Kudos to the District of Columbia for the unanimous then near-unanimous council vote in favor of recognizing gay marriages consummated in other states (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/05/AR2009050501618.html).  The rule now goes to the mayor.  Unanimous and then near-unanimous, you ask.  Well, the vote was unanimous but then later Marion Barry said that he hadn't realized what he was voting on when he cast his affirmative vote and so he insisted upon a re-vote.  In that vote, everyone else voted in favor of the law except for Barry who said that 98 percent of his constituents are black and since the ministers are saying that gay marriage is a sin he needs to vote against the rule.  First, despite some of Barry's convoluted statements, this is NOT an issue of gays versus blacks.  There are as many gay blacks as gay anyone else.  Second, back in the day, Barry openly and aggressively criticized folks who voted against civil rights for a minority on the grounds that most of their constituents were opposed to them.  Third, and this one is the kicker, Barry's recent statements that if the gay marriage recognition ruling is allowed to stand then there will be a CIVIL WAR in DC that pits blacks versus whites and gays.  See http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dc/2009/05/barry_warns_of_civil_war_over.html for that.  Barry says that he has been a long time supporter of gays but voted against this law in order to satisfy the ministers, which is pretty much what he attacked others for.  I agree that Barry should take his constituents into account when voting, but I also believe that the actual face of the issue is not so clear cut as black versus gay or white or anything else.  One needs to also vote one's conscience but it also needs to be guided by parity.

Of course, I have very strong personal bias on this issue . . . I believe very strongly in equal rights for gays (real, equal rights, not separate but equal nonsense or civil union stuff, but genuine equal treatment and equal status) . . . my personal political leanings are well beyond what most folks would consider uber liberal so there it is.

All the best,
Brian

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Brian David Phillips, PhD, CH [brian@briandavidphillips.com]
Hypnotist, Hypnotherapist, Intuitionist, Trance Wizard
President, Society of Experiential Trance
Associate Professor, NCCU, Taipei, Taiwan