Maryland courts will likely rule that same-sex couples legally married elsewhere are recognized as married in Maryland, according to an opinion issued today by Attorney General Douglas Gansler.  He was responding to a request for an opinion filed by State Sen. Richard Madaleno, who is openly gay.  The opinion does not carry the weight of law, but it does guide state judges who may well decide the matter.

Gansler also said it was his opinion that Maryland’s governor may not issue an executive order recognizing same-sex, out-of-state marriages.

A Baltimore Sun story about the opinion quoted one state legislator who’s trying to block marriage equality in Maryland:

(T)he opinion will likely stir an election-year debate about the polarizing issue. The House earlier this year rejected a measure that would have preempted Gansler’s opinion by barring the state from recognizing same-sex marriages.

Del. Emmett Burns, a Baltimore County Democrat who introduced that bill and opposes same-sex marriage, said he is “not surprised at all” by what he called a “poltitical” ruling.

“The attorney general has made a big mistake,” Burns said. “I don’t understand that kind of rationale coming from a legal mind. All it does is muddle. It doesn’t clarify anything.”

Burns said Gansler, whom he said may have his eye on a higher office, “is simply trying to develop a political base.”

Burns said Sen. Norman Stone, a fellow Baltimore County Democrat, is pursuing a bill similar to his own effort to override Gansler’s ruling by implementing a new law.

Meanwhile, the House Judiciary committee is considering a bill that would basically codify Gansler’s decision. Burns said that if that measure comes to the House floor, it will cause “pandemonium in an election year.”

Burns said he expects voters to ultimately decide the matter. “It is going to end up on referendum, and I am going to win.”