Marriage dominates regional news in 2004

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The hot-button issue of gay marriage not only dominated national news in 2004, but also made headlines in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. Here are the top regional gay news stories of the year.
Virginia adopts anti-gay measure
The Marriage Affirmation Act, a law that not only bans gay unions, but appears to outlaw marriage-related legal agreements between people of the same sex, passed the Virginia legislature by a veto-proof majority and became law July 1.

Gov. Mark Warner, a Democrat, supported the measure’s ban on recognition of civil unions but opposed the extra restriction on contracts.

Since its creation, Del. Robert Marshall (R-Prince William County), one of the measure’s chief proponents, has maintained that the Marriage Affirmation Act does not ban private contracts between same-sex couples declaring that he wrote the measure to solely prevent gay couples from marrying.

Opponents assert otherwise and less than a month after its enactment, the ACLU of Virginia announced it would file a lawsuit challenging the measure.
The controversial measure prompted 50 demonstrators to protest outside Marshall’s Manassas home in July.

Sensing that the Marriage Affirmation Act might be vulnerable, some conservative Virginia lawmakers, including Del. John Cosgrove (R-Chesapeake), plan to introduce a measure during the 2005 legislative session that would amend Virginia’s Constitution to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman and ban any type of same-sex union.

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In early December, lawyers filed an appeal in a Virginia court on behalf of Janet Miller-Jenkins, who is seeking to enforce a court order that would allow her to have regular visits with the 2-year-old daughter she and her former partner raised.

The case, being brought by Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia and Equality Virginia, asserts that Miller-Jenkins’ former partner, Lisa Miller-Jenkins, must allow her to visit their daughter according to a Vermont court order. Both women were joined in a Vermont civil union.

After the relationship ended, a Vermont court dissolved the union and granted Janet Miller-Jenkins visitation rights to the child. Lisa Miller-Jenkins moved back to Virginia with their daughter. She used the state’s new anti-gay Marriage Affirmation Act to declare that she is the child’s sole legal parent.

In September, a Vermont court found Lisa Miller-Jenkins in contempt for fleeing the state and trying to avoid a court order for shared custody of their child. Lisa Miller-Jenkins refused to comply with her ex-partner’s court-ordered visitation.

In late September, Frederick, Va., County Circuit Judge John Prosser ruled that “ex-lesbian” Lisa Miller-Jenkins should have full custody of two-year-old daughter Isabella.

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Despite the passage of bans on gay marriage in 13 other states, Maryland’s General Assembly managed to defeat two bills in committee that would have strengthened the state’s current ban on marriage rights for same-sex couples.

HB 728, sponsored by Del. Emmett C. Burns Jr. (D-Baltimore County) would have prohibited Maryland from recognizing a gay marriage performed in another state or foreign country. And HB 16, sponsored by Del. Charles R. Boutin (R-Cecil, Harford Counties), sought to amend Maryland’s Constitution to read, “Only a marriage between a man and a woman is valid in this state.”

Unhappy with the committee vote, Del. Gail Bates (R-Howard County) used a procedural move to attach Boutin’s anti-gay amendment to H.B. 746, to a bill that clarified which judges are authorized to perform marriage ceremonies and the fees they may charge. It was voted down 82-52, with seven delegates abstaining.

Burns, a staunch opponent of gay rights, voted against the proposed amendment noting that the committee had the final word when it voted “no” during committee.

Plagued by criticism that he is homophobic, Burns told the Blade in February that he is not a homophobe, adding that, “If homosexuals want to go at it and do their thing, that’s fine. But don’t sashay your way up to the altar and demand marriage.”

Del. Donald H. Dwyer Jr. (R-Anne Arundel) announced in late November that he plans to introduce an amendment banning gay marriage during the 2005 legislative session.

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The gay marriage controversy moved quickly from Massachusetts to the District of Columbia in 2004. A debate earlier in the year over whether D.C. should recognize same-sex marriages performed in Massachusetts was overshadowed in the summer, when Congresswoman Jo Ann Davis (R-Va.) introduced a bill to ban same-sex marriage in the District.

Gay activists became further concerned in November when D.C. resident Lisa L. Greene filed papers with the city election board to place a gay marriage ban before the voters through a ballot initiative.

Davis later agreed to a request by D.C. Congressional Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) to hold off on pushing her bill. And Greene withdrew her initiative proposal after the election board informed her she failed to properly prepare the paperwork.

Greene promised to resubmit it after obtaining legal help on how to draft the language for the anti-gay ballot measure. D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams, meanwhile, appears to have placed on indefinite hold a decision on whether D.C. should recognize gay marriages performed in Massachusetts.

Responding to requests for such recognition by same-sex couples planning to move from Massachusetts to D.C., Williams asked Attorney General Robert Spagnoletti to conduct a legal review of the matter.

Spagnoletti, who is gay, prepared a legal opinion that District government sources say asserts that city law gives the mayor full legal authority to recognize same-sex marriages from Massachusetts. But Williams has declined to release the Spagnoletti opinion, saying only that he is waiting for the “appropriate” time to do so.

The Gay & Lesbian Activists Alliance urged him to postpone releasing the opinion — and to postpone any decision on recognition of Massachusetts marriages — until after the November election and after Congress adjourned for the year. GLAA said it feared that Congress would intervene by overturning gay marriage recognition or by passing a law to ban the city from ever recognizing or legalizing same-sex marriage.

As the year came to a close, GLAA released a proposal on its Web site calling for plans by gay activists and their allies to create a new organization to fight a D.C. ballot initiative seeking to ban gay marriage in the District, saying such an initiative is likely to surface in 2005.

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After close to a year of controversy, Cirque du Soleil agreed to pay Matthew Cusick, an HIV-positive gymnast, a record $600,000 to settle an HIV discrimination case he brought alleging that the Montreal-based circus engaged in discrimination when it fired the performer in early 2003.

In February, the Los Angeles office of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission upheld the complaints of the fired gymnast, prompting Cirque officials to initially offer Cusick “reinstatement” in the popular traveling circus.

At the time of the termination and prior to the EEOC’s conclusion, Cirque officials justified their actions by maintaining that the company could not risk other performers or patrons becoming infected. After the EEOC ruled on the matter, Renée-Claude Ménard, director of public relations for Cirque du Soleil, acknowledged that Cirque “had progressed internally on this matter through meetings with medical experts” and felt “confident” about re-integrating the 33-year-old gymnast.

With help from the Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund, Cusick filed the complaint with the EEOC in July 2003. In the complaint, Cusick noted that he had disclosed his HIV status to the company months before he was terminated and was cleared twice by the company’s doctors as a healthy athlete capable of performance.

Cusick was fired in March 2003. He was set to begin performing in Cirque’s Las Vegas show, “Mystere,” and had been training and performing for the role for months.