Same-Sex Marriage Bill To Be Introduced In D.C.

The District of Columbia on Tuesday begins debate on a gay marriage bill that is expected to become law. The District earlier this year passed a measure recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states and countries.

D.C. Council member David Catania, an independent, is the main author of the bill, which already has 10 co-sponsors and which Mayor Adrian Fenty has said he will sign.

The Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act of 2009 will make it legal for gay couples to marry in the District, and for same-sex domestic partners to get a marriage license with no additional cost.

The legislation amends the District’s statutory requirements for civil marriage, and provides protection to members of the clergy or any church from marrying gay couples against their religious beliefs.

“I have an enormous amount of respect for our many communities of faith, and I would not support any legislation which would interfere with the freedoms they enjoy,” Catania said in a statement.

The District already has a 1992 law allowing unmarried couples to register as domestic partners, but the statute only took effect in 2002 when Congress lifted a ban on using public money on the District’s domestic partner registry. D.C. began recognizing gay marriages from other jurisdictions on July 7, the end of a 30-day congressional review required after Fenty signed a bill that was passed by the Council by a 12-1 vote.

In September, a coalition of conservatives, including Bishops Harry Jackson and James Silver, filed a request with the District of Columbia Board of Elections for a ballot initiative next year that would define marriage as between a man and a woman. The initiative has the support of the Archdiocese of Washington.

There has been a growing nationwide movement to grant gays the same rights and privileges as different-sex couples. Six states now allow same-sex marriages: Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont.

Moreover, the first state in the nation to legalize same-sex marriages, Massachusetts, sued the federal government in July over the constitutionality of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which provides the federal definition of marriage as the legal union between a man and a woman. In California, there is a push to repeal the ban on same-sex marriages, Proposition 8, through a referendum in the 2010 ballot.

Related posts:

1. Gay Marriage Opponents In Maine Submit Petition Seeking November Referendum
2. Group Requests 2010 Ballot Initiative To Ban Gay Marriages In D.C.
3. Vermont Begins Issuing Marriage Licenses To Gay Couples
4. A Day Before Polls Open, Maine Voters Divided About Repealing Gay Marriage Law
5. Massachusetts sues US Government over gay marriage