Right-wing politicians are moving to block a recent District of Columbia Council bill that would give legal recognition to same-sex marriages in the city. On Dec.15, 2009, the D.C. Council approved The Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act of 2009 in a decisive 11-to-2 vote. Richard Rosendall, a past president of the Gay and Lesbian Activist Alliance of Washington, D.C., described the passage of the bill as “a culmination of the entire gay rights movement,” and noted, “We have spent many, many years working toward this.”
That clear statement against bigotry is now under attack by the right-wing politicians on Capitol Hill, who under current law are able to oversee the local affairs of the district. The bill is slated to go into effect in March 2010, but Bob Bennett, a Republican senator from Utah, introduced a bill on Feb. 2 that would postpone its implementation and force the city to hold a referendum on the proposed bill. Representative Jason Chaffetz, a Republican from Utah, has filed similar legislation in the House of Representatives.
Bennett, Chaffetz and other politicians hope to sow division in the city, stirring up bigotry and also strengthening their support from reactionary constituencies far from Washington. At the same time, forcing a referendum on such a basic human right would draw attention away from the many serious problems all poor and working-class people are facing.
This interference from Congress comes in spite of a recent court ruling opposing any city-wide referendum on legal recognition of same-sex marriages. Opponents of same-sex marriage had previously attempted to force a referendum on the issue, but the city’s board of elections has twice rejected those efforts. In a significant victory for gay-marriage advocates, Judge Judith Macaluso ruled that Washington’s Human Rights Act explicitly forbids discrimination based on sexual orientation. She further noted, “The fact that the proposed initiative [calling for a referendum], if passed, would violate the Human Rights Act provides an independent basis for upholding the Board’s decision: the initiative runs afoul of an implied exclusion barring provisions that violate the state’s law.”
The politicians’ support of a referendum in this highly divisive issue is particularly interesting in light of an earlier public referendum in Washington, D.C. In 1998, the city held a referendum on allowing doctors to prescribe the use of marijuana for medical conditions. The referendum passed by an overwhelming margin, almost 7-to-3, but politicians from Congress stepped in and forced the city to not formally count the response.
If the Council’s progressive bill survives the congressional meddling, Washington, D.C., will join New Hampshire, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont and Massachusetts in legally recognizing same-sex marriage. Council member David A. Catania, who was the chief sponsor of the bill, said, “It really speaks to the long and rich tradition of tolerance and acceptance that does make up the sense of place in the District of Columbia.” The Party for Socialism and Liberation celebrates the efforts of the city’s vibrant, politically active LGBT community in its ongoing struggle for full equality.
