In May, the Washington, D.C., City Council voted to recognize same-sex "marriages" performed outside the District.
Now, the residents of the District might get to weigh in on the issue.
The D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics held a hearing today on whether the new law can be put to a public vote. A decision will come later.
"The issue before us is not whether same-sex 'marriage' is good or bad policy, but who gets to decide this critical moral and social issue," argued Brian Raum, senior counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund. "The people should decide."
A group of D.C. pastors and others is behind the referendum, which would allow the public to vote on the issue. If the Elections Board allows it, marriage advocates would need to collect 21,000 signatures in just a few weeks. Congress has the final say on the City Council's decision.
The Rev. Patrick Walker, senior pastor of New Macedonia Baptist in Ward 7, called this “another defining moment in the District of Columbia’s history of self-determination and home rule.”
“Our culture is evolving," he said at the hearing, "and there is a shifting sand rejecting truth in our city."
