The D.C. Council shouldn’t praise itself for passing a bill that recognizes same-sex marriages performed in other states. Its action, taken without benefit of a public hearing, bordered on cowardly. It also may have injured eventual passage of a true gay-marriage law.

“I think this is going to be a much bigger issue than they think. Right-wing conservatives are going to crank up. I would be shocked if they don’t,” said Philip Pannell, who is a gay and supports “marriage equality.”