District of Columbia Final Vote Passes Marriage Equality, Now On To The Mayor

12/15/09-by Bridgette P. LaVictoire
At thirty-six minutes after two, the ‘aye’s were eleven, the ‘nays’ were two. The marriage equality bill in Washington, DC passed. DC followed Vermont and New Hampshire in voting for marriage equality.

At ten minutes to two in the afternoon, the city council of Washington, DC took up the final reading of the marriage equality bill. Once this bill goes to the mayor for approval, Congress will have until thirty days have passed in order to bring this to a veto vote. Counselor Mendelson made mention that, while the Catholic Church has opposed this particular bill, some two hundred religious institutions have come out in favor of the legislation. He stated that he believed that the law did not restrict religious freedom, but rather expanded it in order to give full voice to the marriage beliefs of a variety of religions who do believe in marriage equality. David A. Catania, also a Counselor at Large, made mention of the fact that he has served on the Council for several years now, but has not been a fully enfranchised member of the city’s citizenry. Councilor Mary Cheh, who has a degree in Constitutional Law, made it clear that she is happy to cast her vote in favor of marriage equality.

Councilor Marion Barry spoke respectfully with regards to the fact that he was opposed to this bill, but he is thankful to have the dialogue that he has had. Barry has had a long history, as mentioned by Councilor Catania, of supporting LGBT rights. He made mention of that fact going all the way back to when he refused to fire an openly gay teacher early in his career. His reasoning regarding voting against this bill because he represents his ward, and the people of his ward are largely against this bill. As the representative of the people of his ward, that is his job. In his statement, he did congratulations to the fight that the LGBT Community has waged. Councilor Alexander also stated her reasoning for why she opposed this particular issue. While it is an issue that they are both against, they are still open to all LGBT rights.

On 1 December, the City Council voted eleven to two. In the fall out of that vote, the Catholic Church inside DC made the threat that they would be pulling out their charities from the City itself, despite never having done that in any other state where marriage equality has passed. In fact, the Catholic charities continue to operate in states such as Vermont and New Hampshire, which begins issuing marriage licenses on 1 January. The City Council has been steadfast in stating that they will move forward with this issue, and that the Church can give up their contracts with the city once they have been fulfilled. Should the quit those contracts early, the Council will have the option to sue them for breach of contract.

It is expected that the House of Representatives will not bring this bill up for a vote in the same way that they failed to bring up the recognition law which went through earlier this year.

The District of Columbia still seeks to become the fifty-first state. Even though, this move bring forward marriage equality at a time when it has been problematic to get states to move forward with marriage equality.