PRESERVATION OF MARRIAGE
JOINT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court has defined the family as
“consisting in and springing from the union for life of one man and one woman in the
holy estate of matrimony; the sure foundation of all that is stable and noble in our
civilization; the best guaranty of that reverent morality which is the source of all
beneficent progress in social and political improvement,” Murphy v. Ramsey, 114 U.S. 15,
45 (1885), quoted in United States v. Bitty, 208 U.S. 393, 401 (1908); and
WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court described marriage as “an
institution, in the maintenance of which in its purity the public is deeply interested, for it
is the foundation of the family and of society, without which there would be neither
civilization nor progress,” Maynard v. Hill, 125 U.S. 190, 211 (1888); and
WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court in 1977 stated that “the basic
foundation of the family in our society [is] the marriage relationship,” Smith v. Org. of
Foster Families For Equal. & Reform, 431 U.S. 816, 843 (1977); and
WHEREAS, the Court of Appeals of Maryland has held that, “the State has
a legitimate interest in encouraging marriage between two members of the
opposite sex, a union that is uniquely capable of producing offspring within the
marital unit,” Conaway v. Deane, 932 A.2d 571, 630 (Md. 2007); and
WHEREAS, the Court of Appeals of Maryland acknowledged that its sister
courts in other states have refused to find a deeply rooted history and tradition
allowing same-sex marriage in this nation from which “neither liberty nor justices
would exist if it were sacrificed,” citing:
“Wilson v. Ake, 354 F.Supp.2d 1298, 1305 (M.D.Fla.2005) (“Plaintiffs argue
that their right to marry someone of the same sex is a fundamental right that is
guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause.”); Standhardt v.
Superior Court of State, 206 Ariz. 276, 77 P.3d 451, 458 (App.2003); Dean v. Dist. of
Columbia, 653 A.2d 307, 333 (D.C.App.1995); Jones v. Hallahan, 501 S.W.2d 588,
590 (Ky.App.1973); Baker v. Nelson, 291 Minn. 310, 191 N.W.2d 185, 186 (1971);
Andersen, 138 P.3d at 976–79. Each of these appellate courts, when presented with
the argument, rejected it. For the reasons stated here, we join those courts and
hold that the issue is framed more properly in terms of whether the right to choose
same-sex marriage is fundamental,” Conway, 932 A.2d 571 at 619,
Therefore, the Court of Appeals was “unwilling to hold” that “same-sex
marriage” is a fundamental right in Maryland, Conway, 932 A.2d 571 at 627; and
WHEREAS, the Court of Special Appeals of Maryland concluded that, “The
law of Maryland does not recognize…unions of two or more persons such as
concubinage, syneisaktism, relationships of homosexuals or lesbians as legally
bestowing upon two people a legally cognizable marital status. Such relationships
are simple illegitimate unions unrecognized, or in some instances condemned, by
the law. That public policy message rings out from the procedural prerequisites
for legitimating “marriages,” Md. Ann. Code Art. 62, and the statutory
condemnation of other relationships, see, e. g., Md. Ann. Code Art. 27, § 18
(Bigamy) and §§ 390 et seq. The obvious intent of our legislature is to encourage
the proverbial concept that more belongs to a marriage than four bare legs in a
bed,” Prince George's County v. Greenbelt Homes, 431 A.2d 745, 748 (Md. Ct.
Spec. App. 1981); and
WHEREAS, in 2013 the United States Supreme Court officially severed its
respect for marriage by declaring unconstitutional the Defense of Marriage Act
(DOMA) which defined marriage for federal purposes as existing between one
man and one woman, United States v. Windsor, 133 S. Ct. 2675 (2013),
NOW THEREFORE, the Legislature of the State of Maryland hereby
submits the following Joint Resolution to the United States Congress entitled
Marriage Preservation Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Application to the United States Congress
to call a Convention for proposing an amendment
to the United States Constitution.
Pursuant to Article V of the United States Constitution, the Legislature of the State of
Maryland by a joint resolution of the Senate and House of Representatives hereby makes
application to the United States Congress to call a Convention for proposing the following
amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
Marriage Preservation Amendment to the United States Constitution
Nothing in this Constitution or in the constitution or laws of any state shall define
or shall be construed to define marriage except as the union of one man and one woman,
and no other union shall be recognized with the legal incidents thereof within the United
States or any place subject to their jurisdiction.