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This morning the DC Council passed legislation legalizing marriage equality. The vote was 11-2. The two against were former Mayor Marion Barry and Yvette Alexander. Neither vote was surprising, and both had been active in trying to weaken the bill or put it to a ballot vote. What is heartening is how many Councilmembers stood up for equality today, and stood firm in the face of the Washington Archdioecese's recent disingenuous blackmail threats to cut off charity services.
On the religious note, even better was that the lead sponsor, Chairman Mendelson, adopted a proposed amendment by GLAA, one of the local LGBT activist groups, and other supporting organizations. It would delete the words "same-sex" from the following bill text (bolding mine):
"a religious society, or a nonprofit organization which is operated, supervised, or controlled by or in conjunction with a religious society, shall not be required to provide services, accommodations, facilities, or goods for a purpose related to the solemnization or celebration of a same-sex marriage, or the promotion of same-sex marriage through religious programs, counseling, courses, or retreats, that is in violation of the religious society's beliefs."
Full justification for adding it can be found in this brief, but the short version is that the term would "confuse" the law because it suggests that religious organizations are legally obligated to provide services and facilities, or solemnize other sorts of marriages that violate their religious beliefs; and because it opens up the possibility of a legal challenge that DC has a less compelling interest to protect same-sex marriages from discrimination than other kinds of marriages. It's a good addition. The other amendment I want to emphasize as important was added upon committee passage, which retains the ability for same-sex and opposite-sex couples to register as domestic partners. Full details on that here.
The bill will now proceed to a "second reading" later this month, where it will pass easily, be signed by Mayor Fenty, then go to Capitol Hill for the Congressional review process.
There are too many folks individually to name who worked hard to get to this point, so I will just say thanks and congratulations to them and our allies who spent a lot of time on this, and to DC Councilmembers who stood up for equality.
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