How many times have we heard those opposed to marriage equality say "let the states decide" or "let the people have a say" ; and when state representatives who are elected by the people vote in favor of equality for everyone regardless of sexual orientation or the majority of the people in a given state choose equality all hell breaks loose?
It's happening in Maine and Iowa and a group of black pastors in Washington, D.C. are working fervently to overturn an almost unanimous vote by the D.C. City council recognizing same-sex unions performed outside of the district that went into effect early last month.
A scheduled meeting by the pastors on August 12 to help organize a ballot initiative regarding same-sex marriage in D.C. drew just five commissioners-most of whom said they opposed such an initiative.
From The Washington Blade:
The 8:30 a.m. meeting, which was called by Ward 5 ANC Commissioner Robert King, was scheduled to take place at Mount Zion Baptist Church on upper 14th St., N.W., in Ward 4. But church employees did not arrive in time to unlock the doors, forcing King to convene the meeting on the sidewalk outside.
In addition to the five commissioners, all from Ward 4, about seven or eight others joined the meeting. Some said they were members of a local coalition supporting same-sex marriage and came to urge the commissioners not to back a ballot measure on the issue.
King said he called the meeting as a follow-up to an Aug. 4 letter he sent all of the city’s 236 ANC commissioners. In the letter, he asked commissioners to sign a resolution supporting a D.C. ballot initiative in 2010 that would allow voters to decide whether same-sex marriage should be banned or legalized in the city.
James Davis II, of ANC 4C who said he supports marriage equality for same-sex couples, asked King whether he would have supported a voter initiative on the landmark U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964 or the Voting Rights Act of 1965, two measures credited with helping to end racial discrimination in the U.S.
“Should Alabama have been given a vote on a law like that?” Davis asked King. “A plebiscite would have resulted in those laws being voted down.”
In response, King said that he would not “talk about that.”
“You want me to wake up Rip Van Winkle,” he said. “I’m not going back to that. I want the people to vote here and now on the issue of whether the definition of marriage should be changed.”
How convenient of King not to answer. When are these ministers going to start using their energy towards actual problems that are affecting members in their congregations and the black community as a whole? In a city where 3% of its residents are infected with HIV/AIDS I'm sure his attention could be better utilized by building an HIV/AIDS ministry in his church. But I guess that would require real work and compassion.
Get into the video below via Washington Blade:
h/t Michael Crawford
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