UPDATE: The vote in the House of Delegates for the passage of the Civil Marriage Protection Act, which would legalize same-sex marriage in Maryland, was postponed, possibly until next year, after a two-hour debate on March 11. According to the Associated Press, the overwhelming lobbying by religious groups against the bill within the past few weeks shows that passage “won’t be easy, even in a state known for its liberal politics.”

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The high profile issue of the legality of gay marriage has made it to Maryland. The bill to legalize same-sex marriage in Maryland passed in the Senate on Feb. 24 in a very close 25-21 vote. It has been sent to the Maryland House of Delegates, after successfully passing through the House Judiciary Committee by a 12-10 vote on March 4. According to The Washington Post, the vote in the House of Delegates will most likely take place today.

The bill, called The Civil Marriage Protection Act, would redefine marriage to be between “two individuals,” rather than between a man and a woman.

The House Judiciary Committee vote was delayed multiple times, as two delegates who were initially in support of the bill, Tiffany Alston (D-Prince George’s County) and Jill Carter (D-Baltimore), did not attend a scheduled voting day in protest of the House’s fast-paced procedure and discouragement of proposing amendments.

According to The Montgomery County Sentinel, Alston was concerned about the way the bill moved through the committee, and she ended up voting against the bill due to a strong response from her constituents. Her vote did not affect the passage of the bill through the House Judiciary Committee, even though it contradicted her previous beliefs about the bill.

“From the beginning of my campaign I have told the people that elected me that I personally supported the same-sex couple’s right to marry,” Alston said in a statement to The Washington Post on March 1.

Though Maryland is a blue state, some state politicians are unsure how to vote on the issue because they have to gauge whether or not their constituents favor gay marriage. Catholic churches, for example, are clearly in opposition to gay marriage, and have been heard by politicians like Alston, because they represent a large, actively voting group of Marylanders.

Gov. Martin O’Malley said that if the bill passes in the House of Delegates, he will sign it into law.

If the Civil Marriage Protection Act is passed, it will be added to the laundry list of recent immense steps forward in the gay rights movement, along with President Barack Obama’s recent withdrawal of his support for the Defense of Marriage Act and the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

Senior Josh Martinez, the secretary of the WJ Gay-Straight alliance chapter, believes that this development is a good step forward, whether the bill passes or not.

“As much as I would love gay marriage [to be legal], we should have policies that are non-discriminatory first and take care of other problems before jumping to that,” said Martinez.