From: The Washington Blade – By LOU CHIBBARO JR – Bishop Harry Jackson, the Maryland minister leading efforts to oppose same-sex marriage in the District, has announced plans to file papers Tuesday to place a marriage initiative on the D.C. ballot in 2010.
In a statement released Monday, Jackson said he and other same-sex marriage opponents wanted get the application for a marriage initiative under way before the D.C. City Council considers a bill to allow same-sex marriages to be performed in the city. The bill is expected to be introduced this fall.
Earlier this year, Jackson sought and failed to place a referendum on the D.C. ballot calling for overturning a separate law the Council passed in May that allows the city to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states and countries.
“The D.C. City Council has stated that their intention is to redefine marriage by going beyond recognizing homosexual marriage and to allow them to be performed in the District of Columbia,” Jackson said in his statement. “This redefinition of marriage will permanently impact D.C. businesses, education, and the family unit without the voice of the residents being heard.”
The D.C. Board of Elections & Ethics ruled in May that the referendum proposed by Jackson could not be held because it would violate the D.C. Human Rights Act, which bans discrimination based on sexual orientation. The board noted that a provision of the city’s election law bars both initiatives and referenda on subjects that, among other things, would result in discriminatory practices if the ballot measure were to pass.
A judge in D.C. Superior Court upheld the election board’s ruling on the issue in a strongly worded decision after Jackson and his backers appealed the board’s decision.
Rudolph McGann, the election board’s general counsel, said Monday that the board would carefully review the wording of any initiative proposed by Jackson related to same-sex marriage.
Although he could not predict whether the board would clear the proposed initiative for the ballot, McGann said the same criteria regarding potential discrimination and the Human Rights Act would apply to Jackson’s proposed referendum.
If the board were to clear the initiative under the Human Rights Act restriction, Jackson and his supporters would have 180 days to gather about 21,000 petition signatures needed to place it on the ballot. Under the city’s election law, an initiative would be placed on the ballot in the next city-wide election after the petition signature process is successful. That would place the measure on the ballot in the September 2010 primary election, when Mayor Adrian Fenty and members of the City Council are up for re-election in their respective party primaries.
McGann said that if the D.C. Council passes a same-sex marriage bill this fall, an initiative calling for banning same-sex marriage in the city would effectively overturn the law.
D.C. Council member David Catania (I-At Large), who is expected to introduce a same-sex marriage bill this fall, declined to give a specific date for introducing that bill, but issued a brief statement on Jackson’s proposed initiative.
“I’m not surprised that Mr. Jackson is continuing his effort,” Catania said. “This is how he makes his living.”
Gay Democratic activist Peter Rosenstein, an official with the D.C. same-sex marriage advocacy group Campaign for All D.C. Families, predicted that Jackson won’t succeed with his initiative effort.
“It is our belief that once again Bishop Jackson will find that the laws of D.C. protect minorities from discrimination of the sort that he and his followers would like to inflict,” Rosenstein said.
“I hope that when this initiative is ruled out of order that the bishop will then return to Maryland and leave the people of the District alone so that they may continue to celebrate the diversity that has made our city great.”
Michael Crawford, co-chair of the local group D.C. for Marriage, called on D.C. Council members not to be influenced by Jackson’s call for an initiative.
“He has made clear that he will stop at nothing to attack gay and lesbian families and deny us equal treatment under the law, Crawford said.
“We hope that the members of the City Council who support equality for all residents of the District will continue to move forward on marriage equality to ensure that all families in DC are treated equally.”