Washington DC Could Have Marriage Equality by Thanksgiving

This coming Tuesday DC Council member David Catania will finally propose his oft-reported marriage equality bill which would legalize same-sex marriage within the District.

In May the District's Council voted to recognize legal same-sex marriages performed outside its borders and the new law overcame stark opposition when a federal judge ruled against a public referendum. A public vote would violate the district's Human Rights Act.

The Washington Post:

Catania made his announcement before 150 gay rights activists gathered in Shaw for a rally featuring the Rev. Eric P. Lee, president of the Los Angeles chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

"We are going to do it now," Catania told the crowd. "We are going to do it now, not for ourselves, but for the young people who are 20 years-old, 16-years-old, 13-years-old."

According to a copy of the bill, the city code would be changed to state "marriage is the legally recognized union of two people" and "any person ... may marry any other eligible person regardless of gender."

Catania's bill, which states religious organizations and officials have the right not to participate in same-sex marriages, is expected to pass the council easily when it comes up for a vote around Thanksgiving. Ten of 13 council members will co-introduce Catania's bill Tuesday, and Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) has pledged to sign it.

However, the bill would have to get past the U.S. Congress first which, under the Home Rule, has jurisdiction over bills in the District. Yet reports indicate that, like the marriage recognition bill, Congress won't act to fight it.

Catania has been in touch with the White House regarding the bill and states that their response "has been very good."

The amazing Rev. Eric Lee, President of the Los Angeles chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, who has faced losing his job for his staunch support for marriage equality, visited the District. There he gave a sermon comparing the marriage equality battle to the struggle for voting rights in the District.

"It's taxation without representation," he said. "That's an issue here in D.C., isn't it?"

According to D.C. for Marriage, Lee continued:

Lee outlined 5 basic tenets for the marriage equality movement to follow: "education, for the purpose of organization, for the purpose of mobilization, for the purpose of agitation, for the purpose of transformation... in societal attitudes" toward LGBT citizens and same-sex relationships. In rebuttal to marriage opponents who seek to fracture DC along racial and religious lines, Lee invoked the powerful words of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr: "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." Lee offered the perfect segue for pending marriage equality legislation with a rousing declaration that "the burden of discrimination is on those who are discriminating... Make the oppressor defend their discrimination! Make them look you in the eye. Make them engage you with respect."

Equally strong opponents, such as the Bishop Harry Jackson and the National Organization for Marriage, whose headquarters are in D.C., have vowed to fight the measure.

Next door, Maryland's Attorney General Douglas Gansler is expected to rule soon on the state's law and whether or not it allow the state to recognize legal same-sex marriage performed outside its borders. If he rules in favor, which many expect, many gay and lesbian couples may end up flocking to the capital to exchange vows.

What Would MLK Say? Pastor Faces Ousting from MLK's Organization for Supporting Marriage Equality

Ever been in a situation where you're surrounded by friends, co-workers, fellow classmates, family, where they all vehemently share a very strong opinion on something and you alone disagree? Then you decide to yourself that you're actually going to speak up. Your heart is racing, your mouth is dry, you're sweating, you may even be shaking. You don't know how they're going to react - are they going to ostracize you or agree to disagree?

Fortunately, some of us have experienced the latter, but unfortunately, a majority of us have experienced the former, and for most, it's because of our sexual orientation or lack thereof or gender identification. And the rejection came for a variety of reasons - homophobia, transphobia, religious intolerance . . . the list goes on.

Imagine now a straight ally sticking up for the LGBT population in a religious environment that is opposed to us. A straight ally who has nothing to gain by standing up for us but has plenty to lose - his job, his reputation, his place in his own community.

The Rev. Eric Lee is this straight, religious ally. As president of the Los Angeles chapter of Martin Luther King Jr.'s organization, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Rev. Lee stood up against the multitudes of fellow African American pastors in California and abroad who supported Proposition 8 and helped get it passed.

The Rev. Lee stood up for us. He went to No on 8 rallies, he spoke to the media, he spoke at protests, he spoke to Unite the Fight! In the video below, Rev. Lee gave us an amazing interview after speaking at Meet in the Middle in Fresno, CA, detailing why believes denying LGBT the right to marry is not only wrong, but unethical. It's a MUST SEE.



Rev. Lee even wrote a book, Proposition 8: The California Divide in which he details his argument for marriage equality and how Prop 8 has torn apart not only our state, but our country.

And now he can lose his job. The New York Times writes, "The Southern Christian Leadership Conference — the 50-year-old civil rights organization founded by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and others — is seeking to remove the president of its Los Angeles chapter in response to his support of same-sex marriage in California."

They go on to report, "During the battle last fall over Proposition 8... Rev. Eric P. Lee, was more than a tangential figure for the opposition. He was front and center at an opposition group’s large rally at City Hall and marched in the blazing sun for 15 miles in Fresno. Many other local African-American pastors prepared mailings featuring church leaders in support of the proposition and linking their views to President Obama, then the Democratic nominee for president."

From the Meet in the Middle March starting in Selma, CA and ending in Fresno, CA:



The article details the exchange between Rev. Lee and the organization, how at first they said they were neutral on the subject of same-sex marriage but then turned around and in May demanded to know why Rev. Lee and his autonomously ran chapter took a stand against Prop 8 and informed the reverend they intended to oust him.

"Dr. King would be turning over in his grave right now," Rev. Lee told the Times.

The president of the Los Angeles city council and Rev. Lee's own chapter are standing up for him. And we must join them.

WE MUST STAND UP FOR OUR ALLY WHO STOOD UP FOR US!

Contact Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti and add your voice to the growing support for the Rev. Lee. You can email him at councilmember.garcetti@lacity.org or call him at (213) 473-7013.

Contact the SCLC Los Angeles chapter and express your gratitude for their continued stance for our equality.

4182 S. Western Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90062
Phone: (323) 290-4100
info@sclclosangeles.org.

Rev. Eric Lee of the SCLC to Speak At "Meet in the Middle"

It's been confirmed! The Rev. Eric P. Lee will be participating in the march from Selma, CA to Fresno, CA for Meet in the Middle and will then speak at the following rally.

The Rev. Lee is President/CEO of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Los Angeles and Chairman/President of the California Christian Leadership Conference. The SCLC was co-founded by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. shortly after the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Reverend Lee is one of Los Angeles’ most vocal and visible civil and human rights activists. From addressing the right of African-American security guards to organize into unions to addressing homophobia, Lee is leading the SCLC into the 21st Century.

A message from the Rev. Eric Lee:

"Never before has there been a proposition or a ballot initiative that has generated as much controversy and division as California's Proposition 8.

"Families, friends, neighbors and communities were divided on the issue of marriage equality, often to the point of heated arguments or purposeful avoidance.

"Marriage equality is a civil rights issue. Anytime one group of people is denied the rights another group of people enjoy, it is a fundamentally a denial of civil rights."

The reverend has written a book, "Proposition 8: The California Divide" which is to arrive on the shelves April 25.