Harry Jackson faces David Catania, at gay marriage hearing in Washington, DC 10/26/09

For more about Harry Jackson and gay marriage in DC, vist:
http://www.metroweekly.com/

Harry Jackson, head of the Maryland-based, African American-attended Hope Christian Church, testifies in front of the DC City Council on a hearing about a bill that will allow gay and lesbian couples to be married in the District of Columbia. Jackson makes the argument here that Washington, DC has been subject to unfair voting practices since it was created. He speaks in terms of "we," as in "we the voters of DC," and demands the Council grant residents the right to vote away the civil marriage rights of gay men and lesbians. Harry Jackson has made a career of opposing marriage equality in the District for at least the past year, even though he has not lived in the District most of that time. His claim of residency had been in dispute until very recently.

After Jackson's long speech about the history of voting in the District, and the need for a referendum to halt the adoption of marriage equality, Councilman David Catania asks him two questions --
1) Does he know that the the only time an advisory referendum was placed on the ballot in DC to dimish the rights of a minority was in 1865 to block the voting rights of black males, and that it passed by an nearly unanimous vote?
2) How many times has Harry Jackson voted in the District in the last 10 years? Jackson's answer is none at all.

He has never voted in the District, yet is lecturing the elected members of the DC City Council about the importance of the District's hard-fought history of voting rights.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Harry jackson
• david catania
• gay marriage
• washington
• dc
• same-sex marriage
• gay
• lesbian
• glbt
• metro weekly
• metroweekly
• lgbt
• hope christian church

[SpeedyBruin]

This is not about the right to vote. You don't vote on the basic civil rights of minorities. That he would twist the hard work of many Americans in fighting for voting rights in this intolerant and bigoted campaign is stunning. Using scare tactics regarding children is shameful and misleading.

I wonder if he feels the rights of Americans to enter into interracial marriage should have been put to popular vote.

[Rangerpjonwebx]

News Flash: Gay Marriage is the only political issue black conservative religious leaders have addressed in the last eight years. Believe it!

Meanwhile, in the black community only 31% of adult blacks are married, while 69% of adult blacks remain unmarried. And single African-American women give birth to 70% of all black children, while only 30% are born to married couples.

Call the haters out!

[SpeedyBruin]

@MrThebatman84 As far as 'disagreeing without being disagreeable' being a concept the is only comprehensible to Christians counter examples include Fred Phelps, Brian Fisher, and a host of others if you would like more. There are of course both polite and impolite Christians and gay people. Neither group has a monopoly and claiming such makes you lose credibility.

[SpeedyBruin]

@MrThebatman84 You do realize there are many gay Americans who are both gay and members of racial minority groups?

[MrThebatman84]

@SpeedyBruin My original point..or what I was trying to say is that unlike Christians, you will see NO CONDEMNATION from the LGBT community calling a black Christian Democrat a "nigger" just because he opposes homosexuality. Christians on the other hand have always condemned other Christians and even now it's happening on this issue! You honestly can not say that Christian abolitionists in the North did NOT oppose certain Christians in the south over slavery can you? No you can't.

[SpeedyBruin]

@MrThebatman84 Let's go back to your original point, which appears to be that lgbt people are more racist than other groups of people. If I were to see Christians, as I have, use racial slurs does this anecdotal evidence mean that all Christians are more likely to be racist? That seems to be the argument you're applying to gay and lesbian people.

[MrThebatman84]

Delegate Emmett Burns was called the N-word in Maryland and he was frickin Democrat. And did the LGBT community say anything about that? Hell no! Apparently the homosexual community doesn't know how to disagree without becoming disagreeable. But see that's a Christian concept. Usually when you got beef with God..He just allows you to do stupid things and then you go so low to the bottom of the gutter that you end up destroying yourself and looking dumb in the process.

[MrThebatman84]

@SpeedyBruin Oh so you want to talk about honesty? Where was the lgbt community when the militant homosexuals kept equating homosexuality to skin color? WHERE WERE THEY? Where was the lgbt community when this black Senator in Maryland got called a frickin nigger just because HE DISAGREE WITH GAY "MARRIAGE" due to his religious beliefs? WHERE WAS THE LGBT'S CONDEMNATION OF THIS RACIST SLUR? If you can answer those questions, then I promise you I'll back off.

[SpeedyBruin]

@SpeedyBruin Sorry about the grammar. I'm barely awake.

[SpeedyBruin]

@MrThebatman84 I'm not sure who you're kidding trying to make gay men out to be more racist than any other population of Americans. Of course there are gay men who have used racial slurs, but so do people of many other demographic groups. Does that make it excusable when it happens? Of course not. However, painting lgbt people as being generally racist, or to display more racism than others, is dishonest and looks like simple mud-slinging.

[MrThebatman84]

@SpeedyBruin Or maybe I wonder if you ever read the Song of Solomon in the Bible? Interracial marriage isn't the same as homosexuality. And btw, I've heard many WHITE HOMOSEXUALS CALL BLACK CHRISTIANS NIGGERS FOR OPPOSING GAY MARRIAGE SO DON'T SIT HERE ON YOUTUBE with your thumbs up and pretend like you're on the side of justice because you're not. You're a fraud and an insult to blacks.

[aswar87]

@padprod Both!