Now gays get to be a miserable as everyone else is. Just kidding, just kidding.
The D. C. City Council predictably voted to legalize gay marriage in a 11-2 vote. Couples should be able to tie the knot as soon as March. Congress, which has the power over D. C. laws, could reject the action of the city council but the democrat-controlled congress has indicated it is reluctant to do so.
Gays and gay rights supporters have suffered a series of defeats in recent months. The latest defeats were in Maine and New York. According the News and Messenger:
David Catania, who introduced the bill and is one of two openly gay council members, called the bill a “matter of social justice” before the vote.
Two members voted “I do” when their names came up, and when the vote finished a packed chamber erupted into cheers and clapping. The “no” votes included former mayor Marion Barry, now a council member.
If Congress does not reject the bill, the district will join Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts and Vermont in issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. They will be able to wed in New Hampshire starting in January.
Gay marriage supporters have had less success elsewhere recently. Maine voters overturned the state’s same-sex marriage law last month. Earlier this month, the New York state Senate rejected a bill that would have allowed gay couples to marry. And New Jersey’s legislature, which had been working on a same-sex marriage bill, postponed a recent vote when the measure appeared headed for defeat.
Tuesday’s vote in the district came after several months of discussion, including two marathon council hearings at which some 250 witnesses testified.
Opponents included the Archdiocese of Washington, which said it might have to stop providing adoptions and other services because the law would force it to extend benefits to same-sex couples. But most who testified in this overwhelmingly Democratic city were supporters.
Is this a matter of civil rights and social justice? Does gay marriage or civil union hurt those of us who are not gay? Are there legal implications to being married that gays have not been able to partake of? How will Virginia with its defense of marriage amendment react to having a gay marriage neighbor right across the Potomac River?
