 During the 1990s, attempts to both ban and legalize same-sex marriage did not pass through the Legislature.After a Maryland House of Delegates committee voted in March 2004 to reject a pair of marriage bills that would have submitted a constitutional amendment against same-sex marriage to voters and invalidated same-sex marriages performed in another state or foreign country, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Equality Maryland filed a lawsuit, "Deane & Polyak v. Conaway", to challenge the existing law on behalf of nine same-sex couples and one bereaved man whose partner had died.The lead plaintiffs, from whom the case received its name, were Gita Deane, a learning specialist at Goucher College, and her partner Lisa Polyak, an environmental engineer for the U.S. Army Medical Department.