January 25, 2011
GOP Congress Attempts to Repeal D.C. Gay Marriage
Steve Weinstein READ TIME: 1 MIN.
Congress is once again opening one of the thorniest issues that has plagued America almost since the founding of the republic: how much of a voice the citizens of the nation's capital should be given in governing themselves.
The latest salvo in the ongoing war between residents of the District of Columbia comes from Republican leadership in the House of Representatives. The Hill is reporting that Rep. Jim Jordan, the Ohio Republican who heads the right-wing Republican Study Committee, will push for legislation repealing gay marriage in the District.
This is despite a the Supreme Court's rejection of an appeal from marriage-equality opponents. The court did not comment, but Metro Weekly pointed out that the Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate is unlikely to take up the issue, and besides, President Barack Obama would be almost certain to veto it.
R. Clarke Cooper, who heads the Log Cabin Republicans, expressed strong disapproval of the move to Metro Weekly (an Edge content partner). The Human Rights Campaign added that "the American people are certainly not clamoring for Congress to deny rights to people."
Jordan's announcement once again brings to the fore the complaint that District residents suffer from the same "taxation without representation" that brought the United States into being. Democrats have long argued that the District should be granted the same representation as states.
As of now, the District has a nonvoting member in the House and no one in the Senate. Many observers ruefully note that, if the District weren't so heavily Democrat (and black), the Republicans might be approaching the question differently.
Steve Weinstein has been a regular correspondent for the International Herald Tribune, the Advocate, the Village Voice and Out. He has been covering the AIDS crisis since the early '80s, when he began his career. He is the author of "The Q Guide to Fire Island" (Alyson, 2007).
