The D.C. election board has blocked a proposed ballot measure on whether gay marriages performed elsewhere should be recognized in the District, saying the vote would violate the city’s Human Rights Act.
Brian Raum, counsel for referendum supporters, said the decision will be immediately appealed to the D.C. Superior Court.
Board Chairman Errol Arthur and member Charles Lowery Jr. agreed in their 12-page ruling that the referendum “may not be accepted” because it would “strip same-sex couples of the rights and responsibilities of marriage that they were afforded by virtue of entering into valid marriages elsewhere.” That would violate the city’s Human Rights Act, according to the ruling.
The measure recognizing gay marriages, adopted by the D.C. Council last month, is consistent with previous council efforts “to eradicate impermissible discrimination on the basis of same-sex discrimination,” the decision states. The council’s action, the board wrote, effectively added gay couples married in other jurisdictions to the city’s list of protected classes.
“For over 30 years, we have endeavored to perfect and expand our understanding of equality,” at-large Councilman David Catania, who is gay, said in a statement. “In my opinion, there is no question that the proposed referendum would have the effect of continuing discrimination.”
But Raum responded that court precedent, namely Dean v. District of Columbia, already bars all same-sex marriages in D.C. The 1995 D.C. Court of Appeals decision, certain to be at the heart of his appeal, held that the Superior Court clerk’s decision not to issue a marriage license to a gay couple was right and did not violate the Human Rights Act.
“There’s no principal difference between retaining marriage as between one man and one woman in the District and the District refusing to recognize same sex marriages from other states and other countries,” Raum said. “Both are the same. Neither of those two things violate the [Human Rights Act].”
Bishop Harry Jackson of Beltsville’s Hope Christian Church, leader of the referendum effort, told The Examiner that the council and the board “seems to be out of touch.” This isn’t about hatred, he said, “it’s about the next generation.”
“The people deserve the vote,” he said. “They have the right to talk. It doesn’t bode well where we are. People are really upset that they’re being left out of the loop.”
D.C. gay activist Peter Rosenstein issued a statement praising the decision.
“We will avoid a divisive fight in the District while we work to educate the entire community on civil marriage equality and how that will positively impact the lives of so many D.C. residents and their families,” he said.
