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Just a few days after Prince George's County Del. Tiffany Alston (D-Dist. 24) of Mitchellville voted against the very bill she cosponsored for same-sex marriage rights in Maryland, central area residents share a mix of disappointment and appreciation for her decision.

Alston ultimately decided against the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act on Friday in a House Judiciary Committee vote. The measure still passed 12-10 and could be scheduled for a vote this week before the entire state House of Delegates.

Currently only a man and woman can be married in a civil ceremony in Maryland, and the bill, which is also in the Senate, would remove that requirement. Some protections afforded to married couples are those same-sex couples are seeking, such as partner health insurance benefits.

As Margo Datcher of Bowie walked from Sunday morning services at the First Baptist Church of Glenarden in Upper Marlboro, she said people have a right to live the way they want to live but that God's word remains. Datcher said she believes Alston was faced with political pressure to vote in favor of the bill from fellow legislators who wanted the bill to pass.

"I'm hoping pressure from her constituents caused her to see the truth of God's word and also allowed her to not be afraid of what she believes in regardless," Datcher said.

Fellow church member John Skrine of Bowie said Alston's position as a delegate means she has to deal with different people and different views.

"I would think her initial decision was personal maybe," Skrine said of Alston's decision to co-sponsor the bill. "She got a lot of calls against it, so she had to respond to her constituents the way I look at it."

Outside First Baptist, Keisha Huggins of District Heights said gay people worship at First Baptist but said her pastor, John K. Jenkins Sr., has made it clear to his congregation that same-sex marriage does not line up with Bible scripture.

"As a Christian we have love for everyone, but we're following the word of the Lord that a man and woman should be together," Huggins said.

At Goodloe Memorial Unitarian Universalist Church in Bowie, Karess Taylor-Hughes, a field organizer for Equality Maryland Inc., a civil rights group that advocates for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, had a post at the entrance to Goodloe's sanctuary where she asked congregation members to write a letter to local Del. Marvin E. Holmes Jr. (D-Dist. 23B) of Kettering to support the bill. Holmes did not vote on Friday because he is not a member of the House Judiciary Committee. Taylor-Hughes said handwritten letters are harder to ignore than e-mails and that in general state residents are feeling shut out of communication with their delegates on this issue.

"A lot of the people feel if they're ignored by their delegates then they feel like second-class citizens, Taylor-Hughes said.

Morgan Meneses-Sheets, Equality Maryland's executive director, wrote in a Friday e-mail to The Gazette that there was a "dramatic increase" in calls and e-mails to Equality Maryland in areas where legislators "betrayed their commitment to fairness and equality" by voting against the same-sex marriage bill. Meneses-Sheets wrote that Equality Maryland is disappointed in Alston's choice and that she is not living up to her promise of equality.

"Denied the freedom to marry, gay couples and their families are deprived of the critical safety-net that comes with marriage," Meneses-Sheets wrote.

Goodloe Memorial Unitarian Universalist's Rev. Cynthia Snavely said Sunday that the church is involved with the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of Maryland, a group that advocates on behalf of same-sex couples on issues such as marriage equality.

"We're still working toward gay marriage," Snavely said. "I'm disappointed that we're not already there."

Ken Shilling of Glenn Dale, president of the Goodloe Memorial congregation, said he believes many people are disappointed because civil unions are not equal to marriages. He said delegates are searching in their own beliefs when deciding on the issue.

"I think this is one issue where the majority should not impose their beliefs on others," Shilling said.

Juan McCoy, who lives with his partner, Chris Williams, and their five children in Camp Springs, said it is frustrating to listen to politicians whose rights are not being affected like his are. His senator, C. Anthony Muse (D-Dist. 26) of Fort Washington, voted against the bill in the state senate.

McCoy said Saturday he felt that Alston was planning for the next election rather than do the job she was elected to do and was not a fan of her suggested amendment to the bill to make it a civil union that was rejected.

"It's really disappointing that an African-American would go the separate-but-equal route," McCoy said. "It's a throwback, and that's what's disappointing to me about many of the delegates in the House that continue to accept this type of discrimination. To put obstacles in the way of other groups to me is just baffling. While I think civil unions would have been a good start many years ago, I don't think that would've been a good option today."

nmcgill@gazette.net