A City Council member just called me to help him draft a City Resolution on Gay Marriage. He's asking me for help because I drafted and led the effort to pass a City Resolution Protecting Civil Liberties (anti-Patriot Act) last Spring. I'm an attorney and built our local Bill of Rights Defense Coalition with 50 member organizations.
So, I'd love your (Kos community) feedback on what these resolutions could include, and whether this would be a useful strategy NATIONALLY in the ongoing effort for equal rights.
Our city is in California, and I asked the City Council member which of the following he had in mind:
- A resolution against Bush's proposed Constitutional Amendment. It could state the City's opposition and the reasons for opposition, and ask the Mayor to send a letter to our Congressional Rep and Senators asking them to oppose it.
- A resolution in favor of gay marriage, or in favor of letting cities or counties decide for themselves. It could urge the State of California to repeal the state law prohibiting gay marriage (a voter initiative that was passed a few years ago) because it is unconstitutional (violating Equal Protection law)-- or has the state court already reviewed this, found it Constitutional, and we can't reopen this issue? Or, it could urge the State of California to let San Francisco (or any other city or county) make its own decisions and not enforce the state law (sounds odd, but that's how Germany and some other countries handle abortion-- they have a law against it on the books nationally, but don't enforce the law-- it keeps both sides happy).
- A resolution granting the City to license gay marriages. Essentially, this would become yet another city to do civil disobedience. (I don't think this is what the City Council member had in mind, but he might be persuaded if a big enough coalition in support were created.)
So, the bigger question is whether this kind of strategy would be effective nationally. One reason for city resolutions is to get attention to or traction on a national issue that Congress seems to be avoiding or going down the wrong path. This strategy was used for opposing the Iraq War and for opposing the Patriot Act. The Iraq War resolutions had limited effectiveness (some cities directed their law enforcement to be even more respectful of protesters or permit them desirable march routes because they had an anti-Iraq War official resolution).
There are now approxmiately 250 cities and counties that have passed anti-Patriot Act resolutions. Last July, when about 100 resolutions had been passed, Congress finally heard the message. The House of Reps passed an amendment to a budget bill that repealed a key section of the Patriot Act; this amendment passed overwhelmingly (almost all Dems and about half the Repubs) and the discussion on the floor kept referring to the number of cities that had passed resolutions urging them to do this. The Dept of Justice was alarmed by this, and sent Ashcroft on a defensive tour around the country to defend the Patriot Act. Since then, about ten more pieces of legislation have been introduced, but they all seem to be stuck in committees controlled by the GOP. The amendment that passed the House overwhelmingly still hasn't made it to the Senate floor so it can become law. So, another 150 cities and counties passed local resolutions. Again, it seems like these resolutions have limited effectiveness. They do raise a lot of awareness in local areas (they give the local media a reason to cover the issue, they provide a reason for town forums, etc.), though, and give activists a way to keep building grassroots coalitions to move the issue forward.
Are there organizations that would be helpful to me in drafting a resolution for our City Council? HRC? Others? Is there language available from other cities that have acted on this issue? Please provide any useful links. Thanks in advance!