UPDATE: Next week, the Kensington Town Council will be debating a resolution encouraging state legislators and the governor to pass the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act. I have heard that Al Carr is strongly supportive, which is excellent news for proponents of equality in District 18 and throughout Maryland.
Hearing about Al Carr’s candidacy for the now-vacant District 18 Delegate seat, I am concerned: Carr was the one Democratic primary candidate in 2006 who did not come out in support of marriage equality. When choosing from among Carr and the other candidates next week, I hope that the Central Committee seriously considers whether the candidate supports or opposes equality for all his/her constituents.
During the 2006 primary campaign, I met Al Carr at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Forest Glen Pedestrian Bridge. I enjoyed talking with him. It was also an opportunity to learn more about him. While all of the other Democratic candidates for delegate were firmly and publicly on board for marriage equality, I had not been able to find Carr’s position. Among other things, I had checked Equality Maryland PAC's candidate questionnaire asking the question, but Carr had not responded. So I raised the issue. Unfortunately, our brief conversation got cut short, so I wrote him an e-mail later that day.
These were my specific questions:
1. If the House debates an amendment to the
2. If the House debates a bill authorizing same-sex marriage, how will you vote?
3. What specific measures will you pursue as a Delegate to alleviate the many financial, legal, and health-related burdens faced by same-sex couples who cannot get married?
He responded quickly:
I am supportive of additional rights for same sex couples. I would vote against a constitutional amendment to define marriage as between a man and a woman. I would support measures to ease healthcare information and decisions, benefits, adoption and anything that will help every day quality of life as well as eliminate health, legal and financial burdens. I also support civil unions. I would need to know the specifics about a same-sex marriage bill before deciding how to vote. [emphasis mine]
Please let me know if I can provide any additional information.
I was very disappointed in his answer. What “specifics” in an equality bill could he possibly mean? My marriage is either equal to others or it isn’t. So I took him up on his invitation to ask for additional information: I immediately wrote back and asked him to explain.
He never responded.
Carr’s declining to endorse marriage equality was very disappointing.
We had a great crop of Democratic candidates for the District 18 Delegate seat, and all of them but Carr were enthusiastically supporting my right to marry. Given this wealth of choices, I could not vote for someone who would even consider withholding such a fundamental human right from me and my partner (to say nothing of thousands of other gay and lesbian Marylanders).
It's been a year and a half since the primary campaign. Perhaps Carr now supports marriage equality; I do not know. So my question remains (and I ask it of all the candidates): If the House debates a bill authorizing marriage equality, how will you vote?
The 2006 primary campaign showed clearly that the voters of District 18 strongly support marriage equality. I hope the Central Committee doesn't ignore the sentiment of the district and select someone to represent us who would deny his/her constituents the fundamental right to marry.
