Marriage equality will remain the law of the land in the nation’s capital, following a U. S. Supreme Court ruling this week.
The top court rejected an appeal by opponents of same-sex marriage Jan. 18, who were seeking to overturn Washington, D.C.’s marriage-equality law.
The court didn’t release comment along with its rejection.
Bishop Harry Jackson, pastor of Hope Christian Church, along with the National Organization for Marriage and the Alliance Defense Fund, had been seeking to put the issue of marriage equality to a vote before D.C. voters.
The D.C. Council approved a measure allowing same-sex marriage in December 2009 and, per district law, sent it for review to Congress, which took no action and allowed the bill to become law in March.
The opponents petitioned the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics to allow them to utilize a voter referendum on the issue, but the board refused, saying it would violate the district’s nondiscrimination law. Jackson sued the district, but last year the D.C. Superior Court and an appellate court upheld the Board of Election’s ruling.
“Today’s action by the Supreme Court makes abundantly clear that D.C.’s human-rights protections are strong enough to withstand the hateful efforts of outside anti-LGBT groups to put people’s basic civil rights on the ballot,” said Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solmonese, adding that Jackson and the supporting organizations “have fought a losing battle to shamelessly harm gay and lesbian couples in D.C. who seek nothing more than to share in the rights and responsibilities of marriage. The D.C. Council and mayor courageously made marriage equality a reality last year, and the courts have since upheld the rights of D.C. residents to govern ourselves and take the necessary steps to eliminate discrimination in our community.”
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].