Heartbroken but not without hope

Just an hour ago, the Maryland House of Delegates denied same-sex couples the protections of marriage.

Deborah and I are among more than 15,000 families in our state that are heartbroken today. But we are not without hope.

Just years ago, we had to fight with all of our might to secure basic protections for our families. Today, we came within votes of full marriage equality.

Progress like that doesn’t happen suddenly or inevitably. We’ve gotten this far because of our courage. We’ve gotten this far because we are unafraid to stand up and tell our neighbors how marriage could sustain and strengthen the commitments we’ve already made to one another.

Today, the House of Delegates recommitted marriage equality legislation to committee. Tomorrow, we must recommit ourselves to the hard work of protecting our families without marriage to back us up.

Thank you for all that you did, and thank you for all that you will do. Whether it’s for another year, or two, or four – we will win.

(To watch video or read the full text of my House floor speech on marriage equality, click here.)