Gov. Martin O'Malley said Friday he will push harder for a same-sex marriage measure in Maryland next year if it mirrors legislation that passed in New York after changes were made to protect religious freedom.

"I think we can learn from what they did," O'Malley, a Democrat, said while attending the National Governors Association meeting in Salt Lake City. "One of the things we're looking at in the drafting is how their clauses with regard to religious freedom were different from ours. That might improve our efforts. And I certainly plan to be very active in support of it, and we'll have other announcements in upcoming months."