Vincent
Orange
accused
his
four
main
rivals
of
being
“morally
unfit”
to
be
the
mayor
of
Washington,
D.C.,
because
of
their
support
for
same-sex
marriage.
In
an
Aug.
5
interview
with
Channel
5
News,
Orange,
who
represents
Ward
5
on
the
D.C.
Council,
said
he
believed
gay
marriage
would
become
an
issue
in
the
final
weeks
before
the
Sept.
12
Democratic
primary.
“I’m
the
only
one
that
is
opposed
to
same-sex
marriage,”
he
told
Channel
5
reporter
John
Henrehan.
“The
other
four,
they
say
they
believe
in
God,
they
go
to
church,
but
they’re
also
for
same-sex
marriage.”
“So
I
think
coming
down
the
stretch,
that’s
going
to
be
an
issue,”
Orange
said.
“I
don’t
think
they’re
morally
fit
to
run
the
city.”
Gay
D.C.
Councilmember
Jim
Graham,
a
Democrat
from
Ward
1,
said
Orange’s
remarks
most
likely
would
not
benefit
his
campaign.
“He’ll
find
that
in
D.C.,
that
kind
of
appeal
is
spurned,”
Graham
said.
“This
city
feels
and
thinks
better
than
that.
So
it’s
a
dead
end
for
him,
and
I
think
he
should
withdraw
that
statement.”
Orange’s
interview
with
Channel
5
took
place
in
Anacostia
at
a
site
where
mayoral
candidates
Adrian
Fenty
and
Marie
Johns
completed
a
one-on-one
debate
minutes
earlier.
With
Orange
watching
the
debate,
a
member
of
the
audience
asked
the
two
candidates
if
they
were
“morally
fit”
to
be
mayor
because
of
their
support
for
same-sex
marriage.
Fenty,
the
front-runner
in
the
mayoral
race,
reiterated
his
longstanding
support
for
same-sex
marriage.
Johns
also
reiterated
her
support
for
marriage
equality
for
“everyone”
as
long
as
churches
are
allowed
to
refuse
to
perform
same-sex
marriages
if
they
are
opposed
to
such
unions.
Gay
activists
accused
Orange
of
using
divisive
wedge
tactics
at
a
time
when
he
is
running
far
behind
Fenty,
a
Ward
4
councilmember,
and
Linda
Cropp,
the
Council
chair,
in
a
Washington
Post
public
opinion
poll
conducted
in
July.
Fenty
was
the
first
among
the
mayoral
candidates
to
express
support
for
same-sex
marriage.
Cropp,
who
initially
said
she
favored
civil
unions
over
same-sex
marriage,
later
declared
she
personally
backs
same-sex
marriage
while
favoring
civil
unions
as
a
means
of
averting
an
almost
certain
effort
by
Congress
to
overturn
a
D.C.
gay
marriage
law.
“What
I
believe
is
the
moral
position
is
to
increase
human
rights,
not
decrease
them,”
Cropp
told
the
Blade
this
week.
Alec
Evans,
a
spokesperson
for
the
Fenty
campaign,
said
the
candidate
remains
firm
in
his
support
for
same-sex
marriage
and
has
called
Orange’s
comments
“divisive”
and
“outrageous.”
Mario
Acosta-Velez,
president
of
the
Gertrude
Stein
Democratic
Club,
the
city’s
largest
gay
political
group,
said
Orange’s
negative
characterization
of
gay
marriage
deflects
attention
from
the
problems
faced
by
gay
families
who
are
denied
the
legal
rights
that
come
with
marriage.
“Instead
of
focusing
on
what
he
can
do
to
make
our
city
a
better
place
for
all
communities
and
families,
Councilmember
Orange
has
demonstrated
that
he
would
rather
define
his
campaign
as
one
based
on
petty
politics
that
promotes
discrimination
and
intolerance,”
Acosta-Velez
said.
Orange
lags
in
poll
Orange
first
expressed
his
opposition
to
gay
marriage
earlier
this
year
at
a
forum
of
Baptist
ministers,
who
have
criticized
the
other
candidates
for
backing
same-sex
marriage.
Most
political
observers
have
said
the
gay
marriage
issue
does
not
appear
to
have
been
a
factor
in
the
mayoral
race
so
far.
A
Washington
Post
poll
conducted
July
13-18
showed
Orange
receiving
only
6
percent
of
support
among
registered
voters
and
just
4
percent
among
those
saying
they
were
likely
to
vote
in
the
Sept.
12
primary.
The
Post
poll
showed
that
Fenty
was
leading,
with
support
from
39
percent
of
registered
voters
and
42
percent
of
likely
voters.
Cropp,
his
chief
rival,
had
support
from
31
percent
of
registered
voters
and
32
percent
of
likely
voters.
Former
Verizon
executive
Marie
Johns
had
support
from
6
percent
of
registered
voters
and
8
percent
of
likely
voters,
and
lobbyist
and
Democratic
Party
activist
Michael
Brown
had
support
from
6
percent
of
registered
voters
and
4
percent
of
likely
voters,
the
Post
poll
showed.
Johns
has
said
she,
too,
supports
same-sex
marriage
rights
for
gays,
with
the
caveat
shared
by
Cropp
and
Fenty
that
the
city
should
not
adopt
a
gay
marriage
law
until
the
current,
Republican-controlled
Congress
is
replaced
by
lawmakers
more
supportive
of
gay
rights.
Brown
said
Orange
misrepresented
his
position
by
labeling
him
as
a
gay
marriage
supporter.
In
a
telephone
interview
this
week,
Brown
said
he
supports
same-sex
marriage
in
principle
but
supports
civil
unions
rather
than
marriage
for
gay
couples
at
the
present
time,
when
a
hostile
Congress
would
likely
take
away
existing
domestic
partnership
laws
if
the
city
were
to
adopt
a
gay
marriage
law.
“I
don’t
know
what
he
was
trying
to
say
on
the
question
of
morality,”
Brown
said
of
Orange.
“It
seems
that
the
mayor
of
the
District
of
Columbia
needs
to
be
someone
who
brings
us
together
rather
than
divides
us,”
Brown
said.
“I
will
be
a
leader
who
brings
us
together,
even
if
we
disagree
on
a
particular
issue.”
Orange
and
a
spokesperson
for
his
campaign
did
not
return
a
call
seeking
comment
on
his
remarks.
A
mostly
pro-gay
record
Orange
has
had
a
mostly
supportive
record
on
gay
and
...
