Maryland’s pro-same-sex marriage effort received a helping hand from New York City’s billionaire mayor.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg donated $250,000 earlier this month to Maryland’s effort to legalize same-sex marriages. The donation is expected to be officially announced Friday, according to The New York Times.
Bloomberg is no stranger to Maryland. He went to college at John Hopkins University in Baltimore. Gov. O’Malley was previously mayor of Baltimore and the two have known each other for years.
Voters in the state will decide whether to uphold Gov. O’Malley’s law to legalize same-sex marriages on the ballot in November. If it passes, Maryland will become the first state to legalize gay marriage at the polls. Bloomberg helped lead the effort to get New York lawmakers to legalize same-sex marriages in the state in 2011.
Via New York Times:
“I do not believe that government has any business telling one class of couples that they cannot marry,” Mr. Bloomberg wrote in an e-mail, to be distributed on Friday morning to supporters of same-sex marriage in Maryland. “The next great barrier to full equality under the law is marriage equality. There is no doubt in my mind this barrier will fall, just as so many others have.”
Gov. O’Malley tweeted this morning: “The fact that someone of Mayor @MikeBloomberg’s national stature cares about #VoteFor6, tells people that this is a serious & real campaign.”
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