Councilman Catania says he’ll introduce bill Tuesday D.C. Councilman David Catania promised to introduce a bill next week that will allow same-sex couples to be married legally in the nation’s capital.
“We’ve been working hard on it, just putting one foot in front of the other,” Catania, I-at large, told The Examiner on Thursday.
The bill already has nine co-sponsors and will be introduced Tuesday. It follows a long battle over an earlier law — also sponsored by Catania — that requires D.C. to recognize gay marriages performed legally in other states.
Opponents of that measure lost a drive over the summer to put the question on the ballot so city voters could weigh in.
The “other states” bill passed, 12-1, but the council chambers erupted and cable news networks beamed images of outraged clergy — most of them black — furiously protesting the council’s decision. The lone opponent of the bill was former Mayor Marion Barry, D-Ward 8, who warned of a “civil war” over gay marriage. Neither Barry nor his spokeswoman could be reached for comment Thursday.
At the time, Catania and other supporters dismissed questions of a racial divide in the city as “a red herring.” Catania acknowledged Thursday that his own polling results show a split among blacks on whether to support legalizing same-sex marriage in the District. He added, however, that support for same-sex marriage is more than five times higher among blacks with college degrees than blacks without them.
But, Catania said, “I’m not satisfied with there being any kind of divide, whether it’s racial or educational.”
Harry Jackson, a Protestant bishop with a church in Beltsville who has led the charge against gay marriage rights, said Catania’s decision was “nondemocratic” and “irresponsible.” He renewed calls to put any gay marriage rights up for a popular vote.
“The process that they probably will put forth will have a hearing which will be an imitation of democracy,” he said. “What happens in D.C. could redefine and destroy marriage as we know it. It seems to me more people than 13 should vote on it.”
Catania, one of two openly gay D.C. Council members, said he and his aides have been talking to people in jurisdictions where same-sex marriages are legal and examining their statutes. The D.C. legislation has been crafted so that clergy can refuse to perform gay marriages, Catania said.
Whatever happens at the council, any measure will still have to be approved by Congress and President Obama.
