A marriage equality bill in Maryland, approved by the state’s House of Delegates on February 17 by a vote of 72 to 67, passed the state’s Senate on February 23 by a vote of 25 to 22, and Governor Martin O’Malley, who is a sponsor of the measure and has made it “a cornerstone of [his] legislative agenda this year,” according to Equality Maryland, signed the bill into law on March 1. O’Malley has pledged that, should the law go to referendum on the November ballot, he will actively campaign to preserve the right to same-sex marriage.