They start again at 11am, apparently. The Washington Post has a good summary. I thought this argument was interesting. Though I think it's based on racial stereotypes. But it might help sway African-American legislators.
Del. Mary Washington (D-Baltimore), the only openly gay African American member of the legislature, has been working a different angle. She’s offering not so much an emotional appeal as a logical one.I know some "white gays" who couldn't get married, had a kid, and now are splitting up, and it's a mess because they were never able to get legally married in the first place. (I'm also betting that there are a lot of "white gays" in Alabama and Mississippi who aren't any richer than anyone else in those states.) Also, interesting that it was black gay leaders at CAP who recently tried to diss marriage equality's impact on the black community.
“I want to talk about equal treatment under the law,” she explained. She’s a little tired of African Americans who dismiss the issue as one that matters only to a bunch of well-to-do gay white men.
Rich gay white folks, she argued, can hire expensive lawyers to write complex legal contracts to protect partners when it comes to benefits, medical issues and so forth. Marriage is nice, yes, but they don’t need necessarily need it to protect themselves.
When you look at the socioeconomics of it, Washington said, it’s black gays and lesbians who are more likely to be struggling with finances and unable to afford a lawyer to help them secure their lifetime partner’s pension, get access to medical insurance or untangle housing issues.
“I try to tell them that this is also about protecting our families, our poor and working- class people,” she said.
