Thursday, May 28, 2009
Contact Kelley Moran, (916) 265-3390
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Congressmen Say ‘No’ to D.C. Marriage Recognition
Bi-Partisanship returns to D.C., Gay Marriage Group Scathingly Declares
WASHINGTON D.C. – Saying they are “defending that key institution” (of marriage), two U.S. Congressmen filed a bill last week to nullify a District of Columbia measure recognizing gay marriages performed in other states. A nation-wide gay marriage group called the move a return to bi-partisanship that aims to subvert the equal protection clause in the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
“With all the recent talk of bi-partisanship in Washington, it seems some legislators have found common ground; the denial of equal protection under the law as outlined in the Constitution,” Yes On Gay Marriage National Director Kelley Moran said Monday.
“The Christian fundamentalists are fumbling for an issue to rally around and it seems they’ve found one; denying all Americans the equal right to marry,” Moran added. “This is a blatant attempt to get Congress to debate the D.C. Council’s decision to recognize gay marriages performed in other states. While slapping themselves on the back for defending ‘family values and tradition’ and viewing themselves as patriots, these legislators are really attempting to undermine the Constitution.”
The bill labeled the D.C. Defense of Marriage Act seeks to nullify a recent D.C. Council measure recognizing gay marriages performed in other states. The bill states “In the District of Columbia, for all legal purposes, ‘marriage’ means the union of one man and one woman.” Representatives Dan Boren (D-OK) and Jim Jordan (R-OH) introduced the legislation and rounded up 28 additional sponsors. Under U.S. law, the House of Representatives has 30 days to block the measure approved 12 to 1 by the D.C. Council two weeks ago.
Bishop Harry R. Jackson Jr., senior pastor of Hope Christian Church in Bethesda, Md, and leader of the Stand 4 Marriage coalition, organized a rally at the Cannon House Office Building to celebrate the introduction of the legislation and to introduce Boren and Jordan. Jackson characterized the congressmen’s bill as “a sound for liberty...Today, the voices of the people of the District of Columbia are going to get an opportunity to be heard because of the action of these congressmen.”
“Bishop Jackson’s comments are laughable,” Moran said. “Here is a man who calls the denial of equal rights ‘a sound for liberty,’ rights guaranteed every American in the U.S. Constitution. And to top things off, he says it will give D.C. citizens ‘an opportunity to be heard’ while he ignores the fact that the Council is elected by District of Columbia voters. This is a return to the far right agenda of wrapping themselves in the flag and comparing themselves to patriots while denying selected groups they don’t like the freedoms they themselves enjoy.
“This bill only exacerbates the already troubled relationship between Congress and the District,” he added.
“The ideal institution for raising children is family, it is moms and dads,” Jordan said Thursday at the rally. “We saw it happen in Iowa. We saw what happened in New Hampshire. And when the D.C. Council did this, this is the national city, this is the national capital of the greatest country in the world, and this is a fight worth getting into, defending that key institution.”
“Rep. Jordan apparently believes his views are much more important than the rights of those of millions of Americans he would deny of their Constitutionally guaranteed rights,” Moran said. “This is a man who swore in his oath of office to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. His actions certainly do not reflect his understanding of his oath. I wonder if the man has ever read the Constitution.”
If Congress takes no action on the D.C. measure by July 6, it will become law. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca) indicated Congress should not interfere with the D.C. measure, “that congress has its hands full and should concentrate on jobs, jobs, jobs.” District Council members said recently they intend to introduce a measure to legalize gay marriages performed in the District of Columbia.
Among the bills sponsors are Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), the ranking Republican on a House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittees that oversees the District, and Reps. Tom Price (R-GA), Joe Pitts (R-PA), John Fleming (R-LA).
“There would be an irony that Congress would step in and say one jurisdiction could not recognize legitimate marriages from other jurisdictions,” Phil Mendelson, the original sponsor of the D.C. measure, said. “That’s what this bill does.”
Moran’s organization, Yes On Gay Marriage, is working to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and to legalize gay marriage in all 50 states.
For more information contact us at info@yesongaymarriage.com
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