Another Anti-Gay Smackdown

A nice corallary to this previous post, Facade Friend Ward-o-vac sends us this tasty bit (via the Baltimore Sun) from the debate in the Maryland state Senate over a proposed state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage:

Sen. Nancy Jacobs, a Republican who represents Harford and Cecil counties, engaged in an impassioned debate with James Raskin, a constitutional law professor from American University, over the influence of the Bible on modern law.

"As I read Biblical principles, marriage was intended, ordained and started by God - that is my belief," she said. "For me, this is an issue solely based on religious principals."

Raskin shot back that the Bible was also used to uphold now-outlawed statutes banning interracial marriage, and that the constitution should instead be lawmakers' guiding principle.

"People place their hand on the Bible and swear to uphold the Constitution; they don't put their hand on the Constitution and swear to uphold the Bible," he said.

You can read more about Jamie Raskin, who is running for the Maryland state Senate seat in Silver Spring/Takoma Park, at his campaign site.

But this also brings up the question of how many states are considering same-sex marriage bans currently (I hadn't heard of the Maryland proposal). I'll have to do some Googling/Technorati-ing after Mrs. F and I fix the furnace (it's freaking cold this morning at Cracks Centraal).

And speaking of Ward-0-vac, you can check out his latest Sutton Impact cartoon over at the Village Voice...