Source: 365Gay
Civil rights triumphed over another failed attack from advocates of
discrimination when today, the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics rejected a
proposed referendum to put the rights of a minority up for a vote.
The proposed effort to limit the rights of District residents was brought by
Stand For Marriage and Maryland pastor, Bishop Harry Jackson. The BOEE denied
the referendum as a violation of the Human Rights Act of the District of
Columbia.
“Equality should never be up for debate or denied on a ballot,” said D.C.
resident Michael Crawford, Co-chair of D.C. for Marriage. “We only want what
every other American already has – the right to marry the person we love.”
Rev. Cedric Harmon, a D.C. resident and a representative of D.C. Clergy
United for Marriage Equality, a group of nearly 200 Washington, D.C. faith
leaders representing all eight wards of the District and a variety of religious
faiths added the following statement in support of the BOEE’s decision:
”It is shameful when religious leaders fail to uphold the Christian teachings
of our faith by trying to institutionalize a second-class citizenship on our
neighbors. People of faith have worked for generations to achieve social justice
for all people — regardless of race, creed, class, religion, gender, or sexual
orientation. We serve our entire flock, and there is no justification under God
that we should discriminate against any of God’s children.
“The District of Columbia has not voted on the civil rights of a minority
since the Civil War, when a majority prevented freed male slaves from gaining
the right to vote. Today, the Board of Elections and Ethics reminded us that
human rights should never be put to a vote. As members of the clergy who support
equal rights for all citizens, and who struggle to achieve social justice in the
District of Columbia, we applaud the BOEE for standing up for human rights in
the face of discrimination.”
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