Last week’s transgender hearing shows great progress, but much work lies ahead.
Pride should continue into July, when the gay story becomes part of the American story.
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ADRIAN FENTY
Friday, February 11, 2005
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.
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