DC Marriage Equality Bill Introduced

Yesterday the Washington, DC, City Council received a bill legalizing marriage between same-sex individuals. The fight is going to line up, let's say, uniquely.

On one hand, it is almost certain that there will be strong opposition from the so-called "black preachers." Washington, DC, aka "Chocolate City," has a lot of churches with mostly black members, they are a powerful institution in the city and have done a lot of good as far as helping people overcome poverty and discrimination and providing a backbone to the community. On the other hand, most of these churches are strict and fundamentalist, and the preachers see homosexuality as a sin to be rooted out of the society. Last summer they made a scene when the DC City Council voted to recognize gay marriages from other states. The vote in that case was 12-1, with the one vote against coming from Marion Barry, who had met with a group of preachers and acknowledged that their view is prevalent in his district and should be respected. You may remember this: "All hell is going to break lose," Barry said while speaking to reporters. "We may have a civil war. The black community is just adamant against this."

On the other hand, anything that happens in DC has to be approved by Congress. Congress has thirty days to pass a resolution to block a law, and the resolution has to be signed by the President. Will that happen? You can bet there will be Congresspersons pushing for it, and the President has shown only spinelessness in keeping his promises to the gay community so far. So it's a toss-up, there will definitely be a debate, the Republicans will be against marriage equality and the Democrats may or may not have the balls to support it. Sorry, I couldn't think of a different way to say that.

Here's The Post yesterday afternoon:

Dozens of activists on both sides of the same-sex marriage debate crammed into the D.C. Council chambers Tuesday to watch council member David A. Catania introduce his bill to allow same-sex couples to wed in the District.

Starting at 9 a.m., the activists filed into the John A. Wilson Building, eventually filling the chamber and spilling into the hallway.

But after months of anticipation, Catania's official introduction was fairly anticlimatic.

"We are about to embark on an exciting journey here in the city," Catania (I-At Large), who is openly gay, told the audience when he introduced his bill shortly after noon.

Catania's proposal is being co-sponsored by council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) and the other at-large members of the council -- Michael A. Brown (I), Kwame R. Brown (D) and Phil Mendelson (D).

Council members Jim Graham (D-Ward 1), Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3), Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4) and Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) are also supporting the measure, virtually assuring it will be approved later this year. Council members Marion Barry (D-Ward 8), Harry Thomas Jr. (D-Ward 5) and Yvette M. Alexander (D-Ward 7) have declined to sign on as co-sponsors.

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) has vowed to sign the bill. Congress will have 30 legislative days to review the legislation and both Democratic and Republican leaders on Capitol Hill have said there does not appear to be a strong movement to block it from becoming law. Gay Marriage Bill Unveiled Before Packed D.C. Council Chambers

I think what we will see is posturing by conservatives in Congress, who will have to say something bad about gays and lesbians marrying, maybe introduce some hopeless legislation, give some hometown speeches against marriage, etcetera, but there is no momentum at that level to beat this.

The real battle may be played out locally, which is, I think, how it should be. You have a strong network of churches that preach against gay-anything and will not accept marriage between two people of the same sex. Those churches have the respect of local politicians, and are an important source of support for them. You want those preachers to be backing you up, to put it mildly, they can do a lot of political damage from the pulpit and working within their congregations.

Skipping down into this same Post article...

Bishop Harry Jackson, pastor of Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, reiterated his push for a citywide referendum to outlaw gay marriage. The Board of Elections and Ethics plans to hold a hearing on Jackson's request Oct. 26.

If the board rejects his request for a public vote, Jackson has vowed that he will go to court to try to force a referendum.

"This is not a human rights battle," Jackson said. "It's a political battle."

Representatives for the Archdiocese of Washington and the Family Research Council also spoke out against the bill.

"The bill introduced today by some members of the District of Columbia City Council to redefine marriage is at odds with marriage's fundamental purpose," the Archdiocese said in a statement. "You cannot redefine biology."

Sultan Shakir of the Human Rights Campaign countered that Catania's bill sends "an important message that the District does not discriminate." Shakir said his organization will continue to resist Jackson's efforts to hold a referendum on the matter.

"We just don't think putting civil rights to a vote is good policy," Shakir said.

Yes, this is an interesting concept. We think of our form of government as a democracy, but it is not, strictly speaking, the majority doesn't rule on everything. We don't vote on every measure, every law, every budget item, we vote for representatives to study those issues and make good choices. This is a beautiful system, in that it buffers policy decisions from the kinds of forces that work in, say, advertising, where you try to persuade someone without actually informing them. The people of the District of Columbia elected these particular Council members to make policy decisions for them, and it is entirely possible that the vote on marriage equality will go opposite of public opinion. The fact is, minorities deserve rights, too, even if they are unappreciated or even reviled by the majority. The representative form of government slows impulsive reactions to hot-button topics; a small number of well-informed representatives can make better decisions than a vote by the entire population after they have been stirred up by inflammatory campaign slogans and images.

So in a nutshell, the City Council and mayor will almost certainly approve this bill legalizing same-sex marriage in the District of Columbia; Congress will almost certainly not block it; and the churches are threatening to push for a referendum to ban same-sex marriages in DC, which could go either way. It's going to get interesting, as the city contemplates the role of religion and the population's commitment to the civil rights of minorities in a new light.