Despite desperate attempts by anti-gay activists to prevent it, gay and lesbian couples began applying for marriage licenses in Washington, D.C., on March 3.
Right-wing forces went so far as to file a last-minute emergency petition to the U.S. Supreme Court to try to block the law legalizing same-sex marriage from coming into force. The court rejected the request for a stay.
Because of a mandatory waiting period of three full business days between applying for a license and receiving it, the first gay marriages in D.C. were not expected to take place until March 9.
“As did residents of Massachusetts, and more recently Iowa, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Vermont, those who live in Washington, D.C., now will have the chance to wonder what all the fuss was about as they see firsthand that allowing same-sex couples to marry doesn’t endanger or harm anyone else,” said Lambda Legal’s marriage project director, Jennifer Pizer.
Freedom to Marry Executive Director Evan Wolfson said: “Today is a day of jubilation as Washington, D.C., joins the five states and eight countries where same-sex couples now share in the freedom to marry. The issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples in America’s capital marks a significant victory for the national movement to secure the freedom to marry, and a great joy for D.C. couples who no longer need to leave home to secure the protections and responsibilities of marriage for their families.”
In a three-page opinion rejecting the anti-gay activists’ petition, U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote: “(A) stay is not warranted. First, as ‘a matter of judicial policy’ — if not ‘judicial power’ — ‘it has been the practice of the Court to defer to the decisions of the courts of the District of Columbia on matters of exclusively local concern.’ … Second, the Act at issue was adopted by the (D.C.) Council and placed before Congress for the 30-day period of review required by the D.C. Charter. … A joint resolution of disapproval by Congress would prevent the Act from going into effect, but Congress has chosen not to act.”
The D.C. Council legalized same-sex marriage in an 11-2 vote Dec. 15 and Mayor Adrian Fenty signed the bill Dec. 18. The measure then moved to Congress for a review period of 30 “legislative” days. It did not encounter any opposition there.
Same-sex marriage also is legal in Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont; in Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Spain and Sweden; and in Mexico City, Buenos Aires and Argentina’s Tierra del Fuego province. It is expected to become legal shortly in Portugal.
By Rex Wockner
