By Brody Levesque (Washington DC) Jan 7 | In an article published earlier today at washingtonpost.com, Staff Writer Tim Craig noted that:
"Thirty-nine GOP legislators, including 37 members of the House and two senators, James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), have filed an amicus brief supporting a public vote on the issue. The House members include Minority Leader John A. Boehner (Ohio) and Minority Whip Eric Cantor (Va.).
The filing asserts that the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics exceeded its authority by ruling twice that a public vote would discriminate against gay men and lesbians.
The court challenge comes as the Democrat-controlled Congress begins to consider whether to allow D.C. Council legislation legalizing same-sex marriage to become law. The measure has been signed by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D).
'As members of the District's ultimate legislative body, amici are concerned about the extent of the District's delegated legislative authority, the preservation of Congress's constitutional authority, and the interpretation of home rule," the brief states.' "
The fight to once again put the newly enacted D.C. Marriage Equality measure to a city wide vote despite a previous DC Superior court ruling against that effort is led by the Maryland based Bishop Harry Jackson, pastor of Hope Christian Church in Beltsville.
Congressional interference in a court filing fuels the considerable anger and outrage over this latest attack on the measure by LGBT activists and others friendly to Equality Rights. Local Republican Party leadership is also dismayed and upset as there had been a specific appeal to 'nationally elected' GOP Congressional representatives to stay out of a 'purely local' matter.
Craig writes that;
The court brief was filed even though several D.C. GOP leaders, including local party Chairman Robert J. Kabel, had asked national Republicans to stay out of the controversy.
"The Republican Party I am a member of is dedicated to allowing local rule and respecting the thoughts of individuals," said Kristopher J. Baumann, a local GOP activist who is also active in the Fraternal Order of Police. "I find it ironic they would come out squarely against the wishes of the local party."
When interviewed by Craig regarding this latest intrusion by Congressional Republicans, Sultan Shakir, a regional field director for the Human Rights Campaign, noted that many House Republicans have long argued against giving District residents full voting rights in Congress.
"It is ironic that nearly all of the 39 representatives and senators that signed the brief have done everything in their power before to deny voting rights to D.C. residents," Shakir said. "I don't know if they have had a sudden change of heart on D.C. voting rights or, more likely, they are just playing politics and once again meddling in home rule."
The loudest critic of the measure has been Utah congressman Jason Chaffetz, who has now been joined by two U.S. senators, Oklahoma's James Inhofe and Mississippi's Roger Wicke. The brief filed in court yesterday also carried the signatures of the following House Republicans; House Minority Leader John Boehner (Ohio), Minority Whip Eric Cantor (Va.), and U.S. Reps. Robert Aderholt (Ala.), Todd Akin (Mo.), Michele Bachmann (Minn.), J. Gresham Barrett (S.C.), Roscoe Bartlett (Md.), Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.), John Boozman (Ark.), John Fleming (La.), J. Randy Forbes (Va.), Virginia Foxx (N.C.), Scott Garrett (N.J.), Phil Gringrey (Ga.), Louie Gohmert (Texas), Jeb Hensarling (Texas), Wally Herger (Calif.), Walter Jones (N.C.), Jim Jordan (Ohio), Steve King (Iowa), Jack Kingston (Ga.), John Kline (Minn.), Doug Lamborn (Colo.), Robert Latta (Ohio), Don Manzullo (Ill.), Michael McCaul (Texas), Thaddeus McCotter (Mich.), Patrick McHenry (N.C.), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Wash.), Jeff Miller (Fla.), Jerry Moran (Kan.), Randy Neugebauer (Texas), Mike Pence (Ind.), Joe Pitts (Pa.), Mark Souder (Ind.), and Todd Tiahrt (Kan.)
The DC city council had passed the marriage equality bill 11-2, and then Mayor Adrian Fenty had signed it a couple of weeks ago, the proposal is now undergoing a 30-day congressional review—as outlined by District of Columbia Home Rule Act. Still, few political observers here in Washington think that the Democratically controlled Congress will block the proposal.
This of course leaves Bishop Jackson and his Republican Congressional supporters the only alternative course which is the court filing. The problem with that according to DC City Council member Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3), and constitutional law professor at George Washington University, is that Jackson & company could prevail in court.
There just seems to be no end to this hateful persecution of LGBT persons in the United States trying to have equal protection and access to the benefits and laws of this so called "free" republic and society.
Portuguese Pride In Lisbon Getty ImagesConversely, thousands of miles away in Europe today, Agence France Presse Writer Anne Le Coz reports from Lisbon:
"Catholic Portugal, traditionally one of Europe's most socially conservative countries, is expected to approve the legalisation of gay marriage on Friday with a minimum of fuss.
With the governing Socialists and other left-wing parties enjoying a strong majority, the new law is likely to sail through the first reading debate and gain final approval before a visit by Pope Benedict XVI, due in Portugal in May.
In contrast to Spain, where the lead-up to the legalisation of gay marriage in 2005 brought hundreds of thousands of demonstrators onto the streets, the bill in Portugal has provoked only muted opposition even from the right.
While normally vocal on the role of marriage and the family in society, the Catholic Church has refused to mobilise on a subject which, according to Lisbon's Cardinal Patriarch Jose Policarpo, is "parliament's responsibility".
"I think the Portuguese people have learnt one of the fundamental tenets of democracy: respect for the rights of the individual," Miguel Vale de Almeida, Portugal's first openly-gay lawmaker who was elected in September, told AFP.
Vale de Almeida, who is the Socialists' pointman on the legislation, said there is now a political majority in favour of gay marriage and that it is "too simplistic to link Catholicism and conservatism."
According to poll conducted late last year by the Eurosondagem institute, while a strong majority (68.4 percent) of Portuguese are opposed to adoptions by same-sex couples, they are more evenly divided when it comes to gay marriage with 49.5 percent against, with 45.5 percent in favour.
On Tuesday, campaigners handed a petition with more than 90,000 signatures to demand a referendum on the subject into parliament.
But having had its fingers burnt by two referendums which preceded the legalisation of abortion in 2007, the government has ruled out consulting with the public as the measure was part of its manifesto in last year's election.
Prime Minister Jose Socrates' Socialists may have lost their majority in the September 27 election, but still command the support of other left-wing parties in parliament who should guarantee that the gay marriage bill is passed.
While opposed to the concept of same-sex "marriages", the centre-right opposition Social Democrat party says it is favour of a civil partnership that would give gays and lesbians the same rights as heterosexual couples minus adoptions.
Deputies are also expected on Friday to vote two other bills submitted by the Green party, the Left Bloc and others which would grant gay and lesbian couples the right to adopt children.
If the gay marriage proposals do pass through parliament, they will the have to go through a parliamentary commission before coming back for the final approval."
So, here's my question. Why is it that ultra conservative & Catholic nations in Europe can enact positive laws that balance the rights of their citizens while still granting equality and full access while the United States, especially in its Capital, only seems to be able to mire itself deeper into hatred and bias based on flawed interpretations of what? The United States is always almost proclaiming itself to be the land of the free blah, blah, blah, yet it seems that there are huge exceptions to that.
It's a shame that those Congressional Republicans can't take note of their European counterpart's positive governance policies isn't it?
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment