Md. Court Urged To Toss Out Ban On Gay Marriage

"We just want to have the security to know that if something happens to him, or to me even, we will be able to be there for each other," Wojahn said.

Among those on the steps was RoseMarie Briggs of the Family Leader Network, a national lobbying organization that backs a constitutional amendment prohibiting same-sex marriage. She said children who are raised "in the home with their married mother and father in a low-conflict marriage" are more likely to succeed in school and to avoid such social hazards as illegal drug use.

"Our laws should reflect what is best for children, not what is best for adults," she said.

In court, Zarnoch argued that the disputed statute is "gender-neutral" because it does not benefit or burden one sex more than the other.

He also argued that gay men and lesbians do not constitute a "suspect class," a designation applied to racial minorities and other groups that have faced discrimination and are held to be deserving of special protections under the law.

Such classes, Zarnoch said, are typically politically powerless. By contrast, he said, "in Maryland, we have openly gay legislators who, in fact, are legislative powerhouses in leadership."

Choe disputed that, saying that if gay men and lesbians were politically powerful, they would have been able to achieve their aims through the legislature.

The court could rule on the case at any time.