Mr. Barry Doesn't Speak for Me

By Niki Mitchell
Washington

D.C. Council member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) certainly does not speak for the entire black community regarding gay marriage in the District [“Uproar in D.C. as Same-Sex Marriage Gains”].

I am straight, I have been married for 18 years, and I have a child. I think I’m a pretty average member of the black community, and I support same-sex marriage. I don’t believe it is a threat to my family, community or faith.

Discrimination, like torture, diminishes us all. It doesn’t hurt to remember that at one time slave owners and slavery proponents used the Bible and “God’s will” to justify slavery. While I don’t purport to know what God believes with regard to gay marriage (we haven’t discussed it), I do know that marriage brings with it certain rights that I would not deny to my friends who happen to be gay.