The weekly Farmer’s Market in Fountain Park, Chestertown will be the setting for a Marriage Equality rally on Saturday October 6th at 11 AM. The rally will combine supporters of the new law with local musicians and speakers to educate and motivate the community about the important referendum vote taking place on November 6th.
The rally is organized by Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) Chestertown who believes that families and society benefit when all committed couples are able to legalize their relationships through civil marriage. PFLAG supports freedom to marry for same sex couples throughout the United States and the world. This is about fairness—not faith. We will emerge stronger as a state and preserve the values of equality which have made this country the success it is for people of all backgrounds and faiths.
On the Maryland ballot in November the gay marriage question is titled the same as the bill the legislature passed this year: “Referendum Petition — Civil Marriage Protection Act.”
It asks residents to vote for or against, saying the law:
“Establishes that Maryland’s civil marriage laws allow gay and lesbian couples to obtain a civil marriage license, provided they are not otherwise prohibited from marrying; protects clergy from having to perform any particular marriage ceremony in violation of their religious beliefs; affirms that each religious faith has exclusive control over its own theological doctrine regarding who may marry within that faith; and provides that religious organizations and certain related entities are not required to provide goods, services, or benefits to an individual related to the celebration or promotion of marriage in violation of their religious beliefs.”
Josh Levin, campaign manager for Marylanders for Marriage Equality, called the text accurate and straightforward. PLAG Chestertown will be supporting the FOR vote by offering information and resources to help answer any questions the local voters may have. “We want our friends and families to recognize the importance of this vote to so many of us on the Eastern Shore. Because LGBT citizens will always be a minority group, they truly need the votes of their allies in the “majority” to affirm this referendum. Everyone who has a gay person in their life as a family member or a friend should consider how limited the civil rights of that person is without this marriage equality bill” says Linda Dutton, a local PFLAG Chapter leader.
PFLAG is an extraordinary grassroots organization with a growing network of members in the United States and abroad. The PFLAG Chestertown Chapter is less than one year old and benefits from the credibility and stature built by more than 35 years of work from PFLAG members. We work together to make all of our communities fair and safe places.
Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) is the nation’s foremost family-based organization committed to the civil rights of gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender persons. Founded in 1973 by mothers and fathers, PFLAG has 200,000 members and supporters in more than 500 chapters throughout the United States. To learn more, please visit www.pflag.org.
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