Local Bloggers are speaking out on marriage equality for same-sex couples and challenging conventional wisdom about the push for civil marriage rights in the District of Columbia.

The Malcontent doesn't understand why, given the political support, marriage equality has not moved forward in the District. The Malcontent questions the logic that we should wait until DC is free from being controlled by Congress, writing "Maybe we should also wait until there are gays on Mars, until all bigotry and hatred is banished everywhere, and we all live on Gumdrop Mountain at the mouth of Stoli River."

The DCist asks the obvious question. Do we really need to be concerned about Congressional oversight now that the Democrats are in Contro? DCist writes: "could this, like the ban on District spending for needle exchange programs ... be one more issue the District could theoretically make up its own mind about now that Democrats control Congress?"

Scott's Take suggests that both Democrats and LGBT activists share responsibility for the lack of progress: "It's an unhappy standoff -- the gay establishment doesn't want to make their friends in the Democratic Party uncomfortable and the Democratic establishment doesn't feel it needs to carry water for it's gay constituents because, after all, where else are we going to go?"

Michael at Bloggernista, is ready to move beyond this standoff: Michael writes: "I agree with D.C. Council member Jim Graham when he says that we need to move forward on the issue of gay marriage in D.C. I am working with few activists including Lane Hudson, Donald Hitchcock and Paul Yandura to do just that."

Michael is a founding member of DC for Marriage.

While campaigning in Iowa, Cate Edwards stated her support for marriaqe equality for same sex couples. Her father, Presidential Candidate John Edwards, supports civil unions for same sex couples, but has not gone as far as to support full marriage equality.

Cate is the second member of the Edwards clan to come out in favor of marriage equality. John Edward's wife Elizabeth Edwards stated her support for marriage equality last June at a breakfast reception organized by the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club in San Francisco.

The Iowa Independent reports that Cate Edwards shared her views while campaigning in Iowa, appearing with Edwards supporter James Denton (Desperate Housewives). Cate Edwards, currently enrolled in Harvard Law School, stated "Children don't always agree with their parents -- it might be a little creepy if they did."

Visit the new site for marriage equality in the District of Columbia: www.dcformarriage.org.

May 17th, 2004 will go down in history as the day marriage licenses were first issued to couples in the state of Massachusetts. What you might not know, however, is that it is also a historical day for the District of Columbia. On that day, for the first time ever, six brave couples went to the DC Courthouse to request marriage licenses asking two very simple questions. Why not us? Why not now?

They were a diverse group of individuals. The oldest couple was in their sixties, and the youngest couple was in their twenties. Both male and female couples; African American, Latino, and White; wealthy couples and not-so-wealthy.

We had a rally on the steps of the courhouse that day. And then we had a celebration to mark the occasion (complete with a wedding cake) at Cobalt.

Groups like the GLAA weren't supportive of this effort. They were focused on (and have done good work on) domestic partnership legislation in DC. But on that particular day, the day Marriage Licenses were issued in Massachusetts, I'm proud that some of us stood up right here and said we want nothing less than full equality in the District.

These couples were denied the right to marry in the District of Columbia. They are still waiting.

Visit the new site for marriage equality in the District of Columbia: www.dcformarriage.org.

DC City Council member Jim Graham stated at a recent town hall that he will introduce marriage equality or civil unions legislation in DC "in the next two years". The Washington Post gives more details:

"But first, Graham said, he wants Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) to release a legal opinion on whether the District recognizes same-sex marriages officiated in other states. Former D.C. attorney general Robert Spagnoletti, who served in the Anthony A. Williams administration, prepared an opinion, but it was never made public."

Civil union legislation would not be a significant step forward for the District. We already have a "separate but equal" domestic partnership program for same-sex couples. Same-sex couples can currently register as domestic partners and share many of the same rights and responsibilities as same sex couples.

A "separate but equal" system, however, is never truly equal. One would hope that Jim Graham would introduce legislation for full marriage equality in the District of Columbia.

But as the DCist comments, many still fear a Congressional backlash:

"And really, who can forget the lovely message Sen. Sam Brownback sent our fair city (R-Kan.) the last time this came up in 2005? If we remember correctly, it was something like "try to legalize gay marriage and I'll personally sodomize each and every one of you." But could this, like the ban on District spending for needle exchange programs ... be one more issue the District could theoretically make up its own mind about now that Democrats control Congress?"

Let us hope so.

Visit the new site for marriage equality in the District of Columbia: www.dcformarriage.org.

from the Washington Blade, Friday Jun 1st, 2007

Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty last month reaffirmed his campaign promise to sign a same-sex marriage bill if City Council approves it, saying he’s “always stood in full support for full marriage rights” for gays.

But the mayor, speaking May 14 before the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, said he remains aware that many in the gay community believe it would be counterproductive to move ahead with a D.C. same-sex marriage bill until it became certain that Congress would not overturn it, or worse, pass a law banning same-sex unions in the city.

Under the city’s limited home rule charter, Congress has final authority to overturn or pass any laws it deems appropriate for the District.

“I have not heard as much since the Congress changed hands about whether that now alters some of the people’s views who weren’t in favor of the Council and the mayor going forward,” Fenty told members of the Stein Club, a gay partisan group. “So maybe it’s time to start the dialogue again.”

Most activists associated with the Stein Club and the Gay & Lesbian Activists Alliance, the city’s two most influential gay political groups, say they believe the time is not right to move ahead with a same-sex marriage bill for D.C.

Officials with both groups say that while leaders of the new Democratic-controlled Congress tend to be supportive of gay rights, the newly elected Democrats — who enabled their party to win a narrow majority over Republicans — come from moderate to conservative states and districts.

Most of these new members have expressed opposition to same-sex marriage and many would likely vote to overturn a D.C. “gay marriage” bill, GLAA and Stein Club members have said.

Activists favoring a cautious approach point to Congress’ decision in the early 1980s to overturn the District’s decision to repeal its sodomy law, delaying the repeal effort for more than a decade. They also point to Congress’ decision to block the city from implementing its domestic partners law for nine years and its continued ban on a clean needle exchange program for addicts and a medical marijuana bill.

“It’s a real threat, not a remote or theoretical abstraction,” said GLAA Vice President Rick Rosendall, in discussing how Congress would react to a D.C. same-sex marriage bill.

Local gay Democratic activist Lane Hudson has emerged as the most vocal supporter of moving ahead with an equal marriage rights bill in the District. Hudson has said he believes Democratic leaders in Congress would block efforts to overturn such a bill. Earlier this year, he told a gay town meeting sponsored by the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association that Council should pass such a bill before the 2008 congressional elections.

This week, Hudson said he and other local activists recently discussed strategy for a D.C. marriage rights bill for gays and determined such a bill should move forward “within the next few years.”

“Folks I spoke with want to pursue full marriage equality, but there is no consensus yet on a timeline,” he said. “That timeline is going to be sooner than what GLAA is calling for. But it’s not going to be right away.”

Hudson did not identify the other activists he said are working with him.

GLAA has said it is committed to bringing about same-sex marriage as soon as its members and its gay activist allies determine Congress would not intervene.

In public statements, GLAA has said it believes these developments would be necessary before the city should move ahead with a same-sex marriage bill:

• Passage by Congress of a bill introduced by D.C. Congressional Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) granting the city a full vote in the House of Representatives.

• Passage by Congress of full budget autonomy for the District.

• Passage by Congress of full legislative autonomy so the District’s local laws are no longer subject to congressional review.

• Passage of same-sex marriage by at least six states, which would likely “temper” Congress’s impulse to meddle with D.C. affairs on the gay marriage question.

Political observers believe the Norton bill has a reasonable chance of passing, but most experts don’t believe Congress is likely to grant the city full budget and legislative autonomy any time soon, perhaps not for another decade.

“The point is not to wait until there is no risk, but until we have a fighting chance,” said GLAA Vice President Rick Rosendall, in a recent commentary.

Leaders of the two largest national gay political groups had differing views on how Congress likely would respond to a D.C. marriage bill.

“We have a friendly leadership in place but we still have a very conservative Congress,” said David Smith, vice president of Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay civil rights group. “I don’t believe that would be a smart, strategic move at this juncture,” Smith said, in discussing a D.C. same-sex marriage bill.

Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, said his “gut” feeling is that gays and their political allies “would have a strong shot at either blocking or defeating” an attempt in Congress to overturn a D.C. same-sex marriage bill.

According to Foreman, a large number of senators and House members who voted last year against a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage said that while they personally opposed same-sex marriage they also opposed “federal intervention” in an issue that traditionally has been relegated to the states.

“Even with the history of Congress treating the District contemptuously, I still think this can be framed as a state’s rights issue,” Foreman said.

Evan Wolfson, executive director of the national same-sex marriage advocacy group Freedom to Marry, called on supporters of a D.C. same-sex marriage bill to conduct a methodical survey on such a bill with all members of Congress, something he said has yet to be done.

“This is not a question of conjecture or speculation,” he said. “It’s a matter of calling members of Congress and getting a vote count to see where we are.”

If a careful vote count shows supporters of self-determination for D.C. have the votes to block an attempt to overturn a same-sex marriage bill in the District, City Council and mayor should move ahead on the issue, Wolfson said. If there aren’t enough votes to block an overturn effort, the city should delay passing such a bill, he said.

“This should not be decided one way or the other on impressions,” he said.

Meanwhile, three other local D.C. political groups representing gay blacks, Latinos and Asian-Pacific Islanders have yet to speak out in favor of moving ahead with a D.C. same-sex marriage bill.

Brian Watson, president of the D.C. Coalition of Black Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Men & Women, said the coalition doesn’t consider a same-sex marriage bill high on its list of priorities.

“We do support same-sex marriage in D.C., but we feel there are other, more pressing issues for African-American gays,” he said, including AIDS-related health care and non-discrimination policies.

The local group Latinos En Accion, which represents gay and transgender Latinos and Latinas, also supports same-sex marriage but remains uncertain whether Congress would step in to block it in D.C., according to Ruby Corado, the group’s president.

“We have discussed this,” Corado said. “People are not sure yet that right now is the right time.”

Spokespersons for the local group Asian/Pacific Islander Queers United for Action, or AQUA, did not respond to a request for comment on the same-sex marriage issue. There is no mention of the issue on the group’s web site.