There's just not a lot to be enthusiastic about, because the governor
hasn't done much to help us move forward," said Dan Furmansky,
director of Equality Maryland, a leading gay rights group. "Why did
the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community work so hard to
elect this person? What do we have to show for it at this point?
The fits and starts of gay rights in Maryland reflect what has
happened nationally. Four years after Massachusetts became the first
state to allow same-sex marriage, no other state has followed suit,
and only a handful offer civil unions, an institution that
dissatisfies many activists who consider it separate but unequal.