D.C. Councilman Marion Barry told church leaders and other opponents of gay marriage Tuesday that he opposed the city council’s decision to recognize same-sex marriages performed outside the District.
Calling himself “a politician who is moral,” Barry said he would have voted against the measure if he had been present at the April 6 session. The former mayor, who was convicted of cocaine possession in 1990 and has recently been investigated for not paying his taxes, was recovering earlier this month from a kidney transplant.
The legislation recognizing same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions is supported by the 12 other council members, meaning Barry’s lone dissenting voice is unlikely to affect the outcome of the final vote on May 5.
Still, Barry urged the approximately 100 protesters outside the Wilson Building on Tuesday to “pack the chambers” and confront his colleagues at next week’s vote.
Bishop Harry Jackson of Hope Christian Church in Bowie, who organized the rally, said it was time to send a message to Mayor Adrian Fenty and the council.
“There will be consequences to your irreverence,” he said. “We will rock your world and shake your boat.”
Jackson said the council’s decision does not reflect strong opposition to same-sex marriage in the area’s religious community and argued that proponents of marriage equality misrepresented his position.
“This is not about hating gays, it’s about loving Jesus,” Jackson said.
But Lynne Breece, a counterprotester who described herself as a deeply religious person who believes in the institution of marriage, disagreed.
She called the movement against marriage equality “disgraceful” and compared it to opposition to interracial marriage during the civil rights era.
“As African-Americans we know what it’s like to be discriminated against,” she said. “We’re doing to others what was done to us.”
The vote to recognize other states’ gay marriages was seen as a first step to legalizing same-sex marriage in the District.
Peter Rosenstein, a prominent D.C. gay activist, said Tuesday that the city was ready for same-sex marriage.
“The D.C. population is more supportive of marriage equality than any place in the country” he said.
Councilman David Catania, one of the city council’s two openly gay members, is expected to introduce gay marriage legislation this year. But Congress, which must approve all D.C. bills before they become law, remains a potential obstacle.
