As you're probably aware, DC legalized same-sex marriage back in December. Unlike some of the 50 enfranchised states in which human rights were subject to a public vote, the DC Board of Elections and Ethics has continually ruled that DC law, which protects basic human rights, doesn't allow for a citywide referendum on same-sex marriage, despite the efforts of some outsiders to impose one upon us.
(Of course, even though we legalized same-sex marriage in December, we had to wait until earlier this month to actually start licensing same-sex marriages, because we had to give Congress time to veto our law if they wanted to. We would be unable to legally override a Congressional veto.)
In other words, the District of Columbia is well ahead of the curve - perhaps even at the vanguard - when it comes to recognizing the basic civil rights of our LGBT citizens.
So why won't the rest of the country recognize our basic civil rights?
This week, the Senate is debating the reconciliation fixes to the health care reform bill passed narrowly by the House on Sunday. Republicans are offering amendment after amendment, knowing that even the slightest change to the reconciliation bill means sending it back to the House and possibly (probably?) killing the fixes entirely.
One of the amendments to scuttle the reconciliation deal being put forward by Senate Republicans - specifically Bob Bennett (R-UT) - is an amendment to block same-sex marriages in DC.
Now, it's acknowledged that this amendment is all but certain to fail; after all, Democrats are rejecting all amendments to the reconciliation bill. But the fact that our laws - our marriages - are even being used as a bargaining chip in this debate should sicken anyone who calls him- or herself progressive.
What other taxpaying American citizens are subject to the indignity of being treated as if they're unable to govern their own affairs? What other taxpaying American citizens have to live knowing that at any moment, a Congress that's completely unaccountable to them could swoop in and invalidate any law they make (or add laws to their state or municipality)?
This state of affairs cannot - should not - be tolerated by anyone who calls him- or herself American. It should be especially odious to progressives, the heirs of the legacy of people like Susan B. Anthony, Cesar Chavez, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Harvey Milk, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who are revered in American history as people who believed and fought for the idea that all people are created equal.
Put quite simply - it is imperative that progressives take action for DC statehood now. To do anything less is to fall short of our inheritance, to prove ourselves unworthy of the giants on whose shoulders we stand.
So what can you do? Your progressive values demand just a few simple things:
- Call your Senators and demand that they take a position against the Bennett Amendment - not just for the rights of our LGBT brothers and sisters, but also for the principle that the people of the District of Columbia are capable of governing themselves.
- Call your representative and Senators and demand action on DC statehood. (If necessary, educate the staffer you talk to on the issue, letting him/her know that a Constitutional Amendment is not necessary [see below].)
- Call your Democratic campaigns for the House and Senate - whether they're incumbents or challengers - and demand that they include a pledge to take action on DC statehood among the issues on their webpages. It's a simple thing, costs them nothing, and gets the issue out there.
- Spread the word about DC civil rights through Twitter, Facebook, or the old-fashioned kind of social networking where you actually talk to people using your mouth and words. (Join the DC Statehood Facebook Fan Page, if you're on that site.)
- Whenever someone on dKos or another progressive blog asks their audience to contact their Congress-members, point out that DC citizens still don't have a voting representative or Senators to call. We DC residents shouldn't have to shoulder the burden of education and awareness by ourselves.
- Finally, whenever a candidate for the House or Senate posts on this site, or whenever they hold an event in your district/state, ask them pointblank what their position is on DC civil rights, and demand a pledge for action. If they're unclear, ask for clarification: Do they support full statehood or just the half-a-loaf unconstitutional DC VRA of 2009?
The thing about being disenfranchised - as the 600,000 taxpaying Americans who live in DC most certainly are - is that we can't stand up for ourselves in the halls of Congress, which is the only place where this change can happen. We need progressives in the 50 enfranchised states to stand up for us, to fight where we cannot.
Will you stand up for us?