The Alliance Defense Fund is appealing the latest pronouncement denying voters in Washington, DC, the opportunity to vote to overturn a decision by the city council to approve homosexual "marriage."
The DC Board of Elections and Ethics has repeatedly denied voters' requests for the election. In a brief statement released on Thursday, the Board simply stated its opinion that the Referendum on the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act of 2009 is "an improper subject" for referendum in the District. The Board said it is required to "refuse to accept referendum measures that would authorize discrimination that is prohibited un the [DC] Human Rights Act." Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) attorney Tim Tracey explains the current legal efforts on voters' behalf. "[T]his is yet another appeal to the DC Superior Court in the hopes of vindicating the people's right to vote," he says. "And at the same time that we filed that appeal, we filed a motion to stay the effective date of the same-sex marriage law that was passed by the [DC] Council in December of last year." The ADF attorney believes granting the motion will save many of the headaches that have resulted from a similar situation in the Golden State. "The [DC] law is going into effect March 2," he points out, "and we need the law to be stayed so that this legal process can play out -- and so that we don't end up in a situation like California where you have an interim period where same-sex marriages are being recognized and then the people vote and same-sex marriage is prohibited." Tracey notes there are a couple of efforts going on in Congress which can overturn laws passed by the city, but feels the current political climate is reason enough to pursue the courts for remedy. Citizens of the District of Columbia, he says, do not deserve to have "a new definition of marriage imposed upon them without their consent."
The DC Board of Elections and Ethics has repeatedly denied voters' requests for the election. In a brief statement released on Thursday, the Board simply stated its opinion that the Referendum on the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act of 2009 is "an improper subject" for referendum in the District. The Board said it is required to "refuse to accept referendum measures that would authorize discrimination that is prohibited un the [DC] Human Rights Act."
Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) attorney Tim Tracey explains the current legal efforts on voters' behalf. "[T]his is yet another appeal to the DC Superior Court in the hopes of vindicating the people's right to vote," he says. "And at the same time that we filed that appeal, we filed a motion to stay the effective date of the same-sex marriage law that was passed by the [DC] Council in December of last year." The ADF attorney believes granting the motion will save many of the headaches that have resulted from a similar situation in the Golden State. "The [DC] law is going into effect March 2," he points out, "and we need the law to be stayed so that this legal process can play out -- and so that we don't end up in a situation like California where you have an interim period where same-sex marriages are being recognized and then the people vote and same-sex marriage is prohibited." Tracey notes there are a couple of efforts going on in Congress which can overturn laws passed by the city, but feels the current political climate is reason enough to pursue the courts for remedy. Citizens of the District of Columbia, he says, do not deserve to have "a new definition of marriage imposed upon them without their consent."
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