After approving legislation to recognize same-sex marriages made outside the District earlier this year, the D.C. City Council is now tackling the issue of approving same-sex marriages made within the city.
The council’s Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary is scheduled to hold a hearing Monday, Nov. 2, to discuss the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act of 2009, a bill to permit same-sex marriage in the city of D.C.
At-Large D.C. Council Member David Catania first proposed the bill on Oct. 6. Over 250 people — AU students among them — plan to testify both for and against the bill at this hearing.
Canyon Bosler, a sophomore in the School of International Service and the College of Arts and Sciences, signed up to testify at the hearing after encouragement from groups for which he has volunteered, including D.C. Clergy United for Marriage Equality and the D.C. Marriage Coalition, he said.
Bosler, who plans to go to seminary after graduating AU to get a Masters in Divinity as a Unitarian Universalist Minister, wanted to emphasize at the hearing that the bill pertains to religious freedoms as well as civil rights issues.
“The fact that only certain marriages will be recognized by law is a problem for us because it is infringing on my right ... as a future minister ... to marry couples as I see fit,” Bosler said.
The process of signing up to testify was very simple, according to Bosler. “Basically ... you just e-mail or call the secretary of the city council, and she’ll put you on the list because anyone who wants to speak can speak,” Bosler said.
Travis Ballie, a senior in the SIS and the Kogod School of Business, signed up to testify at the hearing after learning about the opportunity from both Bosler and the D.C. Marriage Coalition, for which Ballie has volunteered, he said.
Ballie wanted to tell D.C. Council members the importance of the issue of marriage equality has in his decision of whether to stay in D.C. after graduating from AU.
“I hope that the council members will realize that this is ... about how we are presenting our city to attract high-skilled workers and the many undergraduates in the area,” Ballie said.
Support for the Bill
Ten council members, including the two Independents, are co-sponsors of the bill, according to the City Council Web site. Out of the 13 members of the D.C. City Council, 11 are affiliated with the Democratic Party, and two are independent of party affiliation.
President of AU College Democrats Bo Hammond, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, did not know that this bill was being considered in the D.C. City Council but said that he supports it.
“[AU College Democrats] will absolutely support [the bill] and campaign for it, and we’ll campaign for candidates who believe in equal rights for every American,” Hammond said.
Besides the unity of the Democratic majority in Congress and the City Council, the success of past legislation is a good sign for this bill, according to Ballie. The D.C. Council passed a bill earlier this year to recognize the union of same-sex couples married in other states and Congress did not veto that decision.
“When that bill was passed ... that was a test-legislation to see if Congress would interfere in later bills,” Ballie said. “Thankfully, they did not, and signs showing that Congress will not interfere this time around. I feel ... confident about our stand here.”
Opposition to the Bill: Congressional Intervention
Despite hopes that Congress will not intervene, some members of Congress plan to oppose the bill, according to The Washington Post.
Representative Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, told the Post that he would oppose the bill. However, it is unlikely that Congress will interfere because the health care battle will overshadow D.C. local issues in Congress. Congressional Republicans are also not unified on the issue of how much they should speak out on gay marriage, Chaffetz said.
David Lindgren, secretary of AU College Republicans and a sophomore in SIS, said gay marriage is a very sensitive topic for Republicans.
“Positions vary across the Republican Party, especially considering the different types and varying backgrounds that the Republican Party represents,” Lindgren said in an e-mail. “I am against gay marriage, but I’m still on the fence on how far the government should go to protect traditional marriages and prohibit gay marriages.”
Opposition to the Bill: Stand for Marriage Initiative
The most verbal opposition to the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act of 2009 comes from the group Stand for Marriage, D.C., which is comprised of a coalition of religious and community leaders.
Stand for Marriage, D.C., organized a demonstration called “The People’s Rally,” to verbalize support for new legislation that would potentially define marriage in D.C. as being between a man and a woman.
More than 100 people gathered at the Freedom Plaza in downtown D.C. on Oct. 25 to support this cause.
The legislation, named the “Defense of Marriage Initiative,” was filed Sept. 1 by Stand for Marriage, D.C. If passed, the initiative will appear on the 2010 ballot as a referendum for D.C. residents.
The initiative says: “Only marriage between a man and woman is valid or recognized in the District of Columbia.” Should it make it to the ballot, D.C. residents would vote either “yes” or “no,” according to Stand for Marriage, D.C., which organized the protest to verbalize its cause.
David Lindgren, secretary of AU College Republicans and a sophomore in SIS, supports the initiative because it gives the people of D.C. a direct say in this issue.
“I’m concerned about ... elected officials’ intervention with this issue because a select few with an agenda should not be legislating on an issue that people heartily disagree with,” Lindgren said.
Stand for Marriage, D.C., also emphasizes the voting rights of the people as the issue surrounding its initiative.
Bishop Harry Jackson, a member of the Stand for Marriage coalition and senior pastor of Hope Christian in Beltsville, Md., defended the initiative in a press release on the Stand for Marriage Web site.
“The D.C. City Council has stated that their intention is to redefine marriage,” Jackson said. “This redefinition of marriage will permanently impact D.C. businesses, schools, social activities and the family unit without the voice of the residents being heard. The initiative ... would allow the people of the District to decide this important issue, not a 13-person panel.”
However, Hammond disagreed with the idea for the initiative to be put to a citywide vote.
“I don’t think the majority expressing the rights of a minority is ‘democracy’ or the ‘voice of the people’ at all,” Hammond said. “That’s ridiculous.”
Ballie also feels the initiative represents a false premise by giving the choice to the people because he too does not believe that the majority should decide the rights of a minority, he said.
“The process D.C. has in protecting groups from discrimination is one of the strongest in the country,” Ballie said. “We should be proud of that as D.C. residents and not put crucial human rights issues up to a majority vote.”
The Council will continue with the hearing Monday. City council member Phil Mendelson, D-At Large, Chairman of the Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary, told the Post that the hearing will be the forum that Stand for Marriage, D.C is seeking.
“The folks who argue for an initiative say they want to have a public debate, and that is what this hearing is,” Mendelson told the Post.
You can reach this staff writer at mfowler@theeagleonline.com.
