Local
Former NOM president: Marriage is not a ‘civil rights issue’
Gallagher assailed by activist after panel discussion
BALTIMOREāThe co-founder of the National Organization for Marriage stressed on Tuesday that marriage for same-sex couples is not a civil right.
āIām here today to urge you to join with your friends and neighbors and your fellow citizens to vote no on Question 6 precisely because I do not believe that gay marriage is a civil rights issue,ā said Maggie Gallagher, who lives in Montgomery County, during a League of Women Votersā panel on the Nov. 6 referendum on Marylandās same-sex marriage law at Morgan State University. āMarriage has existed not just in the state of Maryland but all over the globe for thousands of years as a union of male and female for a simple reason: These are the only unions that can make new life and connect children in love to their mother and their father. Marital unions have that capacity.ā
The debate took place at the historically black university shortly after Marylanders for Marriage Equality, the group supporting Question 6, unveiled its first television ads that feature Rev. DontĆ© Hickman of the Southern Baptist Church in Baltimore and Rev. Delman Coates of Mount Ennon Baptist Church in Clinton in Prince Georgeās County. Both men joined Rev. Al Sharpton and other prominent black clergy last month who urged congregants to support Marylandās same-sex marriage law.
āThe question is whether or not we as a state are going to continue to treat all people in the state of Maryland ā citizens of Maryland ā equally and fairly under the law. And thatās what Question 6 or ballot Question 6 is all about,ā said state Del. Keiffer Mitchell (D-Baltimore City) who spoke on behalf of Marylanders for Marriage Equality. āItās about treating all our citizens fairly and equally under the law. What Question 6 does is simply allow gay couples to go to a court house to file to receive a civil marriage license in order to be married.ā
A Baltimore Sun poll released late last month shows 49 percent of likely Maryland voters support the stateās same-sex marriage law, compared to 39 percent who oppose it with 10 percent undecided. A Gonzalez Research poll released earlier in September indicates 51 percent of Marylanders would vote for Question 6, compared to 43 percent who would oppose it.
The same survey noted that 44 percent of black Marylanders back nuptials for gays and lesbians, compared to 52 percent who oppose same-sex marriage.
Mitchell noted that the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peopleās board of directors passed a resolution in support of same-sex marriage after President Obama publicly backed the issue during an interview with ABC News in May. The NAACP of Maryland and the civil rights organization’s Baltimore City and Prince George’s County chapters have also urged their members to support Question 6.
āWe may not literally force your clergy to perform marriage, but what we found in other states is that you can be expected fairly rapidly to be treated the way we treat, the way government treats, people who oppose equality,ā said Gallagher. āWe stigmatize, we marginalize, we oppress racists because racism is wrong. But in my view, this traditional understanding of marriage across different races, creeds and colors is not evil. Itās not discriminatory. Itās good. You need to bring together male and female to make inroads in the next generation. Thatās the heart of the classic understanding of marriage. And itās the heart that gay marriage will change. And it will change it not just for gay people. It will change it for every citizen in the state of Maryland.ā
Mitchell pointed out NOMās strategy to use marriage as a wedge issue to further divide black and gay voters.
āThis is a civil rights issue. I am proud of a family that I come from of pioneers that set the way in terms of civil rights. And one of the lessons that Iāve learned from speaking with my uncles, parents and my grandparents, great-grandmother and others was that civil rights in the African-American community we do not have a monopoly on,ā he said. āWe have to continue to move forward and we just canāt get our rights and then kick the ladder away and say we have ours, you fight for your own.ā
Rev. Meredith Moise, who co-chairs Baltimore Black Pride, confronted Gallagher over her reference to African same-gender marriage ceremonies to further promote tribal lineages as she walked off the stage after the forum.
āAs a student, a former student and alumnus of this beloved university having said this to this man [Mitchell] whose family shed blood and died for the rights of all people is anathema. And shame on you,ā she said. āAnd for you to support it and propagate hate in the black community. Shame on you. No human being has the right to divide people of African blood on this issue. We will remain one people.ā
District of Columbia
Gay man found unconscious near D.C. gay bar dies
Police release video of suspects in incident listed as robbery
D.C. police have confirmed that a gay man who worked as a hairstylist and a DJ and who was found unconscious about 5 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 27, at the intersection of 5th and T Streets, N.W. near the gay bar Uproar has died.
Friends who knew the victim, Bryan Smith, stated in a GoFundMe message seeking support for his medical expenses that he was hospitalized for a severe head injury. His family members told Fox 5 News that he was in a coma.
A D.C. police spokesperson confirmed that Smith died on Nov. 7 and the cause and circumstances surrounding his death were pending with the Northern Virginia Medical Examinerās Office. āOnce we have more information, weāll be putting that out,ā D.C. police spokesperson Thomas Lynch told the Washington Blade.
The information released by D.C police indicates Smith at some point was transferred from a D.C. hospital where he was taken by ambulance at the time he was found unconscious to a Virginia hospital, most likely at the request of family members.
Police also released a video showing two suspects and a vehicle they believe the suspects used in committing the robbery of Smith.
āThe ongoing investigation has determined that the man was robbed by two suspects while walking on the block,ā according to an Oct. 30 police statement released before Smith died. āDetectives are still working to determine how the victim sustained his injuries,ā the statement says.
The statement adds that the suspects have been linked to three other offenses that took place that same morning, two of which were attempted robberies and one of which was a robbery of victims on nearby streets.
Smith was found unconscious on Oct. 27 about five hours after another gay man, Sebastian Thomas Robles Lascarra, 22, was reportedly attacked and beaten by as many as 15 men and women at the McDonaldās restaurant at 14th and U Street, N.W., according to a D.C. police report and information provided by Lascarraās husband.
D.C. police announced they made an arrest Nov. 5 of a 16-year-old juvenile male in connection with the McDonaldās case. The arrest came on the same day police released photos of seven suspects in the McDonaldās assault case taken from video cameras at or near the McDonaldās.
In their release of the video showing the two suspects in the Smith case, police are asking that anyone who may recognize the two individuals should contact police at 202-727-9099 or text their tip to the departmentās TEXT TIP Line at 50411.
āAnyone who may have seen or heard something suspicious in the 500 block of T Street, NW, or the surrounding area around 5:00 a.m. Sunday [Oct. 27] is asked to call the police or text police,ā the statement accompanying the release of the police video says.
Local
Comings & Goings
The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at [email protected].Ā
Congratulations to Rehoboth Beach artist Gary Fisher who will be exhibiting at Aqua Art Miami, during Art Basel week, Dec. 4 – 8, 2024, with Nepenthe Gallery, booth #226. Fisher says these days he creates primarily in his studio and surrounding gardens in Rehoboth Beach, Del. Prior to that he had a studio on 14th Street, N.W., in D.C. He says he found painting, his passion, in mid-life, after a career as a natural resource and environmental attorney. He got active as a participant in the local art scene in D.C. as a founding member of the Mid-City Artists Group and created and managed the Gallery in Results the Gym, on Capitol Hill. He also served as the Managing Art Director for the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), and is now an active member of the Rehoboth Art League.
Fisher paints in oils and his artwork ranges from the textural abstract landscape work that has been the focus of his major recent work, to brilliantly colored still life, figurative paintings and recently he has had an interest in small plein-air paintings inspired from the poppy fields of Provence, and his own beautiful gardens in Rehoboth.
He talks about his art as an expression of the ābeauty I see all around me, particularly the coastal environment with its beautiful sunrises and sunsets reflecting off the wetlands and bays of Delaware, the gardens around my studio, or the amazing places I travel on my active biking, hiking, and painting trips.ā
Baltimore
5 more Salisbury students charged after man said he was lured to apartment attack
Suspects allegedly targeted victim on Grindr
By CODY BOTELER | Five more Salisbury University students have been charged in an alleged attack where a man said he was lured into an apartment and punched, kicked, and spat on because of his āsexual preferences,ā the Salisbury Police Department said Thursday afternoon.
The latest charges come after seven students were arrested earlier in the week, in an incident law enforcement officials are investigating as a hate crime.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
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