Feb 11, 2005  |  By: ADRIAN FENTY  | COMMENTS     

THE RECENT NATIONAL elections were marked by partisan appeals to the worst in Americans. Most blatant were the attacks on gays and lesbians and the claim that broadening our civil marriage laws would accelerate moral decline. As an American, I was disturbed by this claim both for its discriminatory message and because of the basic untruth the message contains.

I was deeply concerned by President Bush’s opportunistic support of the Federal Marriage Amendment. The implication was that the desire of committed, loving, homosexual couples to live stable lives, entitled to and protected by the laws available to heterosexual couples, was a plot against the traditional family. This just isn’t so.

I would be saddened if this battle now breaks out here in the District in the form of the Defense of Marriage referendum proposed by a group calling itself “Citizens for Marriage.” This proposed referendum would declare marriage in the District to be only between a man and a woman. I can only see it as a determined attempt to divide District residents.

I believe that here in the District of Columbia we are better than that. I believe we have shown by the laws we passed that we understand that our life is better for our diversity and we are stronger because of it. As Colby King stated in his Washington Post column, “A Test for Tolerance,” we must stand up now and question what is really behind this initiative.

We need the citizens of the District to understand that this is really an anti-gay initiative, no matter how it is couched by the Citizens for Marriage group. Every political, business, civic and religious leader, along with every citizen, should say no to this initiative.

THE DISTRICT HAS A LONG tradition of tolerance. Our human rights law is broad and emphatic in its support of diversity in race and culture and lifestyle differences, including diversity in the composition of families. We have come a long way in the District of Columbia. The GLBT community has been a part of working toward our successes and has become fully integrated into the business, civic and religious life of our city. We are all the better for that.

We have respected members of our community serving our government at the highest levels, including two of my fellow Councilmembers, who are gay and who have worked hard to make a better life for all our citizens. What unites us is our passion to allow everyone in our community to live life to its fullest and to enable everyone to partake in what is great about our democracy. We cannot let this proposed initiative divide us.

I firmly believe that a referendum of this type would not pass here. However, its presence on the ballot and the ensuing debate at this time could invite the Congress to tamper with the District’s capacity to determine this human rights issue for ourselves. As we fight for self-determination and full representation for everyone, we shouldn’t allow this to happen.

Further, this initiative is unnecessary. We do not permit gay marriage in the District at this time and with a Republican majority in Congress, a gay marriage law would not be approved if passed by the District. Rather, the major impact of such a referendum would be to divide and create an issue where none now exists.

There are so many things that the people of the District of Columbia need and that we can join together to fight for. We need better health care for all. We have some of the highest incidences of diabetes, hypertension, HIV/AIDS and other illnesses that we must deal with.

We need decent housing for our middle and low-income populations. We need new and improved recreation centers and more services for our seniors. We need a better education system for all our children to allow them to be challenged to reach their full potential. And we need programs to tackle the incredibly high rate of illiteracy in our city. We need our community to join together to focus on these issues, and not be sidetracked into fights that will only divide us, and hurt us all in the long run.

If this referendum is placed on the ballot, I will work against it as a discriminatory measure, which adds nothing and blocks the District from being a city that works for everyone.