Questions 4 (the Maryland version of the DREAM Act) and 5 (O'Malley's Congressional gerrymander) on the ballot, and I will be opposing both of them: in short, AGAINST Questions 4 and 5, FOR Question 6.