Power to the people? |
by Gina Dalfonzo |
Not in Washington, D.C., where the Board of Elections and Ethics shot down a proposed referendum on same-sex marriage. Apparently, the consent of the governed should play a role only when it can be ensured beforehand that the governed will vote the politically correct way. Details (including Bishop Harry Jackson's plan to appeal the ruling) are here.
@Gina
The following commentary perfectly sums up the feelings of many DC residents like myself:
http://www.frcaction.org/washingtonupdate/taxation-without-marriage-representation
There was resentment toward the City Council for reasons ranging for opposing school choice to supporting illegal neighborhood checkpoints. The Council as well as the Mayor supporting homosexual "marriage" being imposed upon us is frankly the last straw. Little wonder the local government is afraid to he point of denying the very voting rights they profess to support. (I won't note the irony of the Board vote occurring during the pro-democracy uprising in Iran.)
We in DC are praying for a positive resolution to all this. Otherwise, the Council and the Mayor might have their own uprising to contend with during re-election.
Posted by: Fred | June 16, 2009 at 08:09 PM
@ Gina
I forgot to post this column by Bishop Jackson on the growing angst among homosexual "marriage" activists:
http://townhall.com/columnists/HarryRJacksonJr/2009/06/15/defending_doma
Posted by: Fred | June 16, 2009 at 08:11 PM
So would it be okay with anyone here if (for instance), D.C. politicians were refusing to hold a referendum on making "black/white" marriage illegal, saying such a referendum would violate civil rights laws?
Posted by: Benjamin Ady | June 17, 2009 at 12:15 AM
@Benjamin Ady
There's one problem with your argument. The Human Rights Act allows people to refuse to recognize same-sex marriage in the District. Read the following excerpt:
>But [attorney Brian] Raum responded that court precedent, namely Dean v. District of Columbia, already bars all same-sex marriages in D.C. The 1995 D.C. Court of Appeals decision, certain to be at the heart of his appeal, held that the Superior Court clerk’s decision not to issue a marriage license to a gay couple was right and did not violate the Human Rights Act.
“There’s no principal difference between retaining marriage as between one man and one woman in the District and the District refusing to recognize same sex marriages from other states and other countries,” Raum said. “Both are the same. Neither of those two things violate the [Human Rights Act].”http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/Gay-marriage-referendum-denied-48117377.html
In short, the Election Board is either wrong or lying that the Act makes it illegal for residents like myself to vote on the definition of marriage. The opposite is true.
Posted by: Fred | June 17, 2009 at 09:50 AM
Fred--I didn't make an argument. I just asked a question. =)
Posted by: Benjamin Ady | June 17, 2009 at 12:34 PM