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Community members rally together for - and against - the Civil Marriage Protection Act
For Rabbi Elissa Sachs-Kohen, the issue of same-sex marriage isn't just a debate over religion and civil rights. To her, it is also personal.
Rabbi Sachs-Kohen of Baltimore Hebrew Congregation wants to see Maryland's Civil Marriage Protection Act affirmed because she wants her family to be treated with the same rights under the law as heterosexual couples.
"This debate is one about fairness for all people," said Rabbi SachsKohen, who lives in Pikesville with her partner, Missy, and her children, Manny, 8, and Noa, 6.
Rabbi Sachs-Kohen is not alone. Thousands of people across the state are working to ensure that Maryland officially legalizes same-sex marriage when voters take to the polls on Nov. 6.
This appears especially true in much of the Jewish community. According to a May 11 article from uve Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 75 percent of American Jews polled support samesex marriage.
Grass-Roots Effort
Among those that are organizing efforts in support of same-sex marriage in Maryland is Baltimore Hebrew Congregation.
The Pikesville Reform synagogue has already held a phone session to call members of its congregation and has many more efforts in the works heading into the election.
"Jews for the most part view samesex marriage as a civil rights issue," Rabbi Sachs-Kohen said. "It's helping one of the last remaining minority groups seek equal protection under the law."
The leadership of Temple Emanuel, a Reform congregation in Kensington, is also calling on its congregants to support the bill.
Congregation members David and Barbara Fishback have made legalizing same-sex marriage in Maryland a personal mission of theirs for years....