The statute passed that year punished sodomy between free men with hard labor, with the possibility of being whipped for any misconduct.

[16] In March 1892, the Maryland General Assembly enacted a law stating that sodomy, and other felonies, may be prosecuted upon order from a Baltimore County Circuit Court.

The state also created a commission which reported in 1915 of cases of fellatio (oral sex), "heterosexual masochism and sadism" and homosexual activity in several cities, notably Baltimore.

[18] In April 1916,[19] as a result of the report, the state enacted a new law prohibiting oral sex, whether heterosexual or homosexual, with a penalty of up to 10 years' imprisonment and/or a fine of 1,000 dollars.

[27] In March 1951, a law enacted by the Maryland General Assembly stated that sodomy, and other felonies, were exempted from prosecution upon order from the Prince George's County Circuit Court.

The commission noted that practices in Maryland included frequent entrapment by "decoy" police, and suicides occasionally occurred from sodomy arrests.

[25] Scholar Robert G. Fisher, applying the Kinsey Report statistics to Maryland, estimated that there were 100,000 "practicing male homosexuals" in the state.

[39] However, some scholars argued that the decision was a victory for privacy rights of Marylanders but "stopped short of completely decriminalizing...sexual intimacy" in the state, called for modifying the Annotated Code of Maryland to ensure the decision is followed, and full decriminalization of sodomy in the state.

[43][44][45] Previously, in November 1980, Robert Bauman, a Maryland U.S. representative, lost re-election to Roy Dyson, after admitting that "homosexual tendencies" and alcoholism caused him to solicit a 16-year-old male prostitute for sexual intercourse.

[49] In June 2022, it was reported that various "openly gay and lesbian candidates" were running for election, or seeking re-election, in Montgomery, Prince George's and Howard Counties of Maryland.

[50] On January 30, 2020, Maryland Senate began discussion of a bill, proposed by Sen. Susan Lee, to repeal the unenforceable and unconstitutional sodomy ban.

[59][60][61] In 1973, Maryland became the first state to ban civil marriage between persons of the same sex, with the passage of legislation amending the family law statute.

[62] In Deane and Polyak v. Conaway in 2006,[32] seventeen Maryland plaintiffs pushed for legal marriage rights, supported by the ACLU.

[63] Since 2008, a limited form of domestic partnership has been available to all unmarried couples at least 18 years of age, who can verify their interdependent relationship through documentation.

[67] On March 15, 2011, the Maryland House of Delegates returned a bill to legalize same-sex marriage to the Judiciary Committee, tabling it for the rest of the legislative session, but keeping it alive until January 2012, with opposition from Catholic bishops in the state.

[78] In January 2023, Human Rights Campaign gave Maryland, and 20 other jurisdictions, the highest rating, of "Working Toward Innovative Equality".

[84] In 2015, the Maryland General Assembly passed a law requiring health insurers to offer fertility treatments as a benefit, regardless of a person's sexual orientation.

Despite no explicit laws on the matter, in 2007 the Maryland Court of Appeals made a ruling approving of gestational surrogacy arrangements.

[94] In August 2023, the Maryland Supreme Court made a formal ruling allowing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation - within a Catholic organization, building or setting as a charity.

[97] On May 15, 2001, Governor Parris Glendening signed into law the Antidiscrimination Act of 2001 passed by the Maryland General Assembly, which added protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation.

[105] Legislation to amend the state anti-discrimination law to include gender identity, the Fairness for All Marylanders Act of 2013, was introduced in January 2013.

[120] In 2015, the Maryland General Assembly passed a law to make it easier for transgender people to change the gender marker on their birth certificates without undergoing sex reassignment surgery or sterilization.

In 2019, the General Assembly passed a law allowing for an "X" gender marker on identity documents issued by the Motor Vehicle Administration.

[122][123][124] The Maryland State Board of Elections also began accepting "X" gender markers on voter registration forms on October 1, 2019.

[127] In March 2018, the United States District Court for the District of Maryland ruled that federal and state law protected rights of transgender students to "use the restroom and locker rooms in alignment with their gender identity", in a case striking down policy of Talbot County Public Schools.

[129][130] In February 1994, field hockey player Vicki Yost, who attended University of Maryland from 1988 to 1992, sued the school's coach, Margaret Meharg, and athletic director, Suzanne Taylor, for reportedly forcing her to hide her lesbian identity, and asked for $1.5 million in damages, with charges denied by coach Meharg.

[131] In February 2022, a report by the Montgomery County Office of Legislative Oversight noted that gender non-conforming and transgender individuals can participate in athletics in Maryland accordance with their gender identity "without requiring proof, documentation, or medical or legal transition", and that participation by such individuals is not tracked by the county.

[134] A policy coordinator at FreeState Justice, Jamie Grace Alexander, argued that the law "specifically targets transgender girls".

[137][138][139] A 2017 Public Religion Research Institute poll found that 66% of Maryland residents supported same-sex marriage, while 25% were opposed and 9% were unsure.

[141] A 2022 Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) poll found that 71% of Maryland residents supported same-sex marriage, while 26% were opposed and 2% were unsure.