Nov 19, 2004   | COMMENTS     

A D.C. woman who said she believes gay marriage is harmful to African-American families withdrew a petition to place an initiative on the ballot to ban same-sex marriage in the District of Columbia. Ward 4 resident Lisa L. Greene said she withdrew the proposal after an attorney with the D.C. Board of Elections & Ethics informed her that she used the wrong “legislative format” in drafting the initiative and she failed to submit a required campaign finance statement. “I will submit it again,” she told the Blade. “I will contact them beforehand and make sure I have it correct.” Greene said she created a group called Citizens For Marriage to promote the initiative. But she made no public announcement about the measure. Gay activists and the media did not learn about her initiative effort until the elections board published an announcement about a board hearing on the matter in the D.C. Register two weeks ago. The hearing, which was scheduled for Nov. 18, was cancelled this week after Greene withdrew her petition. Under the city’s election law, Greene must obtain petition signatures from 5 percent of the registered voters in the District — more than 19,000 signatures — within 180 days of the election board’s approval of the text of her initiative in order to place the measure on the ballot. Bill O’Field, a spokesperson for the elections board, said Greene’s initiative could not be placed on the ballot until the next regularly scheduled citywide election, which takes place in September 2006. The text of Greene’s proposed initiative states, “The Citizens of the District of Columbia and the District Council defines and preserve marriage as a relationship between one man and one woman only.” Greene named the initiative the District of Columbia Marriage Protection Act. “As an African American, I feel it’s important to preserve the family,” Greene said. “Statistics show that African Americans have the nation’s highest rate of out-of-marriage births.” Greene did not elaborate on how this is related to same-sex marriage.
LOU CHIBBARO JR.

D.C. gay community center to open in office building
Organizers of D.C.’s planned gay community center announced this week they have joined two other gay groups in renting space in a downtown office building, providing the center with its first official home since it formed more than five years ago. The center and the D.C.-based groups Brother Help Thyself and the Metro D.C. chapter of Parents, Families, & Friends of Lesbians & Gays will share a 2,500 square foot office suite on the third floor of a high rise office building at 1111 14th Street, NW, according to a news release issued by the center. “We’re happy to be moving into this interim space while we continue to pursue our permanent home,” said Patrick Menasco, president of the center’s board of directors. “This facility will be home base for us and for GLBT community groups,” he said. “The community room portion of the new space may also be available for rent to GLBT groups for meetings, performances and receptions.” Colleen Dermody, a member of the community center’s board, said the center and the two other groups will pay about $825 per month each in rent for the space. The three groups expect to move into the new space this weekend but the center won’t be open to the public until January, Dermody said. She said Dupont Circle’s Stead Park remains on the center’s “short list of preferred sites” for its permanent home. Menasco last year announced the center planned to seek approval from the city to lease the park and hoped to build a center headquarters building and underground parking lot on the site. The center would maintain the park, which would remain open to the public, Menasco said, with the center’s “footprint” said to cover only a small part of the park’s land. Some Dupont Circle residents and civic activists have expressed opposition to the proposal, saying the park should be spruced up but remain in its current state.
LOU CHIBBARO JR.

Charlottesville calls for end to Va. civil unions ban
The Charlottesville City Council passed a resolution on Monday urging the Virginia General Assembly to repeal the state’s ban on civil unions. In a 4-1 symbolic statement, the Council sought to repeal House Bill 751 or the Marriage Affirmation ...