BELTSVILLE, Md. – With Maryland legalizing gay marriage, some conservative opponents and religious leaders are counting on members of their congregations, especially in black churches, to upend the legislation at the polls this fall.

Many African American church leaders oppose gay marriage in the liberal-leaning state that’s nearly one-third black, and President Obama’s re-election campaign is expected to drive many of their congregants to the polls. Opponents submitted draft language for a ballot referendum to overturn the measure after it passed the Legislature last week.

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Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley hands a pen to a supporter after signing the Civil Marriage Protection Act in Annapolis, Md., on Thursday. The Associated Press

Gov. Martin O’Malley signed the bill into law Thursday, and it takes effect in January 2013.

“Religious freedom was the very reason for our state’s founding and at the heart of religious freedom is the freedom of individual conscience,” O’Malley said.

Over the weekend, some pastors at predominantly black churches were already using their sermons to shop the referendum effort to their congregations, asking members to sign up for email alerts, put their name on petitions and overturn the law come November. The Catholic Church, which has 1.2 million parishioners in Maryland, has also openly opposed the bill.

A Sunday service at the Hope Christian Church in Beltsville was filled with murmurs of agreement as a spokeswoman for the Maryland Marriage Alliance rallied the mostly black congregation against the law.

“We will have the last say on how marriage will be defined in Maryland,” spokeswoman Dee Powell shouted to the audience.

Some churchgoers said they are bound by their faith to vote against gay marriage.

“It’s a personal value and opinion. It has nothing to do with President Barack Obama,” said 54-year-old DeBorah Martinez, who has attended Hope Christian for three years.

When a gay marriage bill fell short in the legislature last year, black pastors were given much of the credit for pressuring lawmakers to oppose it. The measure was pulled from the floor of the House as leaders realized it fell short of the needed votes.

Opposition from black pastors in Maryland belies an overall political stance that routinely includes their endorsement of Democratic candidates and support for their agendas.

Opponents need to collect nearly 56,000 valid voter signatures, equivalent to 3 percent of the people who voted in the 2010 gubernatorial election, to put the measure on the November ballot. Even gay marriage advocates expect the referendum to end up on the ballot.

Six states and the District of Columbia currently recognize gay marriages. The state of Washington has also legalized gay marriage, and its law takes effect in June. Voters there are expected to petition the measure to referendum this fall.

Maine legalized the unions for same-sex couples in 2009, but later that year became the only state overturn a such a law passed by a legislature.

Meanwhile, about 30 states have constitutional amendments that seek to prohibit gay marriage, most by defining marriage as between a man and a woman.

Donald Norris, chairman of the department of public policy at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, said black churches could heavily influence the referendum, but liberal voters who come out to support Obama could offset the votes against same-sex marriage.

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