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The D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics today rejected an initiative petition on the issue of legalizing same-sex marriage in the District of Columbia. The petition was filed by an anti-same-sex marriage coalition led by Bishop Harry Jackson.
In an opinion released today, the Board made much the same argument that it did in a previous decision that barred a popular referendum on the matter of recognizing same-sex marriages that are performed legally in other jurisdictions. In both decisions, the Board held that such ballot measures do 'not present a proper subject of initiative because it would authorize discrimination prohibited under the Human Rights Act (“HRA”).' You can download the entire decision here.
The Board's reasoning in today's decision also turns on the existing law established by the Jury and Marriage Amendment Act of 2009, the one that allows the District to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions. The relevant passage:
Under current law, the District recognizes same-sex marriages validly performed in other jurisdictions. The proposed Initiative seeks to prohibit the District from continuing to recognize these same-sex marriages. The Initiative instructs that "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in the District of Columbia." If passed, the Initiative would, in contravention of the HRA, strip same-sex couples of the rights and responsibilities of marriages currently recognized in the District.
In other words, Jackson's petition would both violate the HRA in the same way that his previous petition would have, as well as it would violate the HRA specifically in its relation to the existing marriage recognition law.
Jackson's group, which has gained the support of the Archidiocese of Washington, will undoubtedly appeal the BOEE's decision, just as they did in the previous referendum effort. In that case, D.C. Superior Court Judge Judith Retchin upheld the Board's decision.
MORE: Here's the statement from Council member David Catania (I-At large):
“At the time of its passage, the District’s Human Rights Act was one of the most comprehensive statements on equality in the world. For over 30 years, we have endeavored to perfect and expand our understanding of equality," said Catania. "The proposed initiative would have stripped legally married same-sex couples of their vows. Those who proposed the initiative were attempting to write discrimination into our law, and I am pleased that the Board rejected this effort as an impermissible trespass on the human rights of District residents."
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Good. Civil rights should never be decided via referendum.
Please convince my beloved California of that...
Seriously...
And Maine...
alright, harry jackson, go cry to the repubicans in congress now and see if they'll help you out...
Not only will Bishop Jackson go beg Congress to intervene, I imagine he'll join his buddy Rev. Anthony Evans in his "movement to impeach the mayor of D.C., Adrian Fenty; D.C. Chairman At-Large Phil Mendelson, and Councilman Kwame Brown".
I gotta say, I'm pretty disappointed in these Maryland reverends. If I were going to intervene in Maryland's politics, I'd make sure I correctly matched up the politicans up with their office. A recall attempt for Senator Martin O'Malley or Governor Steny Hoyer or High Lady Executioner Barbara Mikulski would make my campaign seems amateurish, slapdash, and deranged.
D.C. pols might take him seriously, but Congress will laugh at him.
The appeal would be frivolous, because even if Congress intervenes and nukes the recognition of gay marriage in the HRA, there's still the second hurdle that the HRA prohibits discrimination in referenda, and the court has already ruled on that. Of course, if Congress nukes the recognition, there would really be no need for a referendum...
All that time spent gathering signatures when he could have been doing something about poverty and violence. {{shakes head}}
Amen, brother!!
As a functionally illiterate supporter of Rev. Jackson, I don't know what you are saying "Amen" to, but it's a word I recognize and must be anti-gay marriage. So I say "Amen!" too. Obviously I didn't actually write this since, as I stated, I am functionally illiterate. I used Dragon naturally speaking. Once we defeat gay marriage, Rev Jack and I plan to tackle my illiteracy and unemployment through a combination of prayer and scripture studies.
The Maryland Men of God know they will lose in court and in appealing to this Congress.
But what happens in a few years when Congress switches back to the Republicans? Opponents of the DC gay marriage bill will get a far easier reception in their attempts to overturn the DC law.
Heck, they could make an attempt now at getting some Republican to introduce a rider to some appropriations bill that would negate the DC law.
So I don't think we've seen the last of Bishop Jackson & Co.
Please note, I just made a couple of small edits in an attempt to clarify that this was an initiative petition, while the previous effort was a petition for a popular referendum. I had mixed up the two terms a little bit there.
Up until 1967, only white people could get married in many states. We've come a long way since then. But we have a long way to go. The inter-racial marriage debate is not much different than the same-sex marriage debate.
As this debate drags on public acceptance of gay marriage has dramatically increased, and will continue to do so the longer the debate goes on - this has happened in every single country, including the USA.
Gay marriage, just like Inter-racial marriage will eventually be legalized everywhere - eventually, because the longer this goes on the more people will accept it, and it's a never-ending debate.