Maryland Divorce Lawyer Blog
In 2012, Governor O’Malley led a campaign for the legalization of same-sex marriage. This led to the General Assembly passing a law permitting same sex marriage in February 2012. 52.5% of Maryland voters approved the law in a referendum on November 6, 2012. This was the first time marriage rights have been given to same-sex couples through a popular vote. It was a particularly significant change because Maryland was the first state to specifically define marriage as a union between a man and a woman in the early 1970s. The law took effect on January 1, 2013.
In 2007, the court found that the statutory ban on gay marriage was constitutional. However, last year, the Maryland Court of Appeals issued a decision in the case Port v. Cowan, which suggested the tides of opinion were changing.
Port v. Cowan arose when two women, Jessica Port and Virginia Anne Cowan, married in California in 2008 at a time when California recognized domestic same-sex marriages. The couple separated voluntarily for more than a year. About two years later, Port filed for divorce in the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County where she lived then. Cowan did not contest the divorce. Continue reading