Justin's HIV Journal

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Justin's HIV Journal: Gay Marriage PASSES in MARYLAND How can a Majority vote on Civil Rights of a Minority?


After a long battle it was sign by the House, the Senate and now Governor Martin O’Malley will sign it into law.   Since the Attorney General Doug Gansler of Maryland stated in 2010 that same-sex marriage will be recognized; the LGBT community from my home state traveled to other states such as Massachusetts, New York, Washington DC etc to get married just so they can travel back to Maryland so their marriage will be recognized. SO the day has FINALLY COME to Maryland.  SAME-SEX MARRIAGE is now law in my hometown state of Maryland.  

My husband and I got married in Provincetown Massachusetts on August 7th, 2009.  When Gansler announced that Maryland recognize same-sex marriage, the marriage between my husband and I was automatically recognized.  

But now that same-sex marriage is legal in Maryland opponents are trying to drum up 56000 signatures so that the voters themselves can vote on same-sex marriage.  Here is the main problem with that.  A majority should never have the right to vote on a minority’s civil right; that is unethical and unconstitutional.  


When looking at polls about 71% of White and only 41% of Black Maryland voters support same-sex marriage. Why is that?  

Well a lot of Black Marylanders think that there is no correlation between the Black Civil Rights Movement and the Gay Civil Rights Movement, I’m here to say there is.  There are differences but there is a correlation to the point where you can say the majority of a population is oppressing the rights of a minority.  Hasn’t anyone heard of Bayard Rustin and his role in the Black Civil Rights Movement?  

Also Baltimore County delegate Emmett Burns (D) was quoted as saying, “Gays and Lesbians have never been discriminated like I have been discriminated”.  Burns himself a black Marylander seems a little clueless to the fact that there are black gay people in his state, let alone his district.  

WAIT A MINUTE… I’m BLACK AND GAY Mr. Burns I think that I’ve been discriminated against more than you have.  By you making such a statement you isolated and ostracize Gay Black people DID YOU KNOW THAT?



If the referendum is stopped or if it goes through and Marylanders vote for same-sex marriage, my husband Dr. Philip B. Terry-Smith will have a private ceremony. 

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