Mike Bloomberg performing one of the first gay marriages in NY state
New York City’s billionaire three-term mayor has tapped into his personal fortune to further the cause of same-sex marriage, donating $250,000 to support the issue in Maryland where voters will get the chance to weigh in at the ballot box come November.
“Maryland will always hold a special place in my heart. … So when Governor (Martin) O’Malley asked me to support Question 6, I didn’t hesitate,” said Michael Bloomberg, who attended college at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
Maryland residents are scheduled to cast their ballot November 6 on what’s known as Question 6, voting either to uphold or strike down a bill legalizing same-sex marriage that was signed into law in March by O’Malley.
With the law, Maryland joined seven states and Washington, D.C., in allowing gay couples to wed, but it isn’t scheduled to take effect until January 1, giving both its opponents and advocates a chance to ratchet up campaign efforts to sway voters…
Currently, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York and the District of Columbia issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. In February, Washington state Gov. Christine Gregoire signed a bill into law that legalizes same-sex marriage, but that state similarly faces a referendum challenge in November.
Today’s conservatives tend to mask their bigotry as they always have on questions of civil rights by dragging out the oldest phony excuse in the world – states’ rights. Woop-de-doo! Let all of the reactionary, bible-belt losers left over from the civil war vote their ignorance into law – and stop behaving like the so-called United States.
Civil rights is a constitutional issue and one that requires uniform national law. Cripes – it’s certainly more important than uniform protocols for railroad gauge or passing lanes.
Glad to see Bloomberg – who’s been equally supportive on his home turf for folks of the LGBT gender – help carry ethics to a broader circle.
Eideard 