Yes, but pay attention…This fight is not over…

Their separate petition for a ballot initia-tive is now awaiting consideration by the D. C. Court of Appeals, which will need to address many of the same legal questions that petitioners have raised here. Unlike their petition for a referendum, however, the request foran initiative will not become moot when the Act becomes law. On the contrary, the D. C. Court of Appeals will havethe chance to consider the relevant legal questions ontheir merits, and petitioners will have the right to chal-lenge any adverse decision through a petition for certiorariin this Court at the appropriate time.

We still need to protect and defend marriage equality in the District.
But…now is a time to celebrate.

that’s rightthe fight is not over anywhere.  but tomorrow couples can get their marriage licenses in dc, and tuesday they can get married.  nothing can stop that now.  this is a very good day.

Have these people forgotten the ‘activist judges’ meme??What a great opportunity for our side to hammer them with those past words and actions. Certain words do come back to bite your arse sooner or later.

Actually that was part of last friday’s attempt for an injunctionFrom the DC Agenda:

In a unanimous decision, Associate Judges Noel Kramer and Phyllis Thompson and Senior Judge John Steadman upheld a ruling last week by a D.C. Superior Court judge denying the injunction on grounds that it failed to meet the minimum requirements for such an action.
Superior Court Judge Brian Holeman ruled that Bishop Harry Jackson, pastor of Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, Md., could not show that there was “substantial likelihood” that his underlying lawsuit seeking to overturn the same-sex marriage law through a voter referendum would succeed.
Holeman noted that a key factor in granting an injunction is whether an underlying case on which the injunction is based has a reasonable chance of succeeding.

The “now awaiting consideration by the D. C. Court of Appeals” is the one not expected to pass.

Jackson’s residency?You refer to Jackson being a resident of Maryland, but according to the pdf of the Complaint, on page 6, under the “Parties” section it claims that “Harry R. Jackson, Jr. is a qualified registered voter in the District”.
Are you mistaken, can a non-resident be a registered voter in the District, or is Jackson lying to the SC?

I believe his lawyerswho wrote that he is a DC voter.  But his business-church is in MD.

Even if DC voters voted FOR marriage equalityit wouldn’t stop them from putting a differently worded initiative on the ballot. Just look at what happened in Arizona. Marriage equality was approved then when that wasn’t enough for them (they always claim that they would accept the voters’ results) they managed to get another one on the ballot which was reworded and marriage equality was lost. They are evil, vicious, homophobes. They will stop at nothing to get their way. They MUST be called out on their evil.  

Not over, but the beginning of the end. Its going to be very much like it is in California if this is overturned. You will have a given number of same-sex marriages which will be legal. Once that fact enters into the mix you get a different set of dynamics that present a problem with regard to the Full Faith and Credit Clause. Its not over, but the “genie is out of the bottle”. Its only a matter of time

Not Contained to MDOh, I wish I could say that his bat sh!t crazy business-”church” was strictly in MD.  I read this afternoon on the DCAgenda webside that E-Street Cinema (owned by Landmark Theaters) here in DC is renting space to Harry for Sunday services and people are calling for a boycott.    
http://www.dcagenda.com/2010/0…

Great to feel Greatafter ME,NY,NJ. A great added bonus is the reciprocity for Maryland residents.
Then there is Virginia. Which is going backwards fast.
Focusing on the positive tonight though!

Arizona never had marriage equalityYou’re right that when the bigots failed to get their first amendment ratified by voters (it would possibly have hurt heterosexuals, not just gays), they came back again with a leaner amendment that was designed to only hurt gays.
It remains to be seen whether Jackson et al. will be allowed by the courts to stage an initiative to attempt to repeal the law.  In any event, that won’t happen immediately (the next court date on that question is May), so all we can do is celebrate these weddings, then make sure that newly-married couples in DC convince their neighbors to support them should the question ever hit the ballot.  The PR campaign in DC isn’t anywhere near over.

A complaint has been filedA complaint has been filed with the Board of Elections.  The complaint alleges that this residency is a fraud, only set up so he can claim residency.  He’s basically using someone else’s address while continuing to live, etc in Maryland.

Yeah, I knew that and it seems to meinclined to grant stays. It would kind of make a mess if opponents prevailed in the pending case. We’d end up with yet another California, presumably, should it get overturned. I think they’d have granted the stay if they weren’t reasonable sure the case has almost no chance.  

I kind of think this is over in Washington in the short termWhile I think there will always be a need for diligence even if by some miracle of discrimination the plaintiffs win the right to have an initiative that would still not automatically give them the right to either place it on the ballot or to have it voted on by the city’s population which would again both be violations of the current city election laws. There is no getting around that until the laws actually get changed. The courts could would not only have to rewrite the initiative process in DC but current election and discrimination laws as well. Gotta props to the city administrators for putting together one of the tightest and most comprehensive plans against both current and future discrimination in the city. Its pretty good stuff!

He also maintains a residence in DC which is listed as his primary residenceEven though it is well documented that he rarely stays there with property in Both Maryland and even Virginia I believe.

He will get to see the business end of a shotgun if he shows up at my door looking for a vote.

I urge all Northern VA gays to vote with your feetget the hell out of VA where your taxes are persecuting you.

Won’t work….Activist judges are the ones who step in to do things that they don’t like. Judges that step in to do things they do like are patriots. Never make the mistake that these people operate on any sort of general principle. They are right, and any method or mechanism they use to get their way is right. People using the same mechanism to do something they disagree with are not using their rights and participating in the process, they are destroying society and furthering their agenda.

“We didn’t get a chance to vote on this…” WAAAAAA!!!I’m so sick of hearing this argument.  Harry Bishop and his kind DID have the right to vote on this.  They had the right to vote in people who wouldn’t pass a law like this, and they didn’t.  If Dirty Harry and Company don’t like the current law, let them run candidates who will repeal it.