Yesterday's Hearing on Same-Sex Marriage

by: Adam Bink

Tue Oct 27, 2009 at 11:30

There were a few things I wanted to note that were of interest to me.

• Opponents of the bill were largely African-American and made religious-based arguments. It's not surprising, considering the majority of the city is African-American and that Bishop Harry Jackson, a local preacher from Beltsville, MD is leading the charge on their side. It was, however, quite a turn from seeing white opponents in Maine. Maine is 98% white, and most of the arguments I saw related to slippery slopes (man sleeping with dog) and how the national homosexual lobby was trying to notch a win in Maine. It's also the 4th-least religious state in the country, according to Gallup. The arguments I saw yesterday repeatedly invoked the Lord and the Bible. An example from this, um, classy lady at about 10:50 PM last night.

• Opponents also repeatedly made "give us the vote" arguments to put the issue on the ballot. The Board of Elections and Ethics yesterday morning held a hearing on the issue, and is expected to deny the challenge on the grounds that it violates the DC Human Rights Act, but what gets to me most is the hypocrisy. The bill has 10 co-sponsors and is expected to get 11 votes at least, so supporters try to maneuver to get it on the ballot. But if the situation were reversed, they'd try to keep it off the ballot. The shamelessness of it is irritating, but it's their strategy. Chairman Mendelson pointed out in his opening remarks how the $700 million new baseball stadium for the Nationals wasn't on the ballot, along with multiple other pieces of important legislation, and Councilmember Catania did the best job in striking down this argument, pointing out that the last time civil rights was on the ballot was December 21, 1865- when racists were trying to strip the right to vote away from African-Americans.

• How many opponents decried the hearing as "window dressing!" because the bill has 10 co-sponsors and is expected to pass. Chairman Mendleson pointed out that wise opponents use hearings to push for amendments, gain supporters, agitate, gain press coverage, etc. This didn't deter anyone from whining democratically elected members supporting and moving on a bill they didn't like.

My testimony focused on my experience in Maine, the actual similarities between Maine and DC, and about the definition of marriage itself. It's below the fold if you're interested in reading.

The hearing will continue next week with the rest of the witness list.

Before the Committee on Public Service and the Judiciary, October 26th, 2009

Thank you Chairman Mendelson and members of the Council,

My name is Adam Bink. I've been a DC resident since 2006, and I reside in Ward 2. I work in political consulting and blog at OpenLeft.com. I want to thank you for listening to my testimony this morning.

I want to bring a perspective to this discussion from another place where marriage equality is being debated. I just spent the past week and a half in Maine, where this past summer, the legislature passed, and Gov. Baldacci signed, a bill legalizing marriage equality for same-sex couples.

As a blogger and reporter, I was interested in attitudes in Maine. I actually found a striking number of similarities. Maine, like DC, is actually very small- only 1.3 million people. The largest city, Portland, has fewer than 70,000 people. So it's made up of communities and neighborhoods- like DC- where people really know each other. And everywhere I went, that was the very reason why the people of Maine supported marriage equality. In our community, people told me, marriage builds strong families. Straight couples knew gay couples on their block, at their church, at their children's school. Gay couples volunteered, paid their taxes, held jobs, participated in community events- but they were treated as less than equal. That hurts our community, I was told, and expanding marriage to include gay couples will strengthen our communities and give the same rights and responsibilities to couples who deserve it. And in Maine, like DC, strong communities are a key to what makes it great to live there.

The other perspective I wanted to lend relates to our basic rights as Americans. One perspective now spreading like wildfire through the Maine press, and on the internet, is particularly telling. Phillip Spooner is a small-town Maine resident, 86 years old, straight, a lifelong Republican and a World War II veteran. At the legislative hearing on the bill, he said, "I am here today because of a conversation I had last June when I was voting. A woman at my polling place asked me, 'Do you believe in equality for gay and lesbian people?' I was pretty surprised to be asked a question like that. It made no sense to me. Finally I asked her, 'What do you think our boys fought for at Omaha Beach?' I haven't seen much, so much blood and guts, so much suffering, much sacrifice. For what? For freedom and equality. These are the values that give America a great nation, one worth dying for." The video of Phillip's testimony now has over half a million views on YouTube.

In Maine, people like Phillip have found marriage equality to be a matter of freedom and equality. Here in DC, the nation's birthplace of those values, we should do the same. History has shown us that expanding marriage- on the basis of race, or religion- doesn't hurt anyone else's marriage. As the son of a Catholic father and a Jewish mother, I wouldn't be here if marriage was denied to two loving, committed people. Neither would my boyfriend, the son of a Native American father and a Filipina mother. We are only here because those who have come before us have recognized that marriage is about love and commitment.

Now we are fortunate to have more loving, committed couples who wish to wed, raise families, and strengthen our communities. As my mother would say, we should be so lucky. I urge you to follow Phillip Spooner's lead for freedom and equality, by supporting the legislation legalizing marriage equality for same-sex couples. Thank you.