Anti-Gay Marriage Crusader Marion Barry Arrested for Stalking Queerty
Washington D.C. City Councilman Marion Barry, who’s devoted the last few weeks to rallying against the city’s recognition of same-sex marriage from other jurisdictions, just added to his controversy hash marks. Barry was arrested last night on stalking allegations, made by a woman who says the former mayor was “bothering her.” Barry is expected to deny the charges in typical fashion: He’s calling a press conference tomorrow. See Anti-Gay Marriage Crusader Marion Barry Arrested for Stalking
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Gay Activists, Black Ministers Seek Common Ground in DC
WASHINGTON — When the District of Columbia city council voted 12-1 recently to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions, a raucous protest led by African-American ministers erupted in the hallway outside council chambers.
Security officers quelled the pandemonium, but not before video and cell phone cameras captured images of the confrontation — with councilman Marion Barry, who cast the lone dissenting vote, predicting “civil war” over the issue in the D.C. black community.
Watching the commotion was the Rev. Robert Hardies, who happened to be in City Hall on another matter when the ministers stormed the corridor.
“I was heartbroken,” says Hardies, a gay man who is senior minister at the city’s historic All Souls Church, Unitarian.
“I had vowed to myself that after what happened in California, when the gay marriage issue came to Washington, D.C., we would do it differently and prevent the racial divide,” he said.
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/06/gay-activists…
Ward 8 Democrats Act Ahead of D.C. Council Legislation
The District’s same-sex marriage debate continued yesterday in the basement of a library in Ward 8, the predominantly African American community that council member Marion Barry invoked in justifying his recent vote against a bill to recognize gay marriages performed outside of the city.
But yesterday, gay rights advocates declared victory in a key battle to set the tone for the issue when the Ward 8 Democrats voted 21 to 11 to support the legalization of same-sex marriage, in preparation for legislation expected to be introduced in the D.C. Council this year.
The Ward 8 vote came after almost two hours of discussion about religion, referendums and civil rights among the crowd of about 100 people at the Washington Highlands Library on Atlantic Avenue SW.
Barry, who was scheduled to speak for the opposition, did not attend. Sandy Allen, a former council member and president of the Ward 8 Democrats, said Barry told her he had a doctor’s appointment.
More than a week ago, Barry drew ire and praise when he was the lone dissenter in a 12 to 1 vote to recognize same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions. Barry, a civil rights icon and a longtime supporter of gay rights, said his vote represented the feelings of the predominantly black Ward 8 and, in a broader sense, most black people in the District.
Local gay rights advocates say there is some credence to Barry’s argument. A 2006 poll by a local group advocating same-sex marriage shows strongest opposition among black residents. Some of those sentiments were on display at yesterday’s Ward 8 discussion.
“We are not homophobic. We are not hatemongers. We love everybody,” said the Rev. Patrick J. Walker, chairman of a new task force of ministers opposed to gay marriage. The task force is part of the Missionary Baptist Ministers’ Conference in the region, which pressed Barry to vote against the same-sex marriage recognition legislation.
“It’s our position that this is an issue that should go before the people. Thirteen people . . . should not set the moral compass of this city,” Walker said, referring to the members of the council. He is the pastor of New Macedonia Baptist Church in Southeast.
See A Vote for Same-Sex Marriage Ward 8 Democrats Act Ahead of DC …
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Look Who’s in Bed Together on Gay Marriage Fight
L ying on his cot in the Longworth House Office Building in the small of the night, Jason Chaffetz had a scary dream: The conservative Republican from Utah had beaten the odds, defeated an incumbent and made it to Washington, only to end up by some bizarre twist of events arm-in-arm with Marion Barry, the crack-smoking laughingstock former mayor of the District of Columbia.
“Oh man, if I had run a campaign saying I’d be working closely with Marion Barry, I don’t know that I would have been elected,” Chaffetz says.
The nightmare turns out to be reality: Chaffetz, once the placekicker on the Brigham Young University football team, is now the ranking Republican on the House subcommittee in charge of D.C. affairs, and in that role he is leading the rush against the District’s decision to recognize same-sex marriages. The freshman congressman is utterly confident that his is the moral position on the issue, but he admits to a certain frisson of doubt when he learned that his accidental ally in this fight is the former Mayor for Life, an erstwhile champion of gay rights who has decided that same-sex nuptials are immoral.
Chaffetz has never met Barry, but he’s willing to have lunch with the man — if Barry is willing to meet at Five Guys Burgers and Fries, the only Washington restaurant the congressman frequents. (This may prove to be a stumbling block, as Barry leans more toward fruit juices and health foods these days.)
If the two do break bread, they’ll discover that they share a view that gay couples ought to have the same legal rights as any other Americans, but should not be permitted to marry. They’ll take comfort in the fact that their views are both based on the biblical definition of marriage as a bond between a man and a woman. They’re both happy to point to the fact that President Obama is also opposed to gay marriage.
But the lunch is destined not to be a lovefest. It’s not just that Chaffetz and Barry come from wildly disparate backgrounds or represent very different Americas, although it is true that Chaffetz’s district is 88 percent white and only 25 percent of his constituents have a college degree, whereas Washington is 56 percent black and 45 percent of its residents have a bachelor’s or beyond.
See Look Who’s in Bed Together on Gay Marriage Fight
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Former DC Mayor Marion Barry Lone Dissenter On Gay Marriage
Listen Now [12 min 6 sec] Tell Me More, May 15, 2009 · City council members in the nation’s capitol voted recently to recognize the marriages of gay couples who relocate to the area from states that have legalized the unions, such as Iowa and New Hampshire. Former Mayor and current councilman Marion Barry was the only member to vote against the provision, making him both the subject of praise and criticism.
Barry defends his stance and explains how his predominantly black constituency influenced his decision. See Former DC Mayor Marion Barry Lone Dissenter On Gay Marriage
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Barry Warns of “Civil War” Over Gay Marriage in DC
D.C. Council member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8), the only council member to vote against the bill today to legalize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere, predicted today there could be a “civil war” in the District if the Council decides to take up a broader gay marriage bill later this year.
“All hell is going to break lose,” Barry said while speaking to reporters. “We may have a civil war. The black community is just adamant against this.”
Barry made his remarks a few hours after a group of same-sex marriage opponents, led by black ministers, caused uproar in the Wilson Building after the Council voted 12 to 1 to recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. They caused such a ruckus that security guards and police had to clear the hallway. The protesters shouted that council members who voted for the bill will face retribution at the polls.
Although he has been a longtime supporter of gay rights, Barry said he voted against the bill to satisfy his constituents in Southeast Washington.
“What you’ve got to understand is 98 percent of my constituents are black and we don’t have but a handful of openly gay residents,” Barry said. “Secondly, at least 70 percent of those who express themselves to me about this are opposed to anything dealing with this issue. The ministers think it is a sin, and I have to be sensitive to that.”
See Barry Warns of “Civil War” Over Gay Marriage
Washington Post
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Council agrees marriages should be recognized in nation’s capitalThe
Washington, D.C., City Council today overwhelmingly agreed to recognize marriages of gay and lesbian couples that were conducted outside the district. Councilman Marion Barry was the sole dissenter in the 12-1 vote in favor of recognizing the marriages. The Washington Post (5/5) * Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual
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Vanasco: DC votes to recognize gay marriages in other states
The Washington Post is reporting that the DC Council voted 13-0 to recognize gay marriages perfomed in other states.
But council member and former mayor Marion Barry has asked for a re-vote - telling them he didn’t realize what he was voting on.
If Congress doesn’t intervene, the DC Council may take …
Tags: Congress, Council Member, Dc Council, Gay Marriages, Marion Barry, Mayor Marion Barry, Vote, Washington Post
