D.C. Council votes to legalize gay marriage

The D.C. Council on Tuesday took the penultimate step to legalized same-sex marriage in the nation's capital, what many members deemed a final milestone in the near 30-year march to equality in Washington.

The 11-2 vote in favor of allowing legally recognized gay marriages to be performed in the District was the expected outcome. Ward 8 Councilman Marion Barry and Ward 7 Councilwoman Yvette Alexander were opposed.

"There are some in opposition who have said that marriage equality is not a civil right," said at-large Councilman Phil Mendelson, who shepherded the bill through his judiciary committee. "I completely disagree with this. Marriage is one of the basic civil rights of man."

At-large Councilman David Catania, who drafted the bill, described the first of two votes -- the second is scheduled for Dec. 15 -- as a "milestone," because "it is bringing some truth to those worlds that, 'All men are created equal.' "

"It's a day I never thought I would see and never thought I would have the opportunity to participate in as a gay person," Catania said.

The measure exempts all religious entities from having to perform or facilitate a gay marriage ceremony. But it does not allow those institutions to deny a gay married couple adoption services, for example, or health benefits for a gay employee.

The Catholic Church continues to eye a broader exemption, said Susan Gibbs, spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Washington. The church's opposition, specifically the effect of the bill on its social services arm, has been the one of the few sticking points during the gay marriage debate.

But Ward 6 Councilman Tommy Wells, chairman of the human services committee, said the matter of equality is not negotiable. Catholic Charities, he said, can be replaced.

"Choosing to be a contractor to serve folks of the District of Columbia is not a right," Wells said. "You're part of a bidding process. It does not mean that people will not receive services."

The other hiccup was the demand for a voter referendum on the matter, but the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics tossed that proposal.

"What we're looking at is the potential disintegration of an institution," Bishop Harry Jackson of Beltsville's Hope Christian Church, who led the ballot initiative effort, said after the vote.

Barry, meanwhile, claimed continued support for the gay and lesbian community "on almost every issue except this one."

"In a Democracy, there ought to be the right to dissent, not be castigated as out of touch and out of step with the majority," the former mayor said.

mneibauer@washingtonexaminer.com