Maryland Marriage Update: So Close and yet So Far

I know that you, my faithful readers, have been following the campaign for Marriage Equality in MD with the sort of singular attention usually reserved for cats in a room with a tuna sandwich. And you know that you can still help enormously by going to www.MarylandPop.org and taking part in our Pop the Question campaign to contact Maryland Delegates, and sharing the tool with all your friends in Maryland. But just in case you need a refresher on what’s going on in Annapolis, here’s the rundown:

• The bill passed through the State Senate last Thursday: a big win, and at the time believed to be the biggest hurdle to legalizing same-sex marriage.
• Friday the bill moved immediately to the House for debate — legislators seemed eager to fast-track the legislation and move it to the Governor’s desk, who has consistently stated he will sign the bill into law.
• Fast-tracking plans hit a snag when the bill got stuck in committee, where it remains as of this morning, despite original predictions that it would sail through and move to a full floor vote as early as Wednesday.
• Said snag, among other things, have filled the House chapter of this bill’s story with no small modicum of political intrigue and shenanigans — Co-Sponsors of the bill have been responsible for trapping the bill in committee, accusing the marriage issue of getting “special treatment” (ever heard that phrase before in reference to gay rights?), and even flip-flopping on commitments to vote for the bill’s passage despite a campaign promise to do so.
• It’s still unclear when exactly the committee vote will happen, although the bill is still expected to move to the floor unscathed (knock wood). This puts the final vote next week or the week after, potentially.
• Insiders are likewise speculating that the bill will pass a full floor vote despite this week’s speed bumps, but we’re no longer looking at a sure thing or the margin of victory we’d hoped — this non-expert might classify the matter as an Orange Alert for anyone who cares about an LGBT Marylander.

So what does this all mean, Jason? Good question friends. It means it’s more important than ever to click through to the Pop the Question campaign at MarylandPop.org and make sure your MD Delegates know where you stand on the Freedom to Marry. The site will now patch you through to the folks who represent you in the House (not the Senate, like before) so it’s super important to make a new round of calls. That’s calls, plural: when you enter your address you’ll likely be given more than one Delegate to reach out to. This isn’t a bug! All of those folks represent you, so be sure to click the back button on your browser after telling us you’ve made each call and repeat the process until you’ve reached all your Delegates.

Don’t forget, out-of-state friends can make a difference too — when you plug your address in to MarylandPop, we’ll recognize you as a non-Marylander and give you tools to reach out to everyone you know who does live in the state. I guarantee, a quick Facebook or LinkedIn search will reveal a couple folks from past lives who now live in Maryland now — everyone on the Friendfactor team found contacts there, regardless of where we grew up or went to school.

Now’s the moment to make the final push. Be brave, reach out to everyone you can. Our friends rights are at stake.

Your First Time: It Doesn’t have to be Scary

First time calling a legislator, that is. We unfortunately don’t have the authority to make promises about any other way you read that title.

If you’ve already been over to www.MarylandPop.org and used our click-to-call tool to support your gay* friends in the first state South of the Mason-Dickson, you know how easy we’ve made it. There are talking points. There are graphics. There is even a script. But Friendfactor has a strict No Judgment policy (with some fashion-related exceptions): getting in touch with an elected official for the first time is a big step, and we want to make sure you’re intellectually and emotionally prepared. In fact, we want it to be special.

That’s why we’ve added this video to the arsenal of “making our friends comfortable” tools. Friendfactor’s own Dinah is right here on your computer screen to demonstrate how easy and painless these calls are. And look at the time-stamp: two minutes. That’s probably less of a time commitment than a level of Angry Birds, and less frustrating for sure.

See, everything’s fine! Just that simple. If you’ve got shy friends who haven’t made the great leap yet, let them know we’ve made it even easier – you can watch a phone call start to finish, click of mouse to click of “End” button, before making one yourself. Bonus: we think the chick in this clip is pretty easy on the eyes, and that always makes the first time better.

Marylanders: Will You Pop the Question?

SB 116 doesn’t sound sexy. But it is. It’s the name of the senate bill that — if passed — will bring Marylanders one step closer to marriage equality. That means your gay* friends in the Old Line State will be able to marry the people they love. And it doesn’t get sexier than that.

The committee vote on SB 116 happens in a week, so we need to act fast.

If you do live in Maryland, go to www.marylandpop.org and enter your information. We’ll connect you with your representative — and even tell you the single sentence to say to the office staff (or answering machine). It’s easy, and most elected officials don’t bite. We’ve only lost a few fingers.

After you place your call, spread word about www.marylandpop.org far and wide. Post it on your Facebook, tweet it or email it to family and friends — there are even sample emails and posts at the link.

If you don’t live in Maryland, we bet you know someone that does. Send them a link to www.marylandpop.org so that they can make it happen! Post it on Facebook so that kid you haven’t thought about since middle school can spread the word too! Who says MD is for crabs? Your friends can dedicate their calls to you, for which they will receive major kudos.

Friends don’t let friends get treated as second class citizens. Pop the question today at www.marylandpop.org.