D.C. AG Argues Anti-Gay-Marriage Initiative Would Violate Human Rights Act

A group in the District of Columbia sued after the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics denied a ballot measure that would invalidate a bill allowing same-sex marriage in the district.  The Board found that the ballot measure would discriminate against homosexuals and thus violate the D.C. human rights act.

The D.C. Attorney General’s office has now asked the court hearing the lawsuit to dismiss the case, arguing that “the Human Rights Act trumped the right to propose initiatives” and “that the D.C. Code outright bans initiatives that would ‘authorize discrimination.'”  Jordan Weissmann, D.C. Pushes to Dismiss Suit Over Gay Marriage Initiative, Blog of Legal Times, Dec. 21, 2009.