Clearly, Sam Arora is representing his own interests, not those of his constituents.

Good for Sam --- now he has it right ! Stand up for a civilized society and stop the race to the bottom. The other far left loons ( Kaiser and Manno) will vote for anything just to get a few votes. Next on their agenda is the Warren Jeffs' multiple partners , any age marriage equality act.

The so called elected officials in MD and especially the idiots from MoCo DO NOT care about their constituants as a whole. All they do is cater to left wing nutjob special interest groups and it seems that the democrats always cater to the groups that are trying to bring this country down. There are MORE bad things going on in this "republic" that has been brought on by the democrats and this should NEVER have been an issue. All OWEMALLEY wants (besides taxing the crap out of you) is your vote. He thinks that by passing this, it will buy him votes. B(ravo) S(ierra)...Maryland is run by a bunch of idiots who have never had a real jb, don't care about the middle class, want to keep spending and taxing and taxing more, want to run your life...ALl I can say is, don't you people know about a living will? If you want your partner to share in your earnings, property, etc etc, just make a will out. Do you REALLY need to get married? Hell, there are MANY heterosexual couples who have been together for a long time and share everything and don't have to FLAUNT the fact that they are a couple? It seems to me that all you want is to be "seen"...how egotistical is that? EGO is the anestetic that dulls the pain of stupidity.

It is also good that SOMEONE stood up for his own beliefs, not just what some VERY small percentage of his constituants want. I bet if you go out and ask the majority of his constituants if he did the right thing, they would probably be in favor. Americans are getting pretty sick and tired of getting stuff crammed down their throats.

Same sex marriage is not the same as marriage equality. It is unfortunate, that an official will get such criticism for standing up for what many silent voters really believe. It is unfortunate that most folks aren't brave enough to speak the truth. Controversy gets news attention.

I thank Delegate Sam Arora for his vote and he seems to understand the constituents' concerns on this bill. There are legal rights for couples which don't required being married. Even married couples have problems when it comes to rights. Look at the divorce laws on how decisions are made on custody of the children.

I applaud Delegate Arora for voting what he believes was the right vote. There is a divide on this issue, which means there is no total agreement. It takes braveness to vote for what one believes is right even if the majority votes otherwise. There are so many examples of this in this country's history.

Given that Arora's constituents elected him when he was for equal marriage rights, it is unlikely they would embrace him for the switch.

It's fascinating that a statewide elected official can be accused of trying to "buy" votes by endorsing gay rights. Wow, has this debate changed.

The title of the article "assumes" that there is a backlash. Would it be impossible for there to be "support"? I will go out on a limb here and "assume" that there is both, but yet only one side is portrayed.

Jeff: Thanks for the feedback. Without quoting the definition of "backlash" I'll stand by its use in the headline. The reaction to Arora's vote has been unusually strong by Annapolis standards. The article gives several examples.
Another example: http://patch.com/bvaXo
It's obvious from some of the comments above that Del. Arora also has support for his vote. (That's the great thing about our platform here—instant feedback.)
Maryland Juice provided this anecdote from "an anonymous source" speculating that Arora has at least one interest group that supports his vote—the Catholic Conference: http://patch.com/bvaXn

It is interesting how controversial a vote can be.

While I support marriage for gays, I found it refreshing that there was a dissenting vote from the Montgomery County Delegation.

Now, maybe for the first time in years, the Maryland Circus can lend its time and effort to:

Trying to create good paying, good benefit private sector jobs.

Keeping Maryland's air and water clean.

Avoiding over crowding.

Cease accommodating illegal aliens.

Improvements to Maryland's Correctional System; eg, stop prison rape.

Improvements to Maryland's Highway and Traffic Regulations; eg, banning radar, laser detectors and jammers.

Improvements to our Public Education System; eg, No junk food in public school cafeterias.

Term limits.

I am sure others will have thoughts and viewpoints on what the Circus should be doing.

Sam made the correct vote.
Homosexuals are incapable of procreating. They are incapable of giving a child the unique example and guidance provided by a mother and a father. Only heterosexual couples can do that. Homosexuals do not and can not marry, so why pretend they do?

Doug,
Not sure if I see "vile hatred" displayed on this thread. I see differing opinions on the subject and that's about it.....

Jeff with all due respect, as a gay man, it's vile and hateful to me when people say the following things:

"incapable of giving a child the unique example and guidance provided by a mother and a father" FALSE

"Same sex marriage is not the same as marriage equality." FALSE

"There are legal rights for couples which don't required being married." IRRELEVANT, implying the gay & lesbian couples lack of equal rights is not hurting them--this is something I can personally attest to being false.

"If you want your partner to share in your earnings, property, etc etc, just make a will out. Do you REALLY need to get married?" So gay and lesbian people have to spend thousands of dollars to have the same rights that others couples take for granted?

And those are just the state-level things.

Jeff, sorry, but you're way off the mark here.
"Next on their agenda is the Warren Jeffs' multiple partners , any age marriage equality act." IRRELEVANT AND FALSE the legislation is not a possibility in marriage, and the "slippery slope" arguments have all been completely and easily disproven as nothing but scare tactics....that's not vile to mislead?

"Stand up for a civilized society and stop the race to the bottom" so gays and lesbians wanting to share in the rights and responsibilities of civil marriage is pushing our society into a "race to the bottom"....that's not hateful, Jeff?

"All they do is cater to left wing nutjob special interest groups " so gay and lesbian couples and their supporters are just left-wing nut job "special interests" who don't deserve equal civil rights, and not citizens of this country FALSE

Jeff, God has a special place reserved for people who so cavalierly inflct such hurt on other people....these things said even by people on a local comment thread like this, are very hurtful. My experience knows all the above to be true, and while I acknowledge people are free to believe what they want about who God created me to be, and judge the deep and fulfilling love for my partner that I believe God gave to us as they choose, I am also free to call out their lies, misinformation, and yes, hatred, when I am subjected to it. It hurts Jeff, and they'd rather feel "right" about their views than acknowledge that this stuff hurts and that denying people their civil rights hurts.

Arora is a coward because he refuses to publicly state his motivation for completely changing his political stance. He ran on a platform that he has now reversed, and the people who supported him deserve an explanation.

Mr. Hawkins:

You are correct, as usual.

Doug in Rockville;

There are those who disagree with you. Disagreeing is not hatred. As Mr. Hawkins stated: Peace to you.

Doug in Rockville:

Wow! Quick response, and thank you.

You may consider me hard hearted, but I am somewhat nauseated by the over use of certain terms of late. One of those is "Hate." You are active on these pages, and I urge you to look at some the exchanges that have occurred in the recent past.

There are those who quickly label those with whom they disagree a hater, a racist, a homophobe, a xenophobe, a redne@k, or some other derogatory term.

Remember, when you run out of facts and arguments, call the other person a name, (sarcasm intended).

I respectfully reject your statement concerning "And I'm sorry, these things may not be said with an INTENTION of hatred--on that we AGREE. But the IMPACT of them on people's lives is HATEFUL. If you cannot see that, then I'd urge you to try the time-honored cliche--try walking in others' shoes." The hate you feel does NOT make the statement hateful.

I must go, and start on a Friday evening.

Again, as Mr. Hawkins said, Peace.

it is good to see that a Democrat finally used their brain, thought out the issue, made a decision and voted. It is NOT about voting along party lines which you people do 99.99% of the time. It is no wonder Maryland is a laughing stock aound the nation. The dems running the "henhouse" are running this place down the tubes. There are MORE important issues at stake here, i.e. The crook OWEmalley stealing transportation funds and putting it in the general fund then taxing the crap out of us with higher sales taxes, income taxes, wanting to put ANOTHER 6% on gas tax (when we are already giving the gvmt a crap load of tax), they want to take away our mortgage deduction, services taxes, health club taxes, flush tax and so on. If you people look at that and quit thinking about yourself and you measly little "special interest" (and there are laws protecting groups of people already)you don't need to keep waving your hands and whine "look at me, look at me...what about me...what about me". If you people would just get the facts on the issues, MD would be a better off place, not a socialsit republic. The dems running this place make me sick. OH, don't forget the $2Billion Maryland spends on illegals, Millions in MoCo, but they won't admit to it. The dems giving money, free health and dental, food, education, voting rights, drivers licenses, etc etc...that is what you should concern yourself with...or do you want to give the government $.70 out of every $1.00 you make???

B Allen,

I love Maryland for the wonderful progressive, successful, compassionate state that it is. Your “special interests” are my “less fortunate who need a helping hand.” Your “crook OWEmalley” is my twice democratically elected governor who represents my values.

No, I do not want to “give the government $.70 out of every $1.00” that I make, but neither is that happening. I do want to pay taxes high enough that will provide for our common good. And I am thrilled that many of us here in Maryland make enough money so that we can afford it. Yes, we can afford to be compassionate and hardly even feel it.

If you don’t like it here, work to change it and let’s have an honest conversation about the issues. Alternately, of course, you are free to move somewhere that suits your values better. Some are choosing to do that and that is fine, because many, many others are choosing to move here because they are supportive of what Maryland stands for.