by Mike Andrew - SGN Staff Writer

Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley says he is confident that voters will approve the state's new marriage equality law if it reaches the ballot in November.

O'Malley spoke to some 400 Catholics at the New Ways Ministry's Seventh National Symposium of Catholicism and Homosexuality in Baltimore on March 16. According to the Washington Blade, O'Malley received a 'warm reception' from the crowd.

New Ways Ministry describes itself as 'a Gay-positive ministry of advocacy and justice for LGBT Catholics, and reconciliation within the larger Christian and civil communities.'

'I did not come here as a Catholic,' O'Malley, who is a practicing Catholic, said after taking the podium. 'I came here as the governor of all of Maryland.'

O'Malley told the symposium that the passage of the marriage equality bill was 'based on the fundamental beliefs, the fundamental principles we share, foremost among them is our belief in the dignity of every individual.

'In Maryland, we were able to find a way to protect individual civil marriage rights and religious freedom. And while it is likely to be challenged on the ballot, I believe that ultimately the voters & will come down on the side of human dignity.'

O'Malley made the marriage bill the centerpiece of his legislative agenda.

Maryland includes citizens who represent a variety of backgrounds, ethnicities, perspectives, and faith traditions, the governor said, adding that, 'we should expect and demand from all our leaders & to protect rights equally among all people.'

Other speakers included former Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, retired Bishop Geoffrey Robinson from Australia, and Barbara Johnson, the Lesbian denied communion at her mother's funeral in Gaithersburg.

'As Catholics, we are proud of Gov. O'Malley's ardent support of marriage equality,' said Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry.

'His support is in the best tradition of Catholicism's legacy of social justice for all. We are happy to have this opportunity to thank him for his work and to show how faithful Catholics support full equality for LGBT people.'

New Ways Ministry has been criticized by newly appointed Cardinal Edmund F. O'Brien of Baltimore.

'In no manner is the position proposed by New Ways Ministry in conformity with Catholic teaching,' O'Brien said.

DeBernardo countered that his group is supported by many Catholics.

'Thousands of Catholic people and hundreds of Catholic institutions from across the country continue to support our programs and attend our events. They recognize that what we are doing is authentically Catholic,' he said.

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