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.
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.
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
Act
that
bans
civil
unions
and
prohibits
legal
arrangements
for
gay
couples.
Councilmember
Rob
Schilling,
the
only
Republican
on
the
council,
was
the
lone
dissenter.
Charlottesville
Councilmember
Blake
Caravati,
who
authored
the
resolution,
said
he
“firmly
believes
in
civil
unions”
and
that
the
government
cannot
abridge
the
rights
of
individuals.
“This
is
not
for
me
a
religious
issue;
this
is
an
issue
of
civil
rights,”
Caravati
said.
Caravati
said
about
50
people
were
present
for
the
debates.
Roughly
13
spoke
in
favor
of
the
resolution
while
three
urged
the
council
to
reject
the
measure.
JOE
CREA
