An amendment to give some measure of protection to religious freedom is being put in same-sex marriage  legislation in the US state of Maryland, Governor Martin O’Malley said this week.

Governor O’Malley, a Democrat who is making same-sex marriage a priority of his legislative agenda this year, said bill drafters were especially sensitive to protecting religious freedom in hopes of persuading lawmakers — as well as the state’s voters — to support the legislation.

Attempts to legalise same-sex marriage in Maryland, one of the most liberal states in the US, failed last year when legislators from African-American districts refused to support the bill.

The governor said he believes the Maryland legislation is more specific on the point of protecting religious freedom than any of the six other states that have legalised same-sex marriage so far.

“We have done our very best in the drafting of this bill to make very, very, very explicit the protections of religious liberty as well as the protection of rights equally under the law, and it’s my hope that that will not only allow more support in the House of Delegates but, as importantly, I hope it will allow more people throughout our state to be able to support this bill,” O’Malley said. 

“One does not have to be an advocate for same-sex marriage in order to support equal rights under the law.”

This year’s legislation spells out that religious groups have exclusive control over their own theological doctrine, policy teachings and beliefs. The bill also makes it clear that there is a difference between civil marriage and religious marriage.

Religious groups and their leaders won’t be required to conduct marriage ceremonies or include same-sex couples in their marriage-related programs. They also won’t be subject to a lawsuit or punished by the state for declining to do so.

It is not clear whether churches would have to rent out their halls to same-sex couples wishing to use them to celebrate their union or whether privates citizens such as photographers could decline to photograph the ceremony on conscientious grounds.

The debate is set to be one of the more high-profile ones in Maryland’s 90-day legislative session. A bill passed the Senate last year, but it stalled in the House of Delegates where several key delegates were not comfortable with it.

Delegate Neil C. Parrott, R-Washington, who opposes the bill, said he will be focused on stopping the legislation.

Parrott, who helped lead a successful petition drive last year that put legislation allowing in-state tuition for illegal immigrants under certain circumstances at Maryland colleges, said he would be prepared to lead another petition drive, if necessary.

“I anticipate it’s going to stop here on the floor,” Parrott said during an interview in the House of Delegates. “I am going to be active this year. If any bills go through that go against what I believe a majority of Marylanders want, and goes against Maryland families, we’re going to petition those bills.”

The bill narrowly made it out of the Judiciary Committee last year before it died in the House. 

Meanwhile, the Republican governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie vowed Tuesday to veto a same-sex marriage bill under consideration in the Legislature, stalling Democrats’ plans to revive a measure that failed two years ago and attempting to force lawmakers to put the issue on the ballot instead.

“Whether or not to redefine hundreds of years of societal and religious traditions should not be decided by 121 people in the Statehouse,” Mr Christie said. “Let the people of New Jersey decide what is right for the state.”

Mr Christie had said as recently as Monday he would consider the issue if the bill gained momentum in the Legislature, but then made his first explicit promise to veto the bill after a town hall event Tuesday in Bridgewater. The Senate Judiciary Committee, which was holding a hearing on the bill the same day, forwarded the measure to the full Senate hours later, on an 8-4 party-line vote.

With Mr Christie’s position now clear — he staked out similar ground while campaigning for office in 2009 — Republican lawmakers are expected to line up behind the governor. Democrats do not have veto-proof majorities in either house, dimming prospects for an override even if they get the bill through; not all Democrats support it.