Another Big Victory For Marriage Equality in DC

The Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, the largest grassroots LGBT political organization in the District, applauds last week's ruling by the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Judge Judith Macaluso upheld the decision of the DC Board of Elections and Ethics and found, for the second time, that the civil right of DC's gay and lesbian citizens to marry was not something properly put to a majority vote.

Last summer, the Alliance Defense Fund ("ADF")--an Arizona legal organization with a budget in the tens of millions funded by James Dobson of Focus on the Family and other anti-gay fundamentalist ministers--filed a referendum challenging the City Council's recognition of marriages of gay and lesbian couples performed out of state. Their front man was Harry Jackson, pastor of a church in Beltsville, Maryland.

Stein reacted quickly. Our counsel appeared before the DC Board of Elections to argue that Jackson's referendum violated DC's 1977 Human Rights Act, and Stein was instrumental in the Board's first favorable ruling, which overturned prior contrary law. A few weeks later, Stein was the only community organization - LGBT or otherwise - to defend the DC Board of Elections in Court. And we prevailed.

A couple of months ago, the ADF tried again and just as before, the DC Board of Elections found in Stein's favor. But this time in court, the ADF had a new tactic. They challenged DC's Human Rights Act itself, arguing that the City Council thirty years ago had no right to bar a popular vote on discrimination in DC.
"Judge Macaluso's well-reasoned opinion demolished this new ADF argument," Stein's counsel Mark Levine said today, "showing conclusively that the District's 1978 City Council knew exactly what it was doing when it barred a public vote on discrimination. The Court's persuasive citation of a unanimous United States Supreme Court decision--and her additional showing that illegal initiatives like this one must be barred--are both likely to be withstand any appeal."
The opponents of marriage equality are not taking this lying down. In addition to a possible appeal, they have filed yet another referendum and yet another initiative, making four separate attempts, thus far. Stein is already preparing for those hearings and stands ready to defend marriage equality in the District of Columbia no matter what our enemies do.
The Gertrude Stein Democratic Club has a long history of serving LGBT interests in the District and takes pride in the fact that our thirty-plus years of activism is finally seeing its fruition. From the passage of the original Human Rights Act of 1977, through long years of improving DC's laws, to the final culminating decision of the City Council and Mayor Fenty last month to allow full marriage equality, Stein has been instrumental in electing progressive leaders and working with them to approve fair legislation such as this. Stein has also been working alongside and in collaboration with other LGBT advocacy organizations such as GLAA and DC for Marriage to ensure that our right to marry becomes a reality.
We anticipate a happy celebration in March, following the Congressional review period, when we hope and expect to witness the first gay and lesbian couples' legal marriages in the District.
To view the Court's ruling, in its entirety, please use the following link:

Please consider making a donation to the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club to help us keep marriage, and allow us to continue to be a strong advocate for all important LGBT political and social issues for our community.