Opponents of gay marriage vowed yesterday to bring the fractious debate over same-sex unions to a vote in the Maryland General Assembly and possibly to voters on the November ballot.

Del. Donald H. Dwyer Jr. is circulating a petition to take a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage directly to the floor of the House of Delegates without a committee vote. He also is seeking signatures to bring to the House floor a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage. While the Anne Arundel Republican is a fervent gay-rights opponent, he said Marylanders deserve to know their legislators' views.

"It's only when the votes are cast that we really know where people stand," Dwyer said.

At a news conference on Lawyers Mall in Annapolis yesterday, Dwyer said he has the backing of 34 of the required 47 lawmakers to bring to the floor the constitutional amendment, which has died in committee in previous years, and no backers to do the same for the gay-marriage bill. Lawmakers are typically wary of circumventing the committees, which have jurisdiction over certain areas of policy.

Lawmakers are expected to consider legislation on same-sex unions in committee hearings beginning next week. Gay-rights activists are seeking full marriage rights, but getting the support needed for passage could prove difficult, so the debate could shift to one over civil unions that confer rights to gay couples without allowing them to marry. Gov. Martin O'Malley, a Democrat, favors civil unions.

Maryland law currently defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman, and some Republican lawmakers say that restriction should be part of the constitution. A public vote in November would be necessary to add it to the constitution.

Conversely, if some form of legal recognition for same-sex couples is approved during this session, Republican lawmakers said they would petition that legislation to a referendum in the November election. Under that rarely used process, petitioners must gather signatures from at least 3 percent of the number of voters in the last gubernatorial election, or 53,000 based on the 2006 contest.

Gay-marriage proponents said they would welcome a referendum on the issue in November, when Democrats are expected to turn out in record numbers for the hotly contested presidential election.

"We'll plan for that and fight for that," said Carrie Evans, director of policy and planning at Equality Maryland, a leading gay rights group. "We're not going to get something in the legislature only to walk away and let them get us at the ballot box."

laura.smitherman@baltsun.com