Baltimore Sun Editorial Board Supports Marriage Equality

By GLAAD

On Thursday, The Baltimore Sun Editorial Board published an article “Gay Marriage and Family Values,” in which it reported the Episcopal Church’s recent official adoption of blessings for gay and lesbian couples on their wedding days.  In it, the Editorial Board boldly supported all Maryland families along with the Episcopal Church.  See the last paragraph of the article below:

Are all Maryland families entitled to the same protections under the law? Are all children, no matter who their parents are, entitled to the same kind of support?  We think they should be, if for no other reason than that it’s important for Maryland to be a welcoming place for families of all kinds. The only reason the state is involved in marriage at all is that strong marriages make strong families, and strong families make strong communities. That’s true whether the couples involved are gay or straight. The Episcopal Church has recognized this fact; it’s not the first denomination to do so, nor will it be the last. We hope that this November, Maryland voters will come to the same conclusion and vote to support marriage for all.

So far, the article has gotten only good press, being reprinted on LGBT sites such as Gayapolis.com.  The Baltimore Sun is not the only source that has been citing faith to support marriage for both straight and gay couples.  In fact, many clergy were part of campaigns by Equality Maryland and Marylanders for Marriage Equality at the beginning of this year. See the video below of clergy from various denominations voicing support for legal recognition of all Maryland’s families.

Garnering the most press from these campaigns was Sister Jeannine Gramick, who has publically called for marriage equality for years in Maryland.  In fact, she was recently featured in a series of videos hosted at The Daily Beast.  The series, titled, Ask Sister Gramick Anything, is a nine-part video series in which the influential nun shares theology and biblical study that supports LGBT equality, both in the church and in the world. In the first two installments, Sister Gramick addressed biblical support for LGBT equality and her work that has supported civil marriage for gay and lesbian couples.  Even Governor O’Malley has publically cited his Catholic background as influencing his support for marriage equality when he signed marriage equality into law last March.

And just a few weeks ago in Baltimore, Catholics for Equality demonstrated opposition to the “Fortnight for Freedom,” campaign by the US Catholic bishops, who want to receive government funding for social programs that discriminate against LGBT citizens and oppose recent healthcare mandates. 

GLAAD applauds The Baltimore Sun for publically supporting equal protections for all families and challenges other media outlets to voice support for LGBT equality as well. 

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Image courtesy of GLAAD