D.C. Council hears from both sides in gay marriage debate
Examiner Staff Writer
October 27, 2009
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| Bishop Harry Jackson Jr., chairman of Stand4Marriage DC, left, one of the most outspoken individuals against gay marriage, and Sampson McCormick, a gay marriage supporter, listen to testimony given to the D.C. Council concerning gay marriage Monday. (Andrew Harnik/Examiner) |
Gay rights in D.C.» Recognizes same sex marriages performed elsewhere.
» Gay couples have 95 percent of the rights of straight married couples through domestic partnership law.
» Protected under the Human Rights Act.
The two sides of the same-sex marriage fight took their battle to the D.C. Council on Monday, with gay marriage supporters making their case for civil rights and equality and opponents raising the specter of tradition and God's law.
At issue is openly gay Councilman David Catania's proposal to legalize same-sex marriage in the District, as five states have done. The bill provides that members of the clergy would not be required to perform gay marriages against their beliefs.
"This issue for me is whether or not the public space in the District of Columbia is big enough to accommodate civil equality and religious freedoms," Catania said.
For Geraldine Washington, a gay marriage opponent, it is not.
"You've been reckless, feckless and just irresponsible to an ungodly fault," Washington said of the council.
Nearly 270 people signed up to testify before the judiciary committee, chaired by Councilman Phil Mendelson -- roughly the first 100 speaking Monday and the rest on Nov. 2.
"Sometimes things are so obviously right and just you wonder why it took us so long to get us where we are," said Ward 3 Councilwoman Mary Cheh.
Catania's measure is expected to pass before the end of the year. Of the 13 council members, 10 have co-sponsored the bill.
"All of us have gay people in our families," said Kathryn Pearson-West, a same-sex marriage critic. "We love them, but that does not mean they are guaranteed a right or are entitled to marriage. Marriage is between a man and a woman."
The occasionally emotional hearing provided both sides an opportunity to relate stories of lifelong struggle, civil rights activism, devotion to God, and belief in traditional marriage.
"Pass this bill and help make my brother's partner of 15 years my brother-in-law," said Marisa Levy.
"I'm against it," said Shirley Rivens Smith, the current Ms. Senior D.C. "I'm a Christian."
The strength of a successful married couple is the "love and commitment they manifest toward each other and their children," not their gender, said the Rev. Dennis Wiley of Covenant Baptist Church, co-chairman of D.C. Clergy United for Marriage Equality.
"Separate is not equal," said Jay Fisette, vice chairman of the Arlington County board and the first openly gay elected official in Virginia. "My sexual orientation is not a choice, it was a discovery. And if it is not a choice how can someone make a moral judgment about it?"
The D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics also held a hearing Monday on a proposed voter initiative to define marriage as the union as one man and one woman.
