Submitted by:
The Rev. Beatrice M. Billups
The Rev. James R. Crowder
The Rev. Frank E. Fortkamp
Christina Harris
The Rev. Eleanor Holland
The Rev. Alice Jellema
The Rev. T. Stewart Lucas
The Rev. Martha Macgill
Louise E. Miller
The Rev. Ronald H. Miller
The Rev. Dr. Victoria R. Sirota
The Rev. Scott Slater
The Rev. P. Kingsley Smith
The Rev. Lee Ann Tolzmann
The Rev. Kathryn A. Wajda
The Rev. Lauren M. Welch
The Rev. Tammy Wooliver
RESOLVED, the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, meeting in Convention May 6-7, 2005, supports efforts to provide basic benefits to same-sex couples, including but not limited to full privileges of joint ownership of real property, inheritance without discriminatory treatment in tax law, equal child custody and visitation privileges, the ability to make hospital visits with an incapacitated partner as well as the authority to make decisions regarding medical treatment and the disposition of bodily remains,
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Secretary of Convention is directed to communicate this resolution to the members of the Maryland House of Delegates, Maryland Senate, the Governor of Maryland, and to the United States Senators from Maryland as well as the Maryland delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives.
The 1994 Resolution D-006 reads “Resolved, the House of Bishops concurring, That the 71st General Convention call upon municipal council, state legislatures and the United States Congress to approve measures giving gay and lesbian couples protection[s] such as: bereavement and family leave policies; health benefits, pension benefits; real-estate transfer tax benefits, and commitments to mutual support enjoyed by non-gay married couples.”
Because same-sex couples are currently excluded from civil marriage under the laws of the State of Maryland and the federal Defense of Marriage Act, numerous discriminatory barriers exist that exclude such couples from basic civil rights including the right to make health care decisions for a sick partner, the right to visit a partner in a health care facility, and the right to inherit property and make funeral arrangements when a partner dies. Several attempts have been made in the Maryland General Assembly to remove these barriers from the law, including the Basic Human Rights Act of 2005 and the Medical Decision Making Act of 2005. The Episcopal Diocese of Maryland should support these pieces of legislation and others like them as a witness to our commitment to “strive for justice and peace for all people and respect the dignity of every human being.” (BCP, p. 305)