The people of the District do not have the right to put gay marriage up to a voters’ referendum in D.C., according to a Superior Court ruling by Judge Judith N. Macaluso.
So far three rulings - two from the Board of Elections and Ethics and one, most recently, from the Superior court - have said such a referendum would violate the Human Rights Act of 1977, which aims to halt discrimination against minority groups.
Bishop Harry Jackson, a pastor at Hope Christian Church, and his attorneys plan to appeal the decision and take the case to a higher court, according to The Washington Post.
Sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences and Director of AU Democrats for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Maggie Campbell said she hopes the courts will continue to rule against the referendum.
“Having seen the devastating results of a successful people’s referendum against marriage equality, I am hopeful that the people of Washington will not have to fight that battle,” Campbell said. “Any popular vote on human rights is unfair and wrong; our representatives are elected to make decisions in our best interest and I believe they have done exactly that in this situation.”
A previous 1995 case in the district, Dean v. District of Columbia, allowed a ban on marriage to stand, concluding that it did not violate the Human Rights Act. But so far, this previous decision has not acted as a precedent for the more recent rulings.
Congress is currently undergoing a 30-day review of the marriage equality bill. If the bill passes through Congress it will go into immediate effect according to Mafara Hobson, director of the Office of Communications for Mayor Adrian Fenty.
-ASHLEY DEJEAN
