Protest planned in Detroit against same-sex marriage ban

DETROIT – A coalition of LGBT groups in greater Detroit has called for a rally March 3 at noon at the City County Building in downtown Detroit to demonstrate against the existing ban against same-sex marriage. After the rally, same-sex couples plan to go to the Wayne County Clerk's office to request marriage licenses. Marriage licenses have been granted to same-sex couples in San Francisco and New Paltz, NY in recent weeks.
Organizers plan to speak out against last week's announcement by President Bush that he supports amending the U.S. Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. If successful, this will be the first time the U.S. Constitution will be amended to specifically disallow rights to any group of citizens.
"This is political pandering at its worst," said Susan Horowitz, co-publisher of Between The Lines. "It's clear Bush is using our lives and relationships as political cannon fodder to galvanize his hard-right, conservative base in this election season."
Protesters will also speak out against a proposed similar amendment to the Michigan Constitution that would codify discrimination at the state level. Legislation to amend the Michigan Constitution was recently introduced into the Michigan House of Representative by Rep. Gary Newell, and into the Michigan Senate by Sen. Alan Cropsey. The resolution must pass by a two thirds vote in both the House and Senate in order to be put on the ballot in November. Voters would then decide whether or not to amend the constitution to ban marriage for same-sex couples.
Protesters say they will express their deep disappointment in Detroit's Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's lack of support for his LGBT constituents. As a guest on Real Time with Bill Mayer on Friday, Feb. 27, Kilpatrick adamantly opposed marriage for gays. He also insulted LGBT people when he said that, "I think there might be some genuine [LGBT] relationships." Organizers say that the protest will provide the mayor with ample opportunity to witness dozens of genuine LGBT couples who would like to marry in his City Hall tomorrow.
The protest comes on the eve of CreateDetroit, a grass roots effort to tap the area's creative thinkers, with special guest Dr. Richard Florida, author of The Rise of the Creative Class. In his ground-breaking book, Florida has argued that "Cool Cities" embrace their creative class, which must include the LGBT community. Florida, who is straight, participated in a demonstration in Ohio last month against that state's new anti-gay Defense of Marriage law.