DC marriage bill clears legislative hurdle
A DC City Council committee voted 4-1 earlier today to pass a bill that would allow gays and lesbians to marry in the District of Columbia.
The next step is a two-vote process by the City Council, which is expected to occur early next month. Eleven of the 13 council members have gone on record as saying they will vote for the bill openly gay Councilmember David Catania [I-At-Large] drafted. The mayor has pledged to sign the proposed legislation, but it would then go before Congress for a 30 day legislative review period.
"Legislatively, it’s a slam dunk form the city council perspective," Michael Crawford, co-chair of DC for Marriage, said. "We still have a lot of work to do particularly in the African American community and communities of faith, so they understand why marriage is so important to gay and lesbian families."
Crawford further noted the National Organization for Marriage continues to target the District as it seeks to block marriage for gays and lesbians around the country. The organization has already appealed to Congress to intervene. And NOM recently moved their national headquarters to Washington.
Crawford argued he feels a Congressional repeal is more possible now than ever--especially after Maine voters repealed their state’s marriage law last Tuesday.
"Some right wing members of congress will be emboldened, so we’re working out a congressional strategy to stop members of congress from intervening," he said.
Another important point Crawford felt he needed to stress is the media’s eagerness to portray the push for marriage in the District as a philosophical and moral conflict between LGBT activists and religious groups.
"I want to emphasize that there’s strong support among people of faith in DC for marriage equality," Crawford added. "The group DC Clergy United for Marriage Equality has about 200 clergy members singed up. A lot of the media is saying it’s a battle between African American religious people and gay people. The reality is, there are a lot of clergy in DC who are supporting marriage equality."
