D.C. Councilmember David Catania could introduce a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in the nation’s capital as soon as January. (Photo by Bob Bird/AP)
Gay
D.C.
Councilmember
David
Catania
(I-At-Large)
said
he
and
several
of
his
colleagues
are
considering
introducing
a
bill
in
January
to
legalize
same-sex
marriage
in
the
nation’s
capital
if
a
majority
of
the
Council’s
13
members
sign
on
as
co-authors
of
the
legislation.
Catania’s
move
toward
offering
a
same-sex
marriage
bill
comes
at
a
time
when
nearly
all
local
activists
have
expressed
support
for
such
a
bill
and
Mayor
Adrian
Fenty
and
all
but
one
member
of
the
Council
has
pledged
to
vote
in
favor
of
the
legislation.
But
a
number
of
activists
have
joined
some
Council
members
in
questioning
whether
2009
would
be
the
best
time
to
introduce
such
a
bill
considering
the
decision
by
voters
last
week
to
ban
same-sex
marriage
via
ballot
measures
in
California,
Arizona
and
Florida.
“There
isn’t
going
to
be
an
easy
way
to
do
this,”
Catania
told
the
Blade.
“It’s
going
to
be
a
lot
of
work
to
do.
But
I
believe
that
at
the
end
of
the
day,
the
citizens
of
the
District
of
Columbia
are
fair-minded
people.”
Catania
said
he
is
discussing
the
issue
with
local
activists
and
plans
to
consult
with
the
city’s
non-voting
congressional
delegate,
Eleanor
Homes
Norton
(D-D.C.),
over
whether
to
move
ahead
with
a
same-sex
marriage
bill
next
year.
Catania
said
he
and
his
Council
colleagues
are
aware
of
the
contentious
campaign
in
California
by
same-sex
marriage
opponents
that
led
to
the
passage
of
Proposition
8.
The
ballot
proposition
amends
the
state’s
constitution,
reversing
a
California
Supreme
Court
ruling
earlier
this
year
that
legalized
same-sex
marriage.
A
same-sex
marriage
bill
being
worked
on
for
D.C.
would
clearly
distinguish
between
civil
marriage,
which
confers
the
legal
rights
of
marriage,
and
the
religious
aspect
of
marriage,
which
would
remain
under
the
full
control
of
churches,
Catania
said.
“This
is
not
going
to
be
a
law
constructed
by
our
courts,”
he
said.
“It
will
come
from
our
elected
city
government.”
If
opponents
try
to
fight
a
D.C.
same-sex
marriage
law
by
a
ballot
referendum,
which
is
an
option
available
under
the
city’s
election
law,
“then
that’s
what
will
happen,”
Catania
said.
“I
have
reason
to
believe
the
residents
of
our
city
would
side
with
equality,”
he
said.
“I
think
this
is
worth
the
fight.”
Council
member
Mary
Cheh
(D-Ward
3),
a
law
professor
with
a
specialty
in
constitutional
law,
said
she
agrees
with
Catania’s
plans
to
introduce
a
same-sex
marriage
bill
in
early
2009
and
would
help
draft
the
measure.
“I’m
going
to
be
working
with
Council
member
Catania
and
our
other
colleagues,
and
we
will
try
to
move
a
bill
very
quickly,
as
soon
as
the
new
session
starts,”
Cheh
said.
“That’s
our
intention.”
Most
activists
and
Council
members
agreed
that
Congress
would
have
invoked
its
authority
to
overturn
a
D.C.
same-sex
marriage
bill
during
the
Bush
administration.
When
Democrats
regained
control
of
Congress
following
the
November
2006
election,
activists
said
they
wanted
to
wait
until
after
the
2008
presidential
and
congressional
elections
to
assess
whether
a
D.C.
same-sex
marriage
bill
might
be
feasible.
The
election
of
a
Democratic
president
and
the
election
of
more
gay-supportive
Democrats
to
Congress
was
seen
as
tipping
the
scales
in
favor
of
introducing
a
marriage
bill.
Last
week’s
election
of
Democrat
Barack
Obama
as
president
and
the
victory
of
more
Democrats
in
the
House
and
Senate
were
favorable
signs
that
a
D.C.
same-sex
marriage
bill
could
clear
a
congressional
hurdle,
activists
said.
But
some
activists
said
the
approval
of
anti-gay
marriage
amendments
in
California
and
elsewhere
appeared
to
negate
the
benefits
of
an
Obama
presidency
and
the
Democrats’
larger
majority
in
Congress.
“Unfortunately,
the
electoral
blow
to
marriage
equality
in
Arizona,
California
and
Florida
is
a
bad
blow,”
said
Rick
Rosendall,
vice
president
of
the
Gay
&
Lesbian
Activists
Alliance.
“And
we
are
not
ready
to
wage
the
initiative
fight
that
would
inevitably
be
set
off
by
the
District’s
passage
of
a
same-sex
marriage
bill,
even
if
Congress
allows
it
to
stand.”
Local
gay
Democratic
activist
Phil
Pannell,
a
longtime
political
organizer
in
the
city’s
mostly
black
neighborhoods
east
of
the
Anacostia
River,
said
he
was
concerned
that
a
ballot
referendum
seeking
to
outlaw
gay
marriage
in
Washington
would
be
supported
by
large
numbers
of
black
voters
who
are
conservative
on
social
issues
such
as
marriage.
“I
would
have
to
say
that
there’s
a
reasonable
chance
that
something
like
that
would
pass,”
he
said.
Darren
Glymph,
vice
president
of
the
Gertrude
Stein
Democratic
Club,
the
city’s
largest
gay
political
group,
said
he
and
other
black
gay
activists,
including
D.C.
lesbian
activist
Carlene
Cheatam,
believe
gay
groups
in
California
did
not
effectively
build
alliances
with
black
churches
and
the
black
community
on
the
grassroots
level
in
their
efforts
to
fight
the
measure.
Exit
polls
show
that
69
percent
of
back
voters
supported
Proposition
8.
“From
the
perspective
of
the
black
community,
to
blame
us
for
what
happened
in
California
is
not
justified
and
is
unfair,”
Glymph
said.
“We
need
to
be
more
effective
and
our
leadership
and
public
image
needs
to
be
more
diverse
here
in
D.C.
if
we
are
going
to
take
on
this
fight.
“I’m
not
100
percent
sure
that
a
referendum
would
fail
here.”
Cheatam
also
said
she
believed
an
anti-gay
marriage
referendum
in
the
District
could
win.
“The
gay
and
lesbian
community
doesn’t
have
enough
interface
with
the
general
population
to
ensure
that
we
could
defeat
it,”
she
said.
Rosendall
and
other
local
gay
leaders
noted
that
Democrats
won
their
majority
in
the
House
of
Representatives
by
the
election
of
mostly
moderate-
to
conservative-leaning
Democrats
from
swing
districts.
The
possibility
of
those
Democrats
joining
conservative
Republicans
to
vote
to
kill
a
D.C.
gay
marriage
bill
must
be
considered
in
deciding
whether
to
move
ahead
with
such
legislation,
activists
have
said.
A
House
Democratic
aid,
who
spoke
on
condition
of
anonymity,
said
House
Speaker
Nancy
Pelosi
and
other
...
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RCS on 11/20/083:58 AM:
Another factor might be what happens in New York and New Jersey. If the legislatures of both of those states were to pass gay marriage into law, it might offset the recent losses in California, Arizona and Florida. That could provide an impetus for the passage of a same-sex marriage bill in Washington, DC.
rpcv84 on 11/19/087:22 PM:
ReasonableDoubt: P{olitical correctness run amok. The problem lies with the blacks, but most gays perceive that they need the blacks to further their agenda. Think again. The blacks are the ones who stabbed us in the backs.
ReasonableDoubt on 11/19/082:25 PM:
rpcv84: Because the Mormon church were the ones to pour 25 million dollars into the Prop 8 fight, and not all of us are looking for a reason to attack the black community.
jeri . on 11/15/0810:05 AM:
i wonder what is more important than the dream of equality? not that the day to day issues lack urgency. marriage equality in the district will not be an end-all solution to inequity, but only another tiny step in the right direction. a step like forgetting about the color of the skin of our opponents, and focusing on the issues that separate our political philosophies. the mormon church is a specific target because that church made marriage equality a specific target, donating millions of dollars in a campaign with the sole intent to deny americans a basic human right.
rpcv84 on 11/14/088:51 PM:
With all the problems that DC faces, the Council should certainly be able to find something more important to work on. If not, then the Council members should find another job.
Also, remember that 70% of the massive number of African American voters in California supported Prop 8. I think the gay community needs to do some "outreach" to the Black community on the issue of gay marriage. Which brings me to a question: Why is it that we gays in California protest vehemently outside Mormon churches and do NO protesting outside predominately Black churches? Strange.
