Good news out of D.C.:
The City Council passed a measure Tuesday legalizing same-sex marriage, making the nation’s capital the first jurisdiction below the Mason-Dixon Line to allow such unions.
The bill, which passed by an 11-to-2 vote, may still face obstacles in Congress, among city voters and in the courts, but most advocates say they expect it to become law by the spring. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty has said he will sign it.
“Today’s vote is an important victory not only for the gay and lesbian community but for everyone who supports equal rights,” said Councilman David A. Catania, an independent and the author of the bill.
Opponents have vowed to overturn the bill by putting it to a referendum or by working with Congress, which has a month to review the measure once it is signed.
The city already recognizes gay marriages performed in states where the practice is legal — Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts and Vermont. New Hampshire will begin allowing same-sex marriage early next year.
Republicans and conservative Democrats in the House, which oversees the district’s budget, are considering a variety of legislative methods for blocking the bill, including adding a rider to future appropriations bills. But Democrats who support the measure can probably prevent that.
In celebration of this victory, I would like to replay a favorite video of mine from the testimony regarding marriage equality in D.C.
With opposition like this . . . never mind. I'm still speechless over it:
2 comments:
Wow. They had to listen to 169 people? I wonder how many were like this. Makes me never want to be in city government.
Every time I see that video, I want to strangle whoever was head of the Education system in DC when this woman was growing up. I think that her religion held up her education though.
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