{"id":233,"date":"2012-06-05T19:25:00","date_gmt":"2012-06-05T19:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/marylanders-expected-to-vote-on-gay-marriage\/"},"modified":"2012-06-05T19:25:00","modified_gmt":"2012-06-05T19:25:00","slug":"marylanders-expected-to-vote-on-gay-marriage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/06\/marylanders-expected-to-vote-on-gay-marriage\/","title":{"rendered":"Marylanders expected to vote on ‘gay marriage’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Baltimore, Md., Jun 5, 2012 \/ 01:25 pm (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- Marriage supporters in Maryland have announced they gathered well over 100,000 signatures in a marriage petition drive, most likely\u00a0securing a referendum on the state\u2019s new \u201cgay marriage\u201d law.<\/p>\n

Derek McCoy, executive director of the Maryland Marriage Alliance, explained at a May 29 press conference that \u201cevery single day we have been getting more and more momentum.\u201d<\/p>\n

In what he described as a \u201cmomentous\u201d occasion, the alliance submitted more than twice the necessary signatures to place a new state law legalizing \u201cgay marriage\u201d before the people in a referendum. <\/p>\n

The Maryland Marriage Alliance joined with several other pro-marriage and pro-family groups to gather petitions to put the Civil Marriage Protection Act on the ballot in November.<\/p>\n

In order for the issue to appear on the ballot in November, the Secretary of State must rule that at least 55,736 signatures from the campaign are valid. A third of those \u2013 about 18,300 \u2013 had to be submitted by May 31.<\/p>\n

Previous Maryland referendum campaigns have seen between 20 and 30 percent of signatures ruled invalid.<\/p>\n

McCoy announced that as of May 29, the alliance had collected more than 113,000 signatures, with thousands more still pouring in. This number far exceeds the first deadline requirement and is more than double the total number of necessary signatures.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m ecstatic,\u201d McCoy said, explaining that the overwhelming success with the petition has shown \u201cengagement from every single corner of this state.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recent endorsements of \u201cgay marriage\u201d by President Barack Obama and the NAACP have only \u201chelped energize our crowd,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n

\u201cPeople that were on the fence are no longer on the fence,\u201d he explained. \u201cThey\u2019re engaged.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Maryland Catholic Conference, which joined with the Maryland Marriage Alliance in conducting signature drives throughout the state, noted that those who signed the petition\u00a0 \u201cbridge the usual partisan divide\u201d and \u201cspan generations and religions.\u201d <\/p>\n

On March 1, Gov. Martin O\u2019Malley signed a controversial \u201cgay marriage\u201d bill, making Maryland the eighth state to redefine marriage to include homosexual couples.<\/p>\n

However, an amendment added to the bill delays it from taking effect until Jan. 2013. This allows time for marriage supporters to put the law before the state\u2019s voters in a November referendum.<\/p>\n

Marriage has been upheld as the union of one man and one woman in all 31 states where the issue has been brought to a vote. <\/p>\n

McCoy explained that the people of Maryland have been \u201cincredibly charged\u201d and \u201cincredibly motivated\u201d throughout the signature-gathering process.<\/p>\n

He thanked the thousands of individuals who have \u201ctirelessly worked to ensure that Marylanders get the opportunity to vote on this critical issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Maryland Marriage Alliance will continue collecting signatures through the month of June, he said, adding that efforts to support the referendum will continue up until voting day in November. <\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day, people are encouraged about this issue,\u201d he explained. \u201cWe\u2019ve had countless calls.\u201d<\/p>\n

McCoy believes that the responsiveness of Marylanders shows that they are supportive of efforts to defend marriage. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve just represented what they desire,\u201d he said, explaining that the people of the state want to see marriage \u201cdefined and upheld between one man and one woman.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Baltimore, Md., Jun 5, 2012 \/ 01:25 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Marriage supporters in Maryland have announced they gathered well over 100,000 signatures in a marriage petition drive, most likely securing a referendum on the state\u2019s new \u201cgay marriage…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\nMarylanders expected to vote on 'gay marriage'<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Baltimore, Md., Jun 5, 2012 \/ 01:25 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Marriage supporters in Maryland have announced they gathered well over 100,000 signatures in a marriage petition drive, most likely securing a referendum on the state\u2019s new \u201cgay marriage...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/06\/marylanders-expected-to-vote-on-gay-marriage\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Marylanders expected to vote on 'gay marriage'\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Baltimore, Md., Jun 5, 2012 \/ 01:25 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Marriage supporters in Maryland have announced they gathered well over 100,000 signatures in a marriage petition drive, most likely securing a referendum on the state\u2019s new \u201cgay marriage...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/06\/marylanders-expected-to-vote-on-gay-marriage\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Catholic News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-06-05T19:25:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/06\/marylanders-expected-to-vote-on-gay-marriage\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/06\/marylanders-expected-to-vote-on-gay-marriage\/\",\"name\":\"Marylanders expected to vote on 'gay marriage'\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-06-05T19:25:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-06-05T19:25:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1\"},\"description\":\"Baltimore, Md., Jun 5, 2012 \/ 01:25 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Marriage supporters in Maryland have announced they gathered well over 100,000 signatures in a marriage petition drive, most likely securing a referendum on the state\u2019s new \u201cgay marriage...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/06\/marylanders-expected-to-vote-on-gay-marriage\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/06\/marylanders-expected-to-vote-on-gay-marriage\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/06\/marylanders-expected-to-vote-on-gay-marriage\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Marylanders expected to vote on ‘gay marriage’\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/\",\"name\":\"Catholic News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1\",\"name\":\"CNA Daily News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"CNA Daily News\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/author\/cna-daily-news\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Marylanders expected to vote on 'gay marriage'","description":"Baltimore, Md., Jun 5, 2012 \/ 01:25 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Marriage supporters in Maryland have announced they gathered well over 100,000 signatures in a marriage petition drive, most likely securing a referendum on the state\u2019s new \u201cgay marriage...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/06\/marylanders-expected-to-vote-on-gay-marriage\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Marylanders expected to vote on 'gay marriage'","og_description":"Baltimore, Md., Jun 5, 2012 \/ 01:25 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Marriage supporters in Maryland have announced they gathered well over 100,000 signatures in a marriage petition drive, most likely securing a referendum on the state\u2019s new \u201cgay marriage...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/06\/marylanders-expected-to-vote-on-gay-marriage\/","og_site_name":"Catholic News","article_published_time":"2012-06-05T19:25:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA"}],"author":"CNA Daily News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"CNA Daily News","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/06\/marylanders-expected-to-vote-on-gay-marriage\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/06\/marylanders-expected-to-vote-on-gay-marriage\/","name":"Marylanders expected to vote on 'gay marriage'","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-06-05T19:25:00+00:00","dateModified":"2012-06-05T19:25:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1"},"description":"Baltimore, Md., Jun 5, 2012 \/ 01:25 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Marriage supporters in Maryland have announced they gathered well over 100,000 signatures in a marriage petition drive, most likely securing a referendum on the state\u2019s new \u201cgay marriage...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/06\/marylanders-expected-to-vote-on-gay-marriage\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/06\/marylanders-expected-to-vote-on-gay-marriage\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/06\/marylanders-expected-to-vote-on-gay-marriage\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Marylanders expected to vote on ‘gay marriage’"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/","name":"Catholic News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1","name":"CNA Daily News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"CNA Daily News"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/author\/cna-daily-news\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1031"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}