Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler issued an opinon that Maryland law requires the state to recognize same-sex unions performed in other states:

The opinion appears to place Maryland alongside New York in its view of out-of-state gay marriages. Until now, New York was the only state that didn’t perform same-sex weddings but offered gay couples married elsewhere the same legal protections that married heterosexual couples enjoy.

Washington, D.C., which is expected to begin issuing marriage licenses to gay couples this spring, also honors same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. California recognizes some out-of-state gay marriages.

Attorney General Douglas Gansler issued his opinion Wednesday in response to a lawmaker’s question about how the state should regard gay couples legally wed elsewhere.

“State agencies in Maryland will recognize out-of-state gay marriages as of right now,” Mr. Gansler said at a press conference, according to The Washington Post.

Since Washington is set to begin performing same-sex marriages in the coming weeks, there is some concern among state legislators that gay couples in Maryland will simply marry in Washington and sidestep the state’s law. According to The Baltimore Sun, one lawmaker has introduced a bill that would ban the state from honoring those unions.

Gansler appears to be attempting to preempt that move.

Still, in his written decision, he said, “what we say in this opinion is a prediction, not a prescription” about how Maryland’s court would view the matter.

Read more about Gansler’s decision in The Baltimore Sun.

A poll conducted for the Washington Post shows that a majority of voters back the right to marry for all couples regardless of their sexual orientation. The poll does show a significant racial divide on the subject; while eithty-three percent of white voters back marriage equality, only thirty-seven percent of African American voters are supportive. There is also significant support for a referendum to sustain the law 2009 law passed by the City Council.

Although most District residents are in sync with the council in support of same-sex marriage, there is widespread public support for putting the question to a city-wide vote.

Nearly six in 10 residents say they would prefer to vote on the issue. City leaders have said a public vote would be discriminatory. “I don’t think it should be a decree made by the government,” said Pablo Barreyro, 72, of Chevy Chase. “I don’t think it should be left to a small party of politicians. . . . I really wonder what the outcome would be if it becomes available for public input.”

If it lands on the ballot, however, the District would be well positioned to become the first state-level jurisdiction in the country where voters embraced same-sex marriage, according to the poll.

Nearly six in 10 D.C. residents, including 83 percent of whites, favor making it legal for gay couples to marry.

…

But some divisions are evident in the local black community on this issue, with sharp divides by church attendance and education.

One in five African Americans who attend church services weekly favor same-sex marriage, and support rises to 47 percent among those who attend less often. A narrow majority of black college graduates supports gay marriage, compared with about a third of African Americans with less formal education.

Read more about marriage equality in Washington, DC in the Washington Post.