A D.C.-based gay rights group is
demanding the removal of anti-gay marriage ads on the city's transit
system. Full Equality Now DC says the ads “force LGBT citizens to
face discrimination when they go to work.”
The ads are sponsored by Stand for
Marriage DC, a group formed in the spring by Bishop Harry Jackson to
oppose a gay marriage-recognition law approved with the overwhelming
support of city leaders. The law recognizes gay marriages performed
outside the city.
Since then, lawmakers have approved a
gay marriage bill that allows gay and lesbian couples to marry in the
District. The law is expected to go into effect in February or early
March.
Jackson and his group wants voters to
decide the issue; the ads on the city's transit system advocate for a
public vote on a gay marriage ban.
Full Equality Now DC protested
the ads in a letter sent to Washington Metropolitan Area Transit
Authority (WMATA) General Manager John B. Catoe.
“While we understand that WMATA
allows politically-oriented groups to purchase advertising on its
transit system, this advertisement is not merely political,” the
group wrote. “This advertisement specifically targets citizens on
the the basis of sexual orientation, in direct opposition to both
common decency and the standards of non-discrimination in WMATA's own
policies.”
“For LGBT citizens to have to
experience discriminatory messages as they go about their daily life
is unacceptable and must be stopped. For this reason, we demand that
WMATA remove all advertisements posted by Stand for Marriage DC as
soon as possible.”
Not all gay marriage backers, however,
are united against the ads. A second group of prominent gay leaders
in the district, which includes the city's ACLU director, countered
with their own letter: “As supporters of civil marriage
equality, we also embrace the principle of free speech … therefore,
[we] urge you to reject the misguided censorship advocated by Full
Equality Now DC.”