When the state Republicans pushed their gay-bashing “marriage discrimination” constitutional amendment in February and March 2006, Equality Maryland invited me to testify against it in both the Maryland House and the Maryland Senate. I was the only professor of constitutional law in the state to do so.

On March 1, 2006, I testified in the Senate that there is plainly no “rational basis” to withhold the many legal, economic and social benefits of marriage—including inheritance, medical decision-making, child custody, insurance and property rights--from our gay and lesbian neighbors. To continue marriage discrimination thus violates Equal Protection and the fundamental Due Process right to marry, as well as the rights of gender equality protected under the Maryland Constitution. As I said in my testimony, “it is a fundamental wrong to deny a minority a fundamental right.”

After I spoke, Senator Nancy Jacobs, a right-wing Republican from Harford County, challenged me by arguing that the question must be settled on “religious principles,” the Bible and “God’s law.” Then I responded: “Senator, when you took your oath of office, you placed your hand on the Bible and swore to uphold the Constitution. You didn’t place your hand on the Constitution and swear to uphold the Bible.” The response from the audience was so raucous that the Judicial Proceedings Chairman, Brian Frosh, who was on my side, had to gavel the room to order, saying, “This isn’t a football game.”

That brief exchange changed the terms of the marriage equality issue in the State Senate and emboldened many wavering Democrats to take a stand against all the homophobia unleashed by the other party. I have received more than 1,000 messages of support (and a few nasty ones too) from across America.

Imagine what I could do from the other side of the table, as a State Senator. When I am in the Senate, I will lead the fight for:

• Full protection of a woman’s right to reproductive choice and medical privacy.
• Full marriage equality for all Marylanders and an end to discrimination based on sexual orientation.
• An end to the immigrant-bashing and scapegoating.
• State funded embryonic stem cell research to ensure access to cutting-edge health care solutions for future generations of Marylanders.
• Strong enforcement of our civil rights laws and protection of affirmative action in higher education.
• The free speech and free press rights of all Marylanders, including high school students.
• Universal health care for all Marylanders.