Marion Barry says DC will have civil war if it legalized same sex marriage.

[Hamlette]

D.C. Council member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8), the only council member to vote against the bill today to legalize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere, predicted today there could be a "civil war" in the District if the Council decides to take up a broader gay marriage bill later this year.

"All hell is going to break lose," Barry said while speaking to reporters. "We may have a civil war. The black community is just adamant against this."

snip

Although he has been a longtime supporter of gay rights, Barry said he voted against the bill to satisfy his constituents in Southeast Washington.

"What you've got to understand is 98 percent of my constituents are black and we don't have but a handful of openly gay residents," Barry said. "Secondly, at least 70 percent of those who express themselves to me about this are opposed to anything dealing with this issue. The ministers think it is a sin, and I have to be sensitive to that."

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dc/2009/05/barry_warns_of_civil_war_over.html

Anyone get this? I'm not saying they have to support me because I supported them but how is this justified? Religion?

[xchrom]

1. ...

:popcorn:

[La Lioness Priyanka]

31. i wonder if marion barry posts on du under a pseudonym trying to cause a rift between

african americans and lgbt americans.

[xchrom]

41. woulddn't surprise me -- or just take up

that line of 'thinking'.

[NoPasaran]

45. "All hell is going to break lose,"

Certainly not beyond the realm of possibility.

[NightWatcher]

2. give him a loaded crack pipe and he'll shut up

how is he still in office?

[Cha]

3. Shutup

marion berry.

[Sebastian Doyle]

4. Still on the pipe, Marion?

Or is it just permanent brain damage from when "the bitch set you up" :eyes:

[DebbieCDC]

5. Marion Barry is just about the biggest idiot on the face of this earth

Believe me, I know. I lived in DC for 20-some years while he ran it like his own personal little kingdom.

[FiveGoodMen]

6. "The black community is just adamant against this" -- Really?

[LynneSin]

7. Then those 70% totally opposed to it shouldn't marry someone of the same sex and...

mind their own business!

[Donnachaidh]

8. give him a comfy chair and a stuffed crack pipe and he'll STFU.

I'm surprised people were stupid enough to vote for him for anything.

[jody]

9. This issue demonstrates the difference between "pre-existing right. . . . not a right granted by the

Constitution. Neither is it in any manner dependent upon that instrument for its existence" and legal rights granted by government.

Pre-existing rights, recognized by PA (1776) and VT (1777) as "natural, inherent, inalienable/unalienable" rights, obligated government to protect those rights against infringement by a simple majority of votes whether by voters or voters' representatives at the federal level.

Government can grant or deny legal rights, e.g same-sex marriage, by a simple majority of votes whether by voters or voters' representatives.

[theoldman]

10. Black people are gay just like White people.

I am sure that a lot of them will come out of the closet in the near future. A big problem in the Black community is that they are very religious and take the Bible literally.

[mtnester]

11. Marion Berry...a Peeps depiction

[MountainLaurel]

22. Oh sweet Jeebus!

:rofl:

[FLAprogressive]

12. how about working towards educating the black community about LGBT issues?

[tekisui]

13. Whoa, I think he has overstayed his welcome.

[Rebubula]

24. Overstayed...

...by about 20 years!!

[Canuckistanian]

14. Ooo, the king of DC morality speaks

Everyone better listen up.

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

15. "Bitch set me up ... Goddamn bitch"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/longterm/library/dc/barry/video.htm

Jurors View Videotape of Barry Drug Arrest
By Tracy Thompson and Elsa Walsh
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, June 29, 1990; Page A01

Eighteen jurors, intent on missing no detail, watched yesterday as a television screen showed D.C. Mayor Marion Barry taking two long drags from a crack pipe in a room at the Vista Hotel on Jan. 18. It was the first public screening of the FBI videotape that showed Barry's arrest on drug possession charges.

Within moments, the screen became a blur of sound and action as FBI agents stormed the room, grabbing Barry, placing him up against a wall with his arms outstretched and reading him his rights before leading him away in handcuffs.

The enraged Barry muttered over and over, "Bitch set me up . . . . I shouldn't have come up here . . . goddamn bitch" -- references to the woman who lured him to the hotel, former girlfriend Hazel Diane "Rasheeda" Moore.

,,,

[walldude]

16. Oh go suck on a crack pipe....

"I have to be sensitive to that." You weren't very sensitive to the crack epidemic dipshit.

[Bluenorthwest]

17. Refresh my memory...

was it just crack, or was it crack and prostitutes? Or was it crack and bribery? I know it was crack, while he was in office...also in his office I think...

[MountainLaurel]

23. It was crack then, he since moved on

Stopped a few years ago for driving erratically, at which point officers noticed white powder in the inside of the car, which tested positive for cocaine. Oh, and he hasn't paid taxes in about 10 years.

[Bluenorthwest]

35. Well, at least he's off the pipe I guess...

that makes him a moral authority.

[Trickle Down]

18. he needs a good crack hit

and he'll come to his senses ... oh yeah and a hooker or two

[Laelth]

29. Welcome to DU!

:dem:

-Laelth

[Dappleganger]

19. What a disgrace.

[Occam Bandage]

20. LGBT set me up!

[Rebubula]

25. You sir\madam..

...owe me a keyboard.

Mine seems to be filled with coffee now.

That is possibly the best line that I have ever seen here.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

21. this is why we tell kids not to smoke crack

[HillWilliam]

26. Y'know Marion, after we got this shit calmed down after Prop H8

and figured out that GLBT people and African-American people really aren't diametrically opposed to one another (and can even be the same person!), there YOU fucking go. The meme is tired already. It didn't work when the pugs tried to divide us with it and damnsure won't work when a tiredass DINO tries it.

Jeebus Aitch on a tortilla. Give it a rest.

[EFerrari]

27. He's full of it.

[hootinholler]

28. Gratuitous crack joke

[Terran]

30. "...we don't have but a handful of openly gay residents"

1) You would know this how, Marion?

2) What the fuck does that assertion have to do with anything?

[WI_DEM]

32. Go back to your crack, Marion.

[sarcasmo]

33. Why is this guy still in politics? Shut up you Crack head.

[cpompilo]

34. I once ate a piece of marionberry pie

somewhere in N. California. We joked with the waitress about Marion Berry - it was during his crack days when he was caught on tape. That guy's a nut - but his pie sure is good.

[dorkulon]

36. Is he wrong? Isn't it true that black Americans are more opposed than whites to this?

We can insult him all we want, but isn't his premise correct?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

37. marginally more and when controlled for religion not at all.

however, he is wrong, to ostracize LGBT african americans and pretend that they dont count as blacks

indian leaders do this to indian LGBT all the time so i know this from living it

[Solomon]

38. This has been an issue in the black community for different reasons

than the white community. You have to try and understand that for decades the system was seen as destroying the black male in order to control the black community. The war on drugs, etc. Lot of black males locked up. Low level jobs because of discrimination. As a result, there are fewer heterosexual black males available in the community to be seen as "traditional role models". A lot of guilt involved over the fact that black males have had a hard time feeding their families etc. because of past discrimination. So there is a peculiar cultural thing in the black community about "being a man". (Don't shoot me. I'm just trying to explain it to you, I grew up in the black community, DC in particular, so I know whereof I speak).

When you add the religious thing on top of all of that as an excuse, it becomes the problem that it is in the black community. You don't agree with it, I don't agree with it, (I once did as a member of the community) but it is what it is.

Lot of people don't understand the peculiar circumstances that causes the black community to be wrong on this issue.

I wish people would stop hating so much. Change takes a little time, and just like I've come around, more of us have come around, and the worst area you will see the problem is the poorest areas like the area Barry represents simply because the poorer areas are under more pressure for males to "be a man".

Now go ahead and flame me with knee-jerk responses.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

40. i dont think its hating to think his homophobic vote is unacceptable

yes, i understand the needs behind hypermasculinity and the emasculation of the black male but just as you expect me to understand that, i expect you to not call me a hater because i find homophobia in political leaders unacceptable.

[elleng]

42. THANKS for the explanation, Solomon.

:hi:

[ruggerson]

46. People need to be educated that being a "man" has no relation to being gay

there are very "manly" stand-up responsible, strong gay black men.

and there are very weak, unprincipled "un-manly" straight men.

And vice versa.

"Manliness" has zero to do with sexual orientation.

[Ocracoker16]

39. A bit of hyperbole coming from Barry

I think that this notion of the black community rising up against those who believe in marriage equality is kind of stupid. In order for black people to fight marriage equality, they need to know that his is being proposed. Residents of Barry's ward are pretty out of touch with what is going on in the city, the nation, and the world, because many don't leave their ward on a regular basis. They are not a very well educated bunch either. Even if Barry were to attempt to spread the word in his ward, he would have a hard time getting people to actually do something about it. Most would say that they were against same sex marriage, but they would probably not want to participate in organized efforts that would expose them to gay people, some of their rich white distant neighbors, and politicians they had always thought were against them.

If that still leaves you unconvinced, remember that these are the peopple who have voted Barry into office with no regreats. How with it are they if they think Barry is the greatest guy in their sheltered world.

[imdjh]

43. contact info for DC Bigot #1

email for "bishop" Jackson - [e-mail]

phone for "bishop" Jackson - 240-845-0388

[JerseygirlCT]

44. So what he's saying

(and believe me, I don't think Barry has the least bit of credibility anyway), is that his black constituents are bigots, and so he ought to vote for discrimination.

This is what comes of people insisting there's no comparison between the fight for African American civil rights and the fight for GLBT civil rights. They are the same fight. There's no room for bigotry, regardless of how you yourself may have experienced discrimination.