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Support for gay marriage

I applaud Del. Heather Mizeur's Nov. 6 commentary advocating marriage equality in the state of Maryland. I married the love of my life in September (in Boston) and we enjoyed a couple of months of marriage equality while we still lived in the District of Columbia. The important legal rights came to light already, when last month my wife admitted herself to the emergency room and no one batted an eye when I later arrived and said I came to see my wife. Now that we have just bought a beautiful home in Maryland, we are sorry to see our legal status as a married couple evaporate. This will be even more concerning as we soon start a family and dread the extra legal hurdles and inequalities this will cause. It is time for Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler to make the right decision and recognize my marriage as being just as valid as the rest of marriages in Maryland.

Rebecca Gingrich-Jones, Hyattsville

Marriage rights more than symbolic

I am writing in response to the recent editorial by Del. Heather Mizeur, "In search of marriage equality for all." We hear from couples every day who have traveled across state lines to have the experience of walking into a city hall or county clerk's office to receive a marriage license. They are yearning to have that symbol of their commitment.

Yet for many couples the fight for marriage equality is about more than symbols. They are taxpaying citizens who do not receive equal benefits from their state government. They are parents who must worry every day about the fact that their families and their children are not given the same protections. They are people struggling to provide for their loved ones in this tough economy while facing discrimination in access to shared health benefits and financial systems because they do not have a marriage license.

There is legal precedent in the state of Maryland to honor the license of couples validly married elsewhere. The Attorney General's opinion will determine the legal possibility of building on that precedent to honor the licenses from other states or countries. The decision is pending.

The initial analysis by many prominent legal experts suggests that the law provides a strong position for Maryland to provide legal recognition of out-of-state licenses. This will be just one step in the journey toward full equality.

Morgan Meneses-Sheets, Ellicott City

The writer is executive director of Equality Maryland, a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights group.